The thought of generating lots of website traffic seems overwhelming to many new website owners, but this post will show you that it doesn’t have to be so complicated.
Here are some of the most effective and mostly free ways to get loads of traffic to your site. The list is long, so you may want to bookmark it for future reference, also, be sure to add your valuable tips in the comments section below. I’m sure my list won’t be complete as new methods become available every day, but together, we can make it the biggest list of all the free website tips and tools available in one place.
42 Website Traffic Tips You Can Apply Right Now
1. Add your URL to your email signature. Wisestamp offers a free basic email signature which is both attractive and suitable for most people. You can include links to your social media profiles, and a link to your latest blog post. You can also do this in the settings of your email program (how will vary depending on the program you have).
2. Deep link to an internal website link when you comment on forums, if it is allowed. Forum commenting is a great way to connect with influencers, while at the same time promoting your URL for free. When you post intelligent, useful comments and answers to people’s questions, they will most definitely go visit your website to learn more about you.
3. Add your URL to your offline promotions, including business cards, flyers, brochures and office stationery. Not only does it make it easy for people to get in touch with you, but it allows people with limited information about your business, to learn more and possibly buy additional products or services.
4. Print t-shirts with your logo on it and hand it out to family and friends. Or sponsor a local event, where you can use visual branding to promote your business. In fact, use company branding with your website URL everywhere – even if you’re a one-man show.
5. Add your URL to your company’s vehicle branding. You can get magnetic strips or vinyl decals to stick on your company cars. It is relatively inexpensive, but the more creative, the better.
6. Create viral online content, such as a really awesome video with your website branding and URL. Film a parody to your favorite song with a humorous message to bring people to your site. Post the video to your website and Youtube.
7. Offer a free product or service on your website.
8. Promote your site in free classified ads.
9. Submit your site to directories.
10. Include your site in online listings that are relevant to your niche.
11. Get links from other quality sites in your niche by commenting on their blogs or building relationships with them that will entice them to link to you on their sites on in their blog posts.
12. Use your social media accounts to promote your site for free. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Youtube, Myspace, Google+ – these are just some of the very effective social media sites that can not only bring you loads of traffic, but also spread your marketing messages virally. Be sure to use quality, valuable information that people will want to share. Having a presence in every social media channel is not necessary, but select wisely and focus on management and where your niche hangs out.
13. Make use of social bookmarking sites, such as Digg Delicious, StumbleUpon, and BlogVertise. Most of these networks don’t like self-promotion, but if you promote other sites, they will return the favor.
14. Offer a free trial on your website. If you sell software, it is easy to offer a 7-day free trial of the full product, or a watered-down version indefinitely, and encourage users to upgrade to the full package for more features.
15. Offer a free start-up package with templates, check lists, or anything else that is relevant to your site. For instance, if you are a tax attorney, you could offer a free starter pack with all the info a person would need to do their taxes. Or if you’re a hairdresser, you could offer a package with styles and colors matched to face shapes as well as a list of hair care tips. Or if you’re a web designer, you could create a list of great ways for readers to bring traffic to their sites…. See what I did there? 🙂
16. Launch a contest and offer free entry to a sweepstake or contest to your site visitors. Use RaffleCopter or a similar system to allocate draw entries based on actions they take.
17. Offer free online workshops via your website’s chat room. Choose a basic topic that will appeal to your visitors, preferably something you know a lot about, or something that a good friend or partner can expertly cover.
18. Give away an ebook with your URL on it. The nice thing about ebooks is that they don’t have to be 200 pages long to be valuable. Write a simple, yet valuable guide on something related to your website – something that will appeal to your readers and that people will queue up to download.
Tip: Be sure to use a subscription form to capture the details of everyone who wants to download your ebook. For even more traffic, use a “Tweet to Download” plugin.
19. Word of Mouth: Tell everyone about your website, online and offline. Work out a short and sweet 30-second pitch that, by way of introduction, will entice people to visit your site.
20. Start a forum using your site’s chat room, online message board, or an email discussion list. Make sure you offer valuable discussions where people can learn more, engage and be encouraged, or be amused, depending on the purpose of your website.
21. Participate in online chats and answer questions posted by other people. Be sure to post relevant, appropriate content and include your signature.
22. If you have a non-profit website, use your local community centers, libraries and clubs to create awareness. Stick up posters, host chats, advertise in their newsletters, etc.
23. Exchange business cards or pamphlets at meetings or leave them on signboards or in cafes.
24. Write articles that you can submit to e-zine directories, along with an enticing resource box that directs readers to your website. This is a great opportunity for you to spread your knowledge and expertise about your industry and your particular niche. Research your directories as some may have less than credible reviews.
25. Create a web page that focuses on the keywords you would like to rank for, and write compelling, SEO optimized content for each page. This is one of the easiest ways to gain authority and website traffic. Again, there are methods here that are not always ethical or real, so hire an expert who can help with this. You will need to decide the tone of your copy as well before writing solely for SEO. Make sure there is a fine balance that engages the reader and gives the information they are looking for.
26. Proofread your content to ensure that it contains no spelling or grammatical errors. Search engines are becoming tougher on the quality of content they index. High quality content is also more likely to be shared by visitors to their circles of influence.
27. Invite your readers to share your content by adding social sharing buttons to your site. Make it simple, quick and easy for people to share, insteaad of expecting them to jump through hoops by registering and confirming and what-not.
28. Use video marketing, particularly on your landing pages. Video allows people to connect with you better than through simple text and has been proven to increase conversions. Vlogs are becoming increasingly popular, and you don’t have to have a professional voice-over artist voice or model looks to be successful. People want to connect with YOU – with or without make up and crazy hair.
29. Start a blog and be consistent. If you don’t enjoy writing or you don’t have time, hire someone to do it for you. A professional copywriter has experience in researching any niche and with a few simple guidelines, to make you look like an expert in your niche and a good writer too.
30. Check your site frequently to ensure all links are working fine and that all your tags are in place. I recently posted a blogpost on spring cleaning your site which I suggest you check out.
31. Submit your sitemap.xml file to Google to ensure it shows up in search results. Also check out the rest of the Google Webmaster Tools to see their recommendations for making your site perform optimally.
32. Add fresh content, at least once a week, and in particular to frequently visited areas of your site. Blog posts, news items, events diary, image gallery updates… the options are endless. And be sure to add each update to your social media marketing list.
33. Give visitors what they are looking for, whether it is answers, advice to achieve a goal, entertainment, or anything else relevant to your niche. If you don’t know what they want – ASK!
34. Host a Twitter party with special guests from industry influencers related to, but not in competition with, your niche.
35. Add a “forward to your friends” link on your email newsletter to encourage people to share your email marketing campaigns with their friends. This will deliver more traffic to your site.
36. Use powerful titles and headlines when you post new pages or blog posts.
37. Use current events as inspiration for your blog or social media posts.
38. Controversy sells. Of course, it’s up to your discretion how you use it, but remember to THINK – is it True, Helpful, Interesting, Necessary, Kind? Never hurt someone else for the sake of increased website traffic. It may work once off, but most people will never visit your site again, unless your content is valuable and thought provoking.
39. Post a daily tip on any issue relating to your niche and when promoting it on social media, be sure not to give away the entire tip, but rather just a taster.
40. Do a compilation post once a week, featuring “The Best Of” something relating to your niche. It could be the best blog posts you read this week, the best recipes, best exercise tips, best properties for sale in your city, best photography tools, etc.
41. Link to industry influencers in your blog posts. However, you must be sure that you’re offering unprecedented value. You may just get lucky and receive public thanks for doing that in their upcoming post, complete with a link back to your blog.
42. When sending out blog posts to email subscribers, be sure that it contains only a small snippet of the post to entice them to click on “read more” and continue reading the post on your website.
There you have it – 42 (Mostly FREE) ways to get more traffic to your site. Do you have any more? What has worked for you? Please share it below in comments.