Your website is the image of yourself and business to the world. It is the building blocks to establish your online presence. There is one problem with your website – how to get targeted interested visitors to your site? Find below a couple of tips on how you can increase the traffic to your website.
Search Engine Optimization
Make sure your website has been SEO optimized by including all the on page optimization elements in to it. On page optimization includes:
- Use keywords in your content, headings, page names and META tags;
- Include alt and title text in your images;
- Create a XML sitemap file so that search engines can find all your content pages;
- Use keywords in outbound and inbound links;
- Use valid heading tags. Search engine crawlers notice the usage of <h1>,<h2>,<h3> and views this as important text;
- Use keywords in your URL’s;
- Create search engine friendly URL’s for your website;
- Correct HTML validation;
Pay per click
For instant results, advertise on the top search engines. Pay per click (PPC) advertising allows you to pay to have your ad listed on the major search engines. They usually appear at the top, bottom or right side of the search engine results page (SERP) and are identified as Paid Listings, Sponsored Links, Sponsored Listings, or Featured Listings. This is the fasted way to promote your website.
Blogging
This is my favourite. With a blog you can attract interested readers. Blog regularly about related topics your targeted customer is interested in. Always include backlinks to your website.
Social Networking
Create and setup your profile in popular online social networking websites. Create links on these back to your blog and website. Popular ones include LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace. Social networking isn’t simply creating your profile and be done with it. Join targeted groups on these sites and participate in the groups. Even though this takes a while to setup, your return will often exceed the time and cost you have dedicated to this.
Forums
Participate in online forums as an expert. This can also help to build trust and credibility for your online presence. With most forums, you can promote your website or blog by including a signature back to your site.
Article
Write and publish articles and place them on article syndication sites. Other web site owners pick them up and publish them on their web sites.
Signatures
Include links to your website in every email that you send out. Include your company name and your website URL.
Printed materials
Include your company name and website URL on all your invoices, statements, proposals, letterheads, business cards and brochures.
Links
Trade relevant links with as many websites as you can. Relevancy is the key.
Video
Setup a viral video about your company and your services. Upload the video to popular video sharing websites like YouTube and Viddler. You can also create a dedicated YouTube channel for your business.
Free Ebook or Report
Promote and give away a free report, analysis or ebook. This could be information that would be helpful to your visitors that contains your business information. You can promote this on your social networks, forums and emails.
Newsletters
Keep in touch with your clients and potential clients by sending out a newsletter on a regular basis. This can be printed or email. Add newsletter subscription to your website.
Even though these are ways to increase the traffic to your website, they don’t happen overnight. Once you have realised that your website can be more than a simple online brochure, you will realise the importance and the time that you must dedicate to increase the visibility of your website.