Struggling to get traffic to your website? Not sure which are the most “effective” ways to drive traffic?
I used to be in the same boat. Here are some of the things that actually helped.
Content is the Key!
If you have great content, you know people will come back for more. It’s like going to Dillian’s candy store. You know you have to get at least one if not two candies. If people are happy, they come back for more. It’s simple.
A big mistake businesses make is jumping right into creating content without first making a plan or setting goals. No clarity, vision, and purpose will leave your content flat, and trust me, your readers will notice. You might have limited success, but don’t let that get to your head. You need to set clear goals on what you want to accomplish with your content, along with many other things.
Keep in mind that the type of content you post is important. Look around, check out what’s hot or trending. And see what kind of content businesses are creating around these trending topics. This is a great way to get insight and start planning how you will create successful content for your brand.
Here are a few tools to help you analyze what is trending:
Same link as above but different spots on the page.
Heck, you might even want to talk about something not so hot or even controversial so long that you make it interesting. Here are 189 words you can use to make something interesting. Be creative!
Note: While quality far out weights quantity, you do want to try to produce as much content as you can handle. It’s good for two reasons: Developing a loyal readership and for Google rankings.
Consistent Blogging
Let’s be honest! Blogging is essential to online content marketing strategy (assuming you have one…
So what is the end result of consistent blogging?
It gets steady, qualified traffic to your site, assuming you distribute it properly (will get into that later).
You or your brand stands out as a thought leader in your respective industry (who doesn’t want that).
Boosts your overall SEO rankings.
And last but not least you establish exceptional customer relationships that are hard to forge otherwise.
There is something inherently good about giving away free content and using that to give readers a glimpse of what you do, your standards for excellence, and a place to interface with you (through comments).
Get Their Feedback
It’s always good to ask for feedback. Why? Well because you can fix your faults and not make the same mistake twice.
For instance, I was rushing to get to a job interview and hang out with a few of my friends before and grabbed a quick POPPY bagel with cream cheese. I ate it as I was leaving for the Interview, said byes to my friends, but little did I know, I had all the poppy seeds stuck between my teeth. I was told by my genuine friend, “Quick fix that before you go.” Yep. A lifesaver indeed! Don’t be surprised when honest feedback is given.
Directly ask your customers to share their experiences with you. Be it positive or negative, you need to be able to take it with a grain of salt and change if need be.
Respond to Comments Personally!
Once a customer has given their feedback, make it your priority to reply to their comment in some way or another. If you are awfully too busy, even just a “like” will go far better than NOTHING.
It may be difficult to reply to everything, but always try to show you appreciate those who shared a heartfelt message. And please don’t be quick and easy, and think you’re smart by using the same response more than once or worse use a template. People can see your true colors. Yes at times, some replies can be very similar, but it is important to create one of a kind each time. Try to emphasize some of the points the customer has brought up and reply back to those.
On a technical note, if you send the same email template over and over you may be flagged for spam. Also on Twitter (and many other social media platforms) if you send the same message over and over, you will be flagged as well.
Build Your Social Identity
It’s a good idea to have a presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Heck, why stop there, get on Pinterest, Instagram, and maybe even YouTube or Vine. You NEED to be where your audience is. Ultimately, whether you’re B2B or B2C that really shouldn’t matter. Either way, you’re dealing with people. It just takes one connection to change your business forever. If that happens on Facebook or LinkedIn or Twitter, what does that matter?
If you can prove that your business has a personality, and there are actual “people” behind the name, you’re much more likely to succeed on these platforms.
Just please keep this in mind. DON’T FOCUS ON THE NUMBERS! Don’t worry about getting 20,000 Twitter followers. Work on the quality, not the quantity. What’s better? 2% of 20,000 or 20% of 2,000 or better yet 100% of 400. Food for thought.
Here are a few resources to help you accomplish this:
How to Build the Commodities of Identity and Trust in Social Media
How a Winery Uses Social Media to Increase Sales and Brand Loyalty
Run. Run a What? Run a Contest!
Okay so now you have your social accounts set up. Have you thought about running social contests? These work wonders for increasing likes follows, and engagement on social channels. Works better for B2C rather than B2B.
Run limited-time offers, giveaways, picture contests, or video contests. Use your brilliant mind and creative ideas.
Here are some resources to get you started:
12 Great Facebook Contest Examples
13 Ingredients in the Perfect Social Media Contest
Tap Into Your Connections
Ask them to share! Spread the word. If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. And if you don’t know, you don’t know!
Among adult Facebook users, the average number of friends is 338 according to PEW Research. If you share it with 30 people you are potentially reaching over 10,000 people. And Facebook is only one of many social media networks. The big potential here is to get the word out.
I’m sure you also have business cards scattered all over your desk or in your drawers. You might as well see if somehow your business might relate or complement and reach out to them individually.
The more connections you find the better. So don’t leave any rock unturned.
Build a List!
Get your fanatics straight to an email list. An email list for an online business is many times the most valuable asset your company has. A direct line to people who WANT to hear what you have to say, and what you’re selling!
Here are some creative ways you can build your list:
Note that most of these are WordPress-specific.
Optinmonster provides un-annoying popups with exit-intent technology.
Fixed header with Hello Bar.
Sidebar opt-in form. Optinmonster also specializes in this.
Slide inbox with Scroll Triggered Boxes or Optinmonster.
Get email signups with Twitter Card.
Facebook email signup form.
The customized form is automatically added to the end of all of your posts with Optinmonster.
Invest Money in Your Brand
Sometimes you have to spend money to spread the word. How? Spending your “Mula” in ads. Be sure to keep a budget on it, don’t overdo it.
Give it a few days or a week and keep track of your progress. It’s crucial that you keep an eye on the data to see if you are meeting your sales and goals because if you’re not then that doesn’t mean advertising doesn’t work, that means you’re advertising to the wrong people or in the wrong place.
Here are some creative ways to look for ad spots:
Look for 50 YouTube channels in your niche with a high amount of subscribers (> 5k) and reach out to them.
Do a Google search for smaller blogs in your niche and reach out to 200 of them to possibly sponsor some of your content or place an ad.
BuySellAds
You’d be surprised at some of the opportunities you might find.
Be in it For the Long Haul
A few ways to build momentum for the long run is to be sure:
To target the right people for your business. Your content and advertising depend on it.
Be the brand that’s trustworthy, entertaining, and/or interesting. This is how you really stand out.
To share valuable content (not junk). Need I say more?
Before you know it, you will have a colony of people who love you and the brand.
Maybe 5 years ago it was a bit easier to “make it” online. But today it’s just harder, much harder. That means you have to work harder and work smarter.. simultaneously. Some wise man once said that if you put your mind to it and work hard you can surpass about 80% of the competition on merit alone. The next 15% can be outsmarted by working smarter and studying hard. The last 5% is where the real competition is at.
