A lot of people that have designed their own website believe that is all there is to it, design, launch and instant traffic. Unfortunately getting website traffic takes a lot more than just building a website and putting it out there. We will show you some pro tips on how to get more traffic to your site and to keep traffic coming in the future.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The most important item to address happens before you officially launch your website. Search Engine Optimization should bring you to review your content and make sure it has appropriate keywords that will assist search engines to connect users with relevant content. Most inexperienced web designers overlook this process and think just writing about their products will get them found. Keep one thought in mind, how many other businesses sell the same products or services? You need to make sure your business stands out above all your competitors through proper SEO. It is also important to remember to keep adjusting your keywords and content for as long as you run the website. This keeps things fresh and can help to find more traffic.
Google Analytics
You will need to create a google analytics account (click here to start). It is a free service that Google offers to website owners to track traffic and visitor behavior while they are on your site. It will show how long each visitor remains on a page and how many pages they visit in a session. Google Analytics also has advanced features that can help you understand the monetization of pages that you set up. When you are done setting up your analytics account it will provide you with a code snippet that you place into your website so google is able to start tracking your information. This tool provides the site owner with excellent information and also lets google know that your site is legitimate and active.
Google Search Console
Another free tool available through google is their Google Search Console. Search console connects to your website to provide valuable information such as broken links, mobility issues, and page performance. To set up your free account with Google Search Console just click the link (click here to start). Google search console connects to your website after you enter in some key information to your site or DNS settings on your server side. Once you connect your site it is recommended that you also upload your site map(s) to the search console as this makes it easier for google search engine to understand your site when it crawls it. Google offers a beginners guide for people that would like to understand more of the benefits of using search console (Google Beginner Guide).
Marketing Your Website
Although taking the above actions will help your site to be found there are additional steps that will increase your visibility. Some are free and some may cost a little bit of money, but both are viable options to help you. The first thing that needs to be done is to share your new website on all of your social media accounts. This is free and will let your followers know you are growing and where to go to find out more information about your products or services. A good rule of thumb to remember is social media is like an interstate, but your website is the final destination. Although you want people to find you and follow you on your social media accounts, ultimately you want them to come to your site and make a purchase. You can share your main page address or give them the opportunity to go to a specific page that you are trying to get more people to notice.
Another important step is to add your official website anywhere that has the option. Facebook business pages provides a specific place as does twitter and Instagram so be sure to add that into your business information. This creates links to your site and is also seen as a plus by search engines. If you have a brick and mortar store be sure to set up a Google my Business page as well. This takes some time to do correctly, but it is also a free service offered by Google and will give you more exposure. Once you have a Google my Business page be sure to also grab your free listing from Bing as well.
There are also pay options to get more traffic to your website and these options must be taken seriously and should be fully understood by the user so you get positive hits. Google Ad Words, Bing and Yahoo advertising are each very different platforms and the ads need to be set up differently. The user should try and create direct ads that target the specific demographic they are looking for or it could result in false clicks that cost money. Facebook also has an option to use pay per click advertising to push more traffic to your site. It is an excellent way to get traffic, but again we can’t stress enough how important it is to understand each platform and how to “dial in” your prospective customers.
Measuring Success
Just getting traffic to your site is not the goal, you want sales! When you are running advertisements or using the free options always be sure to watch the insights and see which ads produce an interested customer or just a window shopper. Learn from ads that don’t produce and be sure to model your future ads towards the ads that are successful. Professional public relations firms like JLM Communications have learned these tricks and tips, but so can you. It just takes time and dedication. When you launch your website there is still a lot of work that needs to happen in order to connect with customers and have them choose to spend their money with you and not a competitor.