You might think that making adjustments to improve your business would be somewhat easier in our new digital environment. However, the reality is that online marketers are busier than ever as the online marketplace is rife with competition.
Literally millions of businesses are all working to attract consumer attention. They hope to get people to visit their websites and convert them into paying customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) managers are also busy ensuring websites are optimized for search engines. They hope to boost their rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) and increase site traffic.
What exactly is website traffic?
By definition, website traffic boils down to the number of people who visit a website. Traffic has historically been measured by the number of unique visits. Today, however, many additional parameters are measured. These include the length of a session — one visitor’s time spent viewing the site — and how many visitors stuck around long enough to make a purchase. Businesses also evaluate how much the organization spent to convert a single visitor into a customer.
Why is website traffic relevant to your business?
The more visitors you have accessing your website, the wider the awareness. This may seem obvious, but keep in mind that not all traffic is “good” traffic. What’s essential to your business is to get high-quality website traffic.
It’s possible to get what’s known as “organic” visitors via standard searches that make use of specific keywords. However, most people visiting your site will show up as a result of marketing campaigns. You can gauge the effectiveness of the time and money you spent on marketing and advertising by using specialized URLs, tracking software, and other tools.
Spending to make customers aware of your website is fine, but you won’t know how to tweak future campaigns unless you track your return on investment (ROI). You’ll want to convert those website visitors into customers at some point. Otherwise, you’re wasting time and effort that could easily be better spent elsewhere.
How relevant is website traffic as you seek to improve your business?
While all traffic might be appreciated, qualified website traffic will lead to conversion. Conversion means that your website visitors became sufficiently interested in what you offer to take action. They might have chosen to submit an inquiry, sign up for a newsletter, or even make a purchase. You’ll ultimately wind up with more sales if your website generates more conversions.
So…how do you get website traffic?
Despite what you may have been told, increasing website traffic isn’t nearly as complicated as rocket science. There are three things anyone — even the tech-averse — can do to boost website visits.
1. Start by improving your website’s SEO as part of an overall marketing strategy.
Once you’ve optimized your website to focus on industry-specific terms and keyphrases, you can begin increasing traffic to your site using a range of options. Your overall strategy can include paid advertising, such as from Google AdWords or ads on specific social media channels. You can also use pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Of course, you should continue refining your SEO efforts and thereby improve your organic search results.
2. It’s vital to provide high-quality content for marketing purposes.
Blogs, when consistently updated, can be an excellent source of referrals and links. When you regularly provide content relevant to your industry, business, and products, you become known as an expert. Over time, you establish yourself as a trustworthy source of information. This alone will increase visits to your sites.
3. Create specialized content for selected social media platforms.
When diving into social media, it’s critical to pick platforms that appeal to your target audience. Make sure that you provide complete contact information along with links to your website. Pick specific web pages you want to promote. Leverage different content formats including short video snippets, stories, high-quality images, and product-related activities and event videos. Social media is one of the fastest ways to disseminate information, whether you pay for the announcement or get it for free.
Increasing website traffic to improve your business bottom line is an ongoing process. However, if you don’t have a dedicated team able to handle it, you can work with a third-party provider specializing in online marketing services. With their experience and expertise, they can respond to your organization’s needs quickly and in the most effective and relevant ways.
