Wondering how to increase your website traffic without tanking your budget? We’ve found over a dozen free and paid ways you can attract potential paying customers to your website – all you need is a bit of hard work and creativity.
If you’re tired of overspending on social media ads but need to get more eyeballs on your products and services, read on. Test as many methods as possible to see which results in the biggest boost to your website traffic. Then develop a long-term plan to get more clicks.
Drive Traffic to Your Website With Content Marketing
People can’t buy from your business if they don’t know who you are and what you’re offering. Make yourself known by creating relatable, relevant content that helps customers solve problems. Gain their trust as a reliable source, and you’ll increase your website traffic each time they return for more advice.
1. Write a Blog to Solve Customer Problems
If you blog one to four times a week, you’ll drive 55% more website traffic than your competitors who don’t blog. Why? Search engines will rank your website higher on their results pages if you post the best answers to customer search queries.
Say you run a marketing agency and write about creating social media content. When someone searches “how to create an Instagram post” or “best social media practices,” they’ll see your articles on the search engine results page (SERP). The better your content matches search intent, the higher it’ll rank (and the more likely someone will click your link).
Search intent tells you what a user is trying to do. Typically, intent is split into four categories: informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional. Understanding intent is your first step towards writing content that serves customer needs – which is what Google wants you to do.
You can also improve your chances of a higher ranking by including internal links. Linking your existing content shows Google what topics you should rank for and increases your website’s authority.
While internal links, targeting search intent, and common web queries are important, remember your main goal with blogging: helping people find what they’re looking for. Whether it’s a lesson on escrow or a guide on how to increase your business’s value, serve a customer need in an engaging, conversational style and they’re more likely to click your content.
Impressing someone with one blog post can drive more traffic to your website when they explore your page for more answers. You earn their trust as a reliable source of information and encourage them to share the posts with others who’ll find them helpful.
Lastly, don’t forget to target your business’s buyer persona – an “ideal customer” profile based on market research and collected data. Increasing your website traffic translates to more revenue when you target people who could benefit from your business offering. Write blogs to attract a buyer persona, and you’ll likely snag those customers in real life.
2. Use Video Marketing to Appeal to a Visual Audience
Videos are a great way to boost website traffic when customers don’t have the time to read a blog. Post videos to your website, embed them in your blogs, or run them on social media to increase your monthly visitor count.
Think short, snappy content with an appealing visual style that summarizes a solution to customer problems. Condense blog topics into quick slides, adding visuals and graphics to keep viewers engaged.
You can also use videos to market your website, especially when you want to introduce your business’s latest products and features. See how we launched the APA Builder below.
Posting these videos on YouTube will appeal to a younger audience. Ninety percent of Americans ages 18-24 watch videos on YouTube, while only 9 percent of small businesses use it for marketing. Take advantage of the lack of competition to draw people into your channel. Then direct them to your website in captions or comments to increase traffic.
3. Plug Your Website on Podcasts
In 2023, an estimated 160 million people will listen to podcasts. Some of those people could be potential customers – all you need to do is reach them. If you want to boost web traffic, consider producing audio content that captures their interest and warms them to your brand.
The more you podcast, the more subscribers you’ll earn. And the more they listen, the more they’ll trust you and want to know what else your business offers. Post your website in the comments or caption so listeners can easily access it and boost your traffic.
Don’t be afraid to plug your business in the podcast episodes too. If you’re talking about a relevant industry problem, offer your business as a solution. A SaaS business that builds educational tools, for example, should mention its software when talking about remote classroom strategies on an episode.
You can also repurpose audio content as blog posts and videos. Cover all channels and provide people with options for consuming your content, just like Andrew Gazdecki does for Acquire.com.
Not sure if you’re ready to build your own podcast? Guest star on someone else’s. The startup world is friendly and welcoming to all founders, so ask a podcast host if you can share your expertise with their audience. Once you land a guest appearance, you’ll usually earn a shout-out and maybe even a backlink to your website in the show notes to boost traffic.
Optimize Your Website for SEO to Rank Higher on SERPs
You can trace 95 percent of all search traffic back to the first results page. Second page just doesn’t cut it. Increasing web traffic starts with increasing your search engine rank with SEO. How? By researching relevant search queries and adjusting your website and blog to reflect them.
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines. Google wants to provide searchers with the most relevant, authoritative content possible, so it looks for keywords in your content and webpage to prove you’re worth ranking at the top.
Imagine you run a website focused on photography. If you want to rank high on the search term “best wedding photo poses”, you need to incorporate those keywords and related search terms into your website or blog copy, headings, title pages, and meta descriptions.
But how do you know which keywords will result in the biggest boost to your website traffic?
4. Do Keyword Research to See What People Search For
Keyword research tells you what your customers and prospects commonly search for using search engines. Keywords (or keyphrases) differ by search volume (the number of times they’re searched per month) and specificity. Most keywords are split into the following three categories:
- Head terms: single-word keywords with high search volume and competition from other sites. For example, “Olympics” or “recipes.”
- Body keywords: two or three-word phrases with decent search volume but less competition than head terms. They’re also more specific, like “Summer 2020 Olympics” or “recipes for chicken.”
- Long-tail keywords: specific phrases with low search volume and far less competition. Long-tail keywords make up about 70 percent of search traffic and aren’t necessarily long phrases. They have multiple variations of the same search term, which result in a “long tail” on a demand graph. For example, you could say:
- “How do I watch the Summer 2020 Olympics?”
- “Where to watch the Summer 2020 Olympics?”
- “The best way to watch the Summer 2020 Olympics?”
- “What channel is the Summer 2020 Olympics on?”
These terms all ask for the same information but in different ways.
Long-tail keywords can rank higher and target niche audiences looking to answer a specific question. Including high-volume body keywords and head terms can help Google learn that you’re a relevant source of information, but it’s much harder to rank at the top of SERPs.
Ultimately, though, choosing the right keywords depends on your audience and who you want to target. The first step to keyword research is understanding the overlap between your business and customer searches. Create a list of all the topics related to your business and then narrow that list down to search queries.
Under “acquisition,” for example, people might search, “how do I sell my business” or “how do I buy a SaaS business?”
You can find alternative phrases by checking Google’s “Related searches” section at the bottom of the page or the “People also ask” section near the top. Or check out free keyword research tools like Moz Keyword Search Tool, Google Search Console, and Ahrefs Keyword Explorer.
When choosing keywords, experiment with different search volumes, competition, and other factors to maximize your visibility on SERPs, and consequently, website traffic.
Also, research phrases your competitors use that you don’t – if they’re ranking high, you can too. But a word of warning: Google prioritizes businesses with higher domain authority. Unless you have the cash to back up that level of competition, aim for a keyword with 100 to 1,000 monthly searches.
After reviewing your list of keywords, organize them by search intent and scatter them naturally throughout your website. Some phrases may be more effective in a blog post than on your homepage, for example.
Pay for Resources to Increase Website Traffic
If free, in-house options for boosting your website traffic don’t deliver the results you want, explore paid marketing tools. They’ll put a dent in your budget but might attract more and better quality visitors to your website.
5. Experiment With Paid SEO Tools
While you can conduct keyword research for free, tools like Semrush offer advanced services to give you an edge over the competition. Paid SEO tools can analyze past data to see what keywords have performed well for you and your competitors. You can also access content marketing kits that provide SEO content templates, topic ideas, and trackers for specific blog posts.
If you’ve got the budget, analyzing these metrics could help you refine your SEO strategy and boost your website traffic by the thousands.
6. Entice Customers to Your Website With Paid Ads
Paid advertisements are one of the quickest but most costly ways to drive traffic to your website. It only takes a day or two to get an ad approved by a search engine or social media platform. But once it’s live, you start paying per click (PPC) or impression (PPI).
- Pay-per-click is where you pay companies like Google or Facebook for each click on your advertisement.
- Pay-per-impression is where you pay every time someone views your ad (usually charged per thousand views or impressions).
How do you know which type of ad to use? It depends on your business and budget. PPI rates are generally lower and guarantee that a certain number of customers will see your ad. But you can’t measure how many people click on it.
With PPC, you know exactly how many people click through to your website. But other companies also measure their clicks and will bid on competitive ad space to drive as much website traffic as possible. The higher your bid on your target keywords, the more likely Google will display your ad in the coveted ad space at the top of the results page.
Paid ads for social media work a bit differently. Instead of targeting keywords, you target demographics like age, gender, race, location, and interests. You can post these ads in different sections of a social media platform, including in the feed, between users’ stories, or in the messaging section of the app. Place ads across multiple platforms to reach as many different audiences as possible, if you can.
Collaborate with Others to Expand Your Market
After exploiting every free and paid opportunity to increase website traffic, how do you keep boosting your visitor count? Try expanding your market by partnering with fellow creators and businesses.
7. Employ Top Influencers to Reach a Wider Audience
With nearly four billion people active on social media, you might struggle to target multiple markets on different platforms (unless you have an army of social media managers at your disposal). To bridge the gap between those markets, team up with social media influencers to spread the word about your business.
Influencers have built an audience that trusts them to recommend quality products and services. So when building trust with potential customers, influencers do the work for you just by posting about your business on their page.
When choosing an influencer to collaborate with, look for someone with a high engagement rate rather than a high following. The more an influencer engages their followers and encourages purchases, the more likely they’ll increase your website traffic. People can buy thousands of followers who aren’t interested in your niche, so focus on influencers who interact with potential customers.
Ecommerce businesses can thrive on influencer marketing. Send a free product or sample to the influencer and specify the number and type of posts you expect. Reels and videos will appear in more feeds and stories than static photos, for example. They also might display your product better.
Don’t run an ecommerce business? No problem. Include a discount code or free trial for influencers to market to their thousands or millions of followers. Before you know it, your website may be swamped with new visitors exploring your product or service.
8. Team Up With Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketers are more incentivized to increase traffic to your website than influencers. Why? Because affiliates earn a commission for each person that buys through their affiliate link. They’re as motivated to sell as you are as it impacts their bottom line.
This works better for you because the affiliate will do everything in their power to encourage clicks and purchases on your site. And rather than paying upfront for those clicks, you only pay them once a customer makes a purchase.
But ensure you employ affiliate marketing software like Everflow.io or LinkTrust to track performance. These platforms provide updates on clicks, purchases, commissions, and more. You can also use these programs to weed out imposters or scam affiliate marketers.
9. Connect With Fellow Founders Via Ecosystem Marketing
Thousands of startups may exist in your field, and while some might compete with you, many are run by founders who want their peers to succeed. Don’t be afraid to lean into that community when trying to drive traffic to your website.
Post your latest feature updates or product launches on sites like Product Hunt. You’ll find an enthusiastic community of fellow founders to support you. They can also provide feedback and reviews to help you improve your product.
Spread the word further by attending entrepreneurs’ conferences and conventions or writing about your business in industry publications. You’d be surprised how much traffic you can drive to your website just by connecting with fellow founders over shared industry interests.
10. Explore Partnerships With Related Brands
Ever heard of the Doritos Locos Taco from Taco Bell? It’s one of the food chain’s most iconic and profitable menu items, and it’s all thanks to a partnership with Frito-Lay.
Partnerships like these benefit both businesses because you draw in each target audience. Dorito lovers are willing to try Taco Bell just to have the tortilla-chip shell. And Taco Bell fans will experience the incredible taste of the chips and may buy a bag of their own.
You can also build mutually beneficial partnerships with related businesses and increase website traffic to both of your sites. Start by guest posting on blogs or being interviewed on podcasts to create backlinks for one another. Backlinks lend authority to websites and boost them higher in Google’s ranking.
Want to make it more informal? Engage with each other (and your followers) on social media. Host giveaways or promotional discounts together that require people to follow the other business. And drive website traffic immediately by requiring participants to click the link in the bio to enter the giveaway.
Engage With Your Audience to Boost Website Visitors
The more personality and individuality you display with your online business, the more traffic you’ll drive because people will be curious about your website. They want to buy from a human being, not a faceless corporate machine, so interact with your customers as you would friends.
11. Start Conversations With Your Followers on Social Media
Social media is not a one-way street but an exchange between everyone who participates. Don’t be afraid to converse with potential customers under your brand’s account. A memorable exchange could result in a sale or at least a customer referral, leaving you top-of-mind the next time a need for your product or service arises.
You can also use your channels to promote blogs, videos, feature updates, podcasts, discounts, giveaways, partnerships, and more. Place hyperlinks in as many spots as possible to encourage people to visit your website after interacting with your content. Tweet threads are a great way to achieve this and increase traffic to your website.
Not seeing the results you want from a certain platform? Try another channel. A video-centric app like TikTok requires different marketing tactics than a site like LinkedIn. Track conversion and click-through rates for each app to measure which channels perform best.
12. Use Email Marketing to Direct Customers to Your Website
Driving website traffic with new customers can cost you six to seven times more than re-engaging old customers. Exploit your email list to keep customers engaged.
Ecommerce businesses, for example, can send abandoned cart reminders, highlight new products, and offer deals to email subscribers. SaaS and marketplace startups can showcase launch updates and new feature releases to motivate subscribers to visit your site.
And similar to your social media account, your email marketing copy can contain an engaging, human voice that appeals to potential customers. Remind past and current customers why they bought from you in the first place.
Don’t forget to include links to your website in both the text of your email copy and the visuals embedded in the content. The more avenues you include to lead people to your website, the more you’ll boost your traffic.
Lastly, measure your email marketing metrics such as click-through rate, bounce rate, open rate, conversion rate, and unsubscribe rate. Platforms like MailChimp provide these metrics to help you restructure your email marketing so it increases as much website traffic as possible.
Offer Incentives to Reel People Back In
Another way to retain customers and drive website traffic is with incentives. Offer previous customers a benefit they can’t resist so they keep returning to your website for more.
13. Referral Programs
One way to tackle both new and returning customers is through a referral program. Say you’re a SaaS business that offers customers a cash reward if they refer a friend who subscribes. That reward is much less than paying to acquire a new customer, and as it’s a referral, the referee is usually more receptive to what you have to offer. And the cycle continues when that referral sends your sign-up link to another friend, increasing your website traffic and revenue.
14. Rewards Programs
Rewarding customers for every purchase is a time-tested and effective way to encourage repeat business. For example, give customers points for each dollar spent that they can later exchange for cash or prizes. This motivates the customer to keep buying from you. Even the temptation of double points or other discounts for reward members can drive traffic to your website.
How do I get traffic to my website fast?
It takes less than 24 hours for a tweet or post to go viral, so try smart social media tactics first for quick results. Add video marketing to your social media content, and you hit two birds with one stone. Take advantage of the lack of video marketing on YouTube, for example, to make your business stand out among video consumers.
If you don’t mind the cost, experiment with paid advertisements too. These ads take little time to produce and can be listed online within days. Assess your traffic after a week or two and you could easily see the results you want.
What is the cheapest way to drive traffic to a website?
You can write blogs, shoot videos, or record podcast episodes yourself for little to no cost, but these efforts can take time to see results (unless your content goes viral or you know someone with a large social media following).
How do I get 1,000 visitors to my website?
Consistent blog posting and building a following via email or social media will be the quickest way to 1k. Create a content calendar that reminds you to post an article every day, three days, or once a week. Do the same for your social media posts so you can regulate how much content internet users see from you.
And don’t be afraid to cross your methods. Share your blog post on social media, and embed your latest tweet in your blog post. Include a video with your post on Product Hunt, or send an email newsletter about your new rewards program. Reach as many audience members across multiple channels as possible for maximum website traffic.
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