You’ve already worked a lot to create a website that represents your brand. Now comes the next step, perhaps the most important: driving traffic to it. When you increase web traffic to your page, you can generate more leads, conversions, and sales. Even the slightest increase in traffic to your page can make a difference to your bottom line and Websites that accept guest posts.
There are many methods to attract visitors to your page, some more effective than others. In this guide, we have gathered 26 effective methods, both free and paid, so that you can generate traffic to your site. We’ll be talking about everything from search engine optimization (SEO) and guest blogging to retargeting, so let’s explore these proven methods for generating web traffic.
How to generate web traffic?
- Implement a solid content marketing strategy
- Search keywords and optimize your SEO
- Advertise on different channels
- Take advantage of online communities and social networks
- Incorporate different types of marketing
01. Implement a solid content marketing strategy
Write quality content
One of the best ways to generate free web traffic is through organic content. This type of content is found by users through a keyword search. It can be on a blog, in a database, or in the resources section of your website.
After creating a blog, you need to make sure that you write content using the most searched keywords, phrases, and questions. Optimize your blog content for SEO by including high search volume keywords in the header, body text, URL, and meta description. Once you’ve ranked high on the first page of search engines, you can get hundreds if not thousands of clicks a month from a single post. After all, the top five organic results account for 67.60% of all first-page clicks.
Types of content for your blog:
- The article on how to do…?
- The list.
- The complete guide.
- The article on comparisons.
- The article what is…?
- The FAQ article.
Write in other blogs (Guest Blogging)
Writing on other blogs can increase your web traffic instantly. By writing as a guest author, you have the opportunity to have your web page linked to the site that hosts your content. In fact, many marketers use this type of content as an “inbound marketing” technique. For example, in one success story, they had a 340% increase in search traffic thanks to “guest blogging” and generated more than 100,000 visits in one year.
In terms of SEO, search engines can reward your domain with higher rankings if your page links to reputable sites, such as blogs and publications from large companies. That means you have to choose your platforms wisely as a guest author. You can partner with another Page that covers similar topics of interest or is part of your industry. Also, if you write within your area, you can generate content that gives you authority and demonstrates your credibility.
Ways to find guest author opportunities:
- Contact “guest blogging” websites.
- Network online.
- Send emails to promote yourself.
- Look for relevant phrases like: “Write for us,” “Guest bloggers wanted,” “Guest blogger guide,” and “Become a contributor.”
Refresh your outdated content
The search engine results page (SERP) is constantly changing, as algorithms favor the most complete and up-to-date information. When thinking of ways to generate web traffic, consider keeping your content constantly updated, so it better aligns with the latest trends and changes in your industry. Since it can be difficult to update a page with a lot of content, focus on improving your most strategic content first.
To demonstrate the effectiveness of keeping your content up-to-date, imagine your post is positioned on the first page for “best gaming software”. However, after a year your article has dropped in position. This could be an excellent opportunity to update this article! Don’t forget to research what competitors who are ranked higher than you do better. Once you update the article, you will likely see it rise in position, increasing traffic to your website again.
For other types of articles that you want to improve your traffic, you can create a new article and redirect the old one to this one. In other cases, if you feel that two articles are too similar and are competing against each other for the same keywords (known as content cannibalization), consider merging them.
How to improve your content:
- Update information (especially statistics and years).
- Add new images and videos.
- Increase the number of words in the article, to match the average of the results for the keyword.
- Update internal and external links.
- Change the years and dates.
Reuse your content
It is not always about creating more content when you want more people to visit your website. One way to get the most out of your existing marketing material is to reuse it. Get creative with your content strategy and revamp your posts, for example by turning an article into a social media infographic. As a result of diversifying the formats of your content, you will be able to reach more people and generate more web traffic.
Examples of reused content:
- Turn your article into a digital book or downloadable document.
- Create a webinar or video from a written guide.
- Create a podcast and turn the transcript of each episode into an article.
Write Expert Digest Posts
Sometimes paying attention to others is what can bring people back to you. To achieve this and generate more web traffic, you can write an expert roundup article. This article format is based on interviews with several key figures who have authority on a given topic. Normally, this type of article is organized in questions and answers and includes practical advice that helps the reader a lot.
By including experts with a large audience and following your article, you will increase your exposure when they share the post. The attention you’ll gain from these well-known people will help you generate web traffic, as well as boost your page’s credibility.
Post content with no expiration date
Piensa en el contenido como el “regalo que nunca se acaba”. Como en la jardinería, hay plantas que se mantienen verdes y frescas todo el año. Tú quieres que tu contenido continúe siendo relevante para tu audiencia (siempre verde), así que elige escribir sobre temas que siempre son relevantes.
Un artículo titulado “Guía completa de marketing para Blackfriday” puede ser una buena forma de atraer tráfico a tu página web, pero solo será relevante unas pocas semanas al año. Dicho esto, equilibra tu contenido con temas que se mantengan relevantes para tu mercado meta en cualquier momento. Cuanto más contenido “sin fecha de caducidad” tengas, obtendrás un nivel de tráfico web constante.
Enfócate en publicar contenido de formato largo
The size of the content usually has an impact on the positioning. Long-form content tends to be more comprehensive and detailed, making it more responsive to user questions. But how long should an article be? To meet the ideal length, focus on creating comprehensive guides, tutorials, listings, and pillar pages (articles that cover a topic from start to finish). After all, search engines like Google want to provide their readers with the most reliable, well-written, and well-researched articles.
Tips for writing long-form articles:
- Do your research before you start.
- Clearly define headings and sections.
- Use images to break up the text.
- Includes bulleted and numbered lists for organizational purposes.
02. Search for keywords and optimize your SEO
Identify long-tail keywords
There is a great deal of competition for keywords. However, long-tail keywords tend to be easier to rank for. Positioning yourself on the results pages means more clicks and, in turn, more visits to your website.
But first, what exactly are long tail keywords? These types of keywords refer to longer phrases that contain more than three words. Although their search volume may be lower, long-tail keywords may be more intent on the searcher, driving interested visitors to your site. They are also good at responding to voice searches and helping search engines understand topic relevance.
Using long-tail keywords in your content strategy means that you will have a competitive advantage, as it will potentially generate a better click-through rate (CTR).
Use internal links
When you include links on a page to other resources that are on the same domain, they are called internal links.
Internal links are a solution to generate web traffic since they influence other articles that you link from your web page. When an article gets multiple backlinks, this sends a strong signal to search engines, telling them that the page that article is on is important.
You’ll also want to include proper anchor text in your links because the text is also an SEO factor. The text you use should be similar to the keyword you’re targeting, to help bots associate the article with the keyword. Suppose your blog uses a model of pillar pages and content clusters. In this case, link more articles to the pillar page to emphasize their importance within the group.
Optimize the CTR of your metadata
If your SEO meta titles and descriptions aren’t compelling enough and have a low click-through rate (CTR) as a result, you could be losing web traffic. In terms of results pages, a high click-through rate leads to better rankings. Use Google Search Console to find out your click-through rate and refer to Wix SEO tools to create strategic metadata for your page.
Get featured snippets
What if I told you that there is something even more exciting than being at the top of the search results pages? It may seem hard to believe, but there’s something even better: getting featured snippets for a high-volume keyword.
This is so valuable because the click-through rate increases from 2% to 8% with a featured snippet. The more featured snippets your domain has, the more web traffic you will generate.
How to optimize your content for a featured snippet:
- Include a “table of contents” at the top of the article, summarizing your main content. This format will help search engines pull the content in a featured snippet.
- Identify keywords in question form and directly answer those questions with complete sentences.
- Use subheadings that make sense and align with your “table of contents.”
Use SEO tools
Finding keywords with high search volume, tracking your page rankings, position changes, featured snippets, external links and more can be complex and often tedious. That is why you should use keyword research tools to automate, track and inform yourself of the most significant changes on your web page.
It would be of great help for your web traffic if you had a clear understanding of why a strategic article or a product page is low ranking, to be aware and fix it. Some of our favorite SEO tools that give you immediate answers that are easy to analyze are Ahrefs and Semrush.
Earn some good external links
As we have already mentioned, external links are obtained every time another website or blog links to your content. By increasing the number of quality external links, you can earn the trust of search engines and rank higher on search results pages.
After all, would you send your readers to an untrusted page? I sure don’t. Search engines use the same logic to determine if your page is a trusted source on the web. If so, they will reward you with a high ranking. And the better your position, the more web traffic you will generate. Of course, don’t forget all the traffic you could very well gain from people clicking on the same links. How to gain external links?
- Send messages directly to websites and blogs, asking for an opportunity to be mentioned in a relevant article or text.
- Write as a guest author.
- Use SEO tools to see what sites have linked to you in the past and thus search for similar ones.
- Find broken links on the web and suggest the use of your article.
- Create content worth mentioning, that demonstrates thought leadership, that people want to share.
- Get mentioned in the press.
03. Advertise on different channels
Target repeat visitors to your website
You have already worked hard to get an interested visitor to your website. If they leave without converting, you can target them with an ad to get them to come back to your domain.
By using cookies and tracking pixels, you can retarget your audience through banner ads with relevant ads. Sometimes these ads can be as specific as showing the last item a user looked at, inviting them to complete their purchase.
This is a tactic you don’t want to miss, considering that retargeted website visitors are 43% more likely to convert. To set up retargeting, install a plug-in from the apps in the Wix App Market or use Google Ad Network, Facebook Ads, or any other retargeting platform.
Get ahead of the competition with paid search
Are you not ranking in the SERPs for some keywords that are crucial to your product or business? With the help of search engine marketing (SEM) and ads in Google search results, known as AdWords, you will be able to rank above the organic search results, for a list of keywords of your choice.
Ads in search results are a proven strategy to increase web traffic, as people with high purchase intent go to search engines to buy or learn something. You can drive people to your website or even create an optimized landing page to generate leads.
Improve your ad positioning to generate more web traffic:
- Increase the click-through rate of your ad by improving the text.
- Bid more competitively in the ad auction to outbid competitors who are after the same keywords as you.
- Get a better Relevance Score, which is determined by the user experience on your landing page. The page must be mobile-optimized and have content similar to your ad text.
Create targeted ads for social media
Organic social media marketing is a powerful free way to generate web traffic. However, you are often limited to showing your content to the same followers over and over again. By running paid ads and sponsoring social media posts, you enable your brand to reach new audiences at scale.
There is a wide range of social media channels to be aware of, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest. Choose the channel where your audience spends the most time. It’s a matter of testing the different channels and then allocating the budget and time to the network that brings you the most suitable traffic.
When you set up your campaigns, select the ad objective called “Website traffic.” This sets up the algorithm to show your ads to those who are most likely to click on your web page. In the event that your page is created in Wix, use Wix Facebook Ads to configure your campaigns automatically and thus target the customers with the highest probability of conversion, thanks to its Artificial Intelligence technology.
Tip for creating social media ads: Save time and use social media layouts to create your paid posts.
Advertise locally on Google Maps and Yelp
While you can always work hard to get the best reviews, recommendations, and rankings for free, advertising on Google Maps and Yelp is a great way to attract local customers and drive them to your website.
Since Yelp and Google Maps users are already looking for a business like yours, take advantage of that peak intent moment and show your ad in a highly visible search result. Then take them to make an appointment, make a reservation, or fill out a survey. Consider adding online appointment scheduling software to your website to effortlessly get more bookings.
04. Take advantage of online communities and social networks
Make yourself heard on the forums
Forums not only offer you a place to engage in conversation with other interested parties, but it is also strategic place to leave a link to your website. Find out if there are online forums dedicated to your industry or practice. Try sites like Reddit or Quora, as well as social media groups. You must add links or mention your business with relevance and tact, otherwise, you will look like a “spammer”.
Publish your website in online directories
It may seem that online directories have become a worthless bargain shops for outdated websites. However, they can still prove beneficial. After all, publishing your website on directories and review sites is usually free, so it sure as hell won’t hurt you. The other advantage is that you will have another link to your web page, which could improve your SEO.
The process to publish your page in online directories is quite simple. Submit your website URL and any other information you wish to provide about your business. This will be added to the relevant directory’s database, allowing your information to appear when someone is searching within your content categories.
Get active on social media
Regardless of who your target audience is, there’s a good chance they’re on a social network, somewhere. Even if your market is a niche, you can build a following with consistently unique and quality content.
Post about your industry, products, and services to engage followers, leading them to click through to your web page for more information. Customer service and engagement can also take place on social media, and this only helps to cultivate your community. If you grow and take care of your social media accounts, your followers will be a constant source of web traffic. To help you manage your efforts, outline your strategy with a marketing plan.
How to use social networks to generate web traffic:
- Publish articles and other engaging content.
- Add links to your website in your profiles, for example, in your biography.
- Include bars with links to your social networks on your website, to expand your reach.
- Serve your followers and actively respond to comments.
- Use relevant hashtags.
- Publish news about your company.
- Run contests and giveaways that require people to take an action on your website, like signing up for your newsletter.
- Tag your customers and use user-generated content.
- Work with influencers.
Generate traffic from your YouTube channel
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, after Google. People come to this platform to see guides and tutorials, which are part of the billion hours of video that YouTubers watch every day.
As a business owner, you use this platform as a free way to generate web traffic. Create a YouTube channel and add as many links as calls to action, to take your viewers to your landing page. Another benefit of YouTube in terms of traffic is the use of videos and their incorporation into your content to improve your SEO. Don’t forget that you can also use them for your social media posts.
05. Incorporate different types of marketing
Generate email marketing campaigns
Oberlo reported that 87% of marketers use email marketing to drive traffic to their content. This makes email the third most popular content distribution channel, behind only social networks, with 91%, and the company’s website or blog, with 89%.
Use email marketing software for your newsletters and drip campaigns, to share the latest posts on your blog or to inform your customers of the offers in your store. With so many places to include links and calls to action, it’s the ideal way to keep people coming back to your website.
Constantly work on building your email list, thus increasing the number of recipients. A quick way to do this is to add a newsletter signup button on your website. The more people receive your content, the more opportunities you have to generate web traffic.
Email Marketing Tips:
- The “subject” of the email is one of the most critical factors for open rates, so write something attractive.
- Keep the subject under 25-30 characters to make it easy to read on mobile.
- Use powerful calls to action to increase the click-through rate on your website.
- Offer promotions with deadlines.
- Run A/B tests to optimize performance.
Use the traffic analytics of your website
To effectively promote your website, you need to know its current performance from top to bottom. If you closely track your website analytics, such as traffic sources and how people interact with your content, you’ll be more equipped to make better optimizations.
Then look at more advanced analytics like time spent on site, conversion rates, return visitor rates, etc. You can then make improvements based on that data and target future marketing strategies on your findings. Use your Wix Web Analytics and third-party sites like Google Analytics to pull data.
For example, suppose your demographic data shows that the majority of your customers are women between the ages of 20 and 35, you’ll want to set that age range as your advertising parameter. If most of your traffic comes from Pinterest, you could spend more time creating content for this platform.
Partner with influencers
You don’t just want traffic, you want quality traffic and influencers are a good source for that. 71% of marketers think the quality of traffic brought in by influencers is better than that from other sources. Therefore, consider working with influencers and opinion leaders (KOLs) to promote your brand and website. These influencers can direct their large audience to your website and support the purchase of your products or services, increasing your sales.
Influencers create content that they then promote on social networks like Instagram or YouTube, blogs, and many more. You can contact the influencers directly to ask if they are open to new collaborations.
Get mentioned in the press
All publicity is good publicity, right? Getting mentioned through PR and in big magazines and publications is a great way to generate web traffic. Press releases and mentions in the news often have a massive audience, new audiences who may not have heard of you.
Many press releases are done digitally, so you may also get an external link that could drive your web traffic and help your SEO.
