How to increase website traffic (for FREE)
/It is possible to drive traffic to your website for FREE and grow it month on month?
You bet it is! Welcome to the first in a 5 part series focussed around tips and tactics to drive FREE traffic to your website.
I want you to think a little like a circus ringmaster for a moment and come with me as I outline how you can get bums on seats or in this case eyeballs on your website and it will only cost you time and effort on your part.
First up, Are you actually tracking your website traffic now?
It really doesn't matter whether you are using Google Analytics to do this ( although that is my preferred method and really the best method ) or if you are using the inbuilt analytics method that comes with your website, the most important thing is that you need to start recording and tracking your website growth.
You can't get anywhere without first understanding where you are starting from. It is also important as it will help you know what is actually making a difference to your website traffic when you start to change things up.
Are you across the following key pieces of data?
- Weekly Visits and Monthly Visits
- Most popular pages
- Type of content that is currently most highly visited
- Where your visitors come from ( social channels, google search, other websites )
- How long they stay there?
- Are they new or returning visitors?
If you don't have Google Analytics installed on your website you really need to take care of that right now. I have a comprehensive guide to installing Google Analytics into just about any website platform. You can read that here.
If you do have Google Analytics installed already but are not sure what it is really telling you, then I suggest you read this post on the 7 key areas you need to understand inside Google Analytics.
Secondly, Are you conscious of your target customers and what they are looking for?
If not, I suggest you have a read of this post on identifying your dream client. Understanding who we are trying to target and attract in the first place will make so much of the information I am sharing next work much better for you.
OK, so still with me?
Great.
Let's settle in then to the 4 key ways you can drive FREE traffic to your website.
- Content Marketing
You need to create a content marketing plan around- The right keywords
- Answering your customers and potential customers questions
- Educating your market - not everyone will be either aware of you, or fully aware of their problem or your solution. So you will need to educate them about their problem and about your solutions to their problems.
- Search Engine Marketing
Have you correctly structured your content that you are sharing to be more easily found by your target audience ( note keyword research above ) - Social Media Marketing
Are you using your social channels to share and re-share your content. Are you aware of the automation tools you can use to schedule and rotate your older content and bring it to the attention of those people that deserve to read it again, or missed it last time. - Authority Building
What are you doing in your space to build up your reputation and personal authority?- Are you using PULSE and MEDIUM to share your message
- Are you contributing inside Facebook groups that suit your niche
- Do you have your own Facebook group?
- Can you provide guest blog posts or be a guest on someone else’s podcast
- Are you speaking locally, business groups, industry nights, chamber of commerce meetings.
- Have you joined industry groups in your niche that you are be active in - member spotlights, offers, networking opportunities
I am going to be going deep into these 4 areas over the coming weeks and stepping you through how to best approach these items to best build your business.
Ready to roll up your sleeves? Look out for my next post on Authority Building and how to build up your personal brand next time.
Looking for some Google Analytics help? I've got you covered. Dive into my 7 lessons for $7 ecourse now. Take the mystery out of your numbers
