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Business in the 21st century, whether you run a landscaping company or a law firm, depends heavily on the Internet, and while the possibilities for reaching potential customers seem endless, the truth of the matter is: Every one of your competitors’ websites is vying for the same space, attention and top search engine ranking that you are. If getting more meaningful traffic to your website is an essential component of your business’s day-to-day and long-term sustainability, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get to work. Here are seven little-known ways you can drive more relevant traffic to your website.
Focusing on Long-Tail Keywords
Keywords are the backbone of driving traffic to your website via search engines, and while head terms are the most popularly searched keywords, they’re also the ones that see the most competition, which means if you’re focusing solely on them, you’re probably not ranking very high. Long-tail keywords on the other hand, are keyword phrases that are lengthier — often five to seven words long — and very specific. By building content and posts around long-tail keywords, you’re more likely to rank higher in searches and snag the very customers who are looking for what your business provides.
Use StumbleUpon
If you post blogs on a regular basis, be sure to submit them to StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon is a huge database of content from across the Web that finds content for users based on their interests. So, if you run a small flower shop that specializes in orchids, submitting your blog posts on orchids to StumbleUpon will ensure that readers who are looking for content related to orchids can find you.
Headlines, Headlines, Headlines
Headlines are what make people click through to get to your content and website. Especially if you post your blogs to social media, your headlines need to arouse curiosity and interest or no one is ever going to bother to read what you’re writing.
Entice Via Twitter
When you create content for your website, you need to promote it or no one will notice that it even exists. Twitter, because it’s such a short and constantly changing social medium, is an ideal place to promote new content, articles and blogs to help drive traffic back to your website. But enticing readers and potential customers via Twitter takes a particular knack. When you promote content via Twitter, do so under the following conditions:
- · Use fewer than 100 characters. Short tweets have a 21 percent higher rate of interaction.
- · Don’t just tweet the page or blog title. Be provocative so that people want to click through and see what your tweet is in reference to.
- · Use stats, quotes — anything that will pique interest.
- · Don’t forget the hashtags. Tags will help broadcast your tweet to similarly tagged topics and can help in extending your reach.
Fresh Content
Search engines want to give their users access to the most relevant and timely content on the Web, which means: If you aren’t generating fresh content, you’re not going to rank as high in searches. While it isn’t necessary to blog every day, fresh content will keep proving to search engines and potential visitors that your business is viable, active and participating. Try to write at least one blog post a week on something that your customers want to know about your industry or business.
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Build Your Virtual Street Cred
There are a large number of ways you can increase your virtual street credentials within your industry or field, and every one of them will result in more traffic to your website. They just take a little bit of hustle and some quality writing skills. Examples include:
- · Be a guest blogger.
- · Include links to outside relevant posts on your website and blog.
- · Join a blogging community.
- · Respond to any blog comments thoughtfully and in a timely manner.
- · Comment on blogs and articles that relate to your industry.
Do What Works
Spend ample time with your analytics to ensure that your time and energy is going where they’re most effective used. Just because someone else sees the bulk of their website traffic from Facebook posts doesn’t mean you will. Know what drives the majority of the traffic that your website gets and keep putting your energy in that direction.
Getting more web traffic is something every business is trying to accomplish, but there’s a lot more that can be leveraged than just traditional SEO. From writing fresh content to increasing your Twitter-savvy, these seven lesser-known ways to drive traffic to your website will eventually lead to measurable results that will benefit you and your business over the long-haul.