10 free ways to drive traffic to your website
A website is essential for brands doing business in our current digital economy. It provides information about the company, services and products they offer, how to do business with them, and how to get in touch with them. Once you build your website, you then need a strategy in place to drive traffic to your website so people can find you.
Your website is one of your most important digital marketing channels, and this is why.
With the advancement of mobile technology, people expect to have access to the brands they want to do business with whenever, and wherever they are.
With an increase in worldwide e-commerce sales, brands that are developing their business online have an advantage. Leveraging their website as a central place for information and the ability to purchase products or services, provides a brand with the opportunity to support their customers and generate revenue 24/7.
This study shows the trend in online sales continues to grow worldwide.
Worldwide e-commerce sales in 2018 were $2.8T USD and are expected to grow to $4.9T by 2021. The share of Canadian buying online has increased from 43% in 2013 to 61% in 2019
Businesses that built their market expansion strategy based on an online strategy were
1.7x more likely to have higher sales growth
1.5x more times likely to have higher profit growth
2.8x more likely to serve international markets.
Source: Business Development Bank of Canada Expand Online Study, July 2019
Marketing is an investment, but it doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money.
Marketing to promote your business offers a return on investment when done strategically, but it still comes with a cost, especially when it comes to driving traffic to your website. The good news is there are some free or less expensive options available! The following tips will help start-ups or existing businesses who are just getting started building their online brand, to increase the number of visitors to their website.
Here are some ways to increase traffic to your website
1. Social Media
Profile description - Add your website link to your social media profiles. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are 5 top social media profiles for both B2C & B2B companies. In your company's profile, including your website address in the profile area and about section.
Groups - Join Facebook or LinkedIn groups that are relevant to your business. Like, comment, share information with the group. They will see who you are, and if interested, check out your profile which will have a link to your website. Provide any relevant and resources that you have on your website that may be helpful to the group. You can engage in conversations with people outside immediate network, show your thought leadership, and if they are interested in what you have to say, they might check out your profile (that will have your website address on it).
Share content - Start a conversation by sharing content that you have created and posted on your website. Ask for their feedback! How about asking them to check out your blog and give you some ideas of other topics to write about.
Also read: Instagram bio link options
2. QR Codes
QR Codes are free to create and then add to print marketing. Take your website's URL, put it into an online QR Generator, and it will create a unique image. When scanned with a mobile device, it will recognize the image and take the user right to your website. Since more people are using their phones to look up information online, this makes it much easier for them rather than having to type in the address. This works well when you have a webpage with a long URL. Use on Flyers, Newspapers Ads, Magazine Ads, Brochures, In-Store Signs
3. Business Emails
If you don't have an email that ends with your website URL, then that is something you need to do as soon as possible. Not only does it look more professional than having a hotmail.com / gmail.com email, but everyone will see what your website address is when you send them an email. To get this done, there are often free options available with your website hosting, but if not, Google Business email address is a low cost option. Also, when sending your email create your email signature that includes a hyperlink to your website.
4. Website Backlinks
Seek opportunities to get other websites to link back to your website. This is often referred to as a backlink strategy. This takes some time to research and contact the website owner, but usually worth the effort. The cost is your time, but the benefit is long-lasting. You will be able to leverage traffic from that website to gain traffic to yours potentially, and it can support your ranking as Google looks for the number of relevant backlinks to a website when ranking for search engine results. Here are some examples to consider -
Charitable organizations that you sponsor or support (e.g. volunteer),
Local business networking groups or Industry related membership groups
Your vendors, are those suppliers where you source your products. if you resell a product created by a local vendor, or they probably have a page that tells their visitors where they can purchase their product locally. For larger suppliers, most of them have a locator showing where people can find their local supplier; make sure you are on it.
Co-marketing with similar businesses is a way to share costs and leverage each other’s networks. If there are businesses that share your target audience, and provide products and services that relate to your business, there may be an opportunity to do some co-marketing. Co-marketing may include links to each other's websites, e.g. hair and beauty products, music lessons and instrument sales, writing and graphic design, interior design and window film.
5. Email Marketing
When making your email marketing template include all your social media profile links, as well as your website address in the footer area. On your email campaign, hook your reader with excerpts from your recent blogs with a READ MORE link, so they will go to your website to read the full article. If you provide workshops and events, create a landing page on your website to collect all the initial traffic and then redirect them to a registration page (e.g. Eventbrite) through your email campaigns.
6. Directory Listings
Yellow Pages, Google Business Listing, Yelp, and Tripadvisor, are just a few community directories that offer a basic free online listing. Check your local area for more. Often there are free industry-related directories that have a similar basic listing. For a low cost, Brightlocal.com/small-business is a place where you can manage all your directory listings.
7. Presentation Slides
If you are in the business of consulting, a salesperson, or a trainer, make sure to include your website as part of your CONTACT ME slide at the end of your presentation. Offer to email your presentation to attendees after your workshop. It will be a way to follow-up after your presentation, and they will have your website address readily available to find out more about other work that you do.
8. Slideshare
Upload your MS Powerpoint presentations to slideshare.net for FREE! You will reach a new audience, Slideshare will help promote your product to their viewers. You can also share your presentations easily on your LinkedIn profile. People viewing your Slideshare account will see your website address, as well, they will see your website address on your presentation.
9. Blogs
Create, post on your website, and share to social media. If your company doesn't already have a blog, you should start. You DON'T have to be a writer to have a blog. Short, frequent, and visual blogs are often the most popular among readers. Make sure you know your audience and create content that is relevant and interesting to them. Once they find you, they will keep coming back for more. Remember, Google positively ranks websites providing relevant, quality information available for users.
Blog Subscribe - MailChimp, and many other email marketing platforms have a form that you can add to the sidebar or footer of your website so your readers can add their name and email address to get your latest posts right into their email box.
Comment - Visit other blog sites and comment on their blogs. When you sign in to comment, there is a place to add your website. Not only will the writer of the article notice your website, but other viewers of the article will as well
10. Google Search
Submit your website address to be included in the search engines to improve organic search (SEO) - Google & Bing are two popular search engines, but there are others. Your website developer may have done this already for you, so you might want to check before you go to effort. Submit your website URL links - Google & Bing. Note - Yahoo is now powered by BING.
Think about the keywords and phrases that people will use to search on Google when they have a problem and are looking for a solution or challenge that your product/services offer. Make sure to include these words and terms on your website.
Test your site to see if it is optimized. There may some quick fixes you can do yourself. For more significant fixes, contact your website designer. Here are some free sites to analyze the performance of your website and get recommended fixes and tips.
Remember to talk about it!
In business conversation, if it is relevant, mention the content that is on your website. Then.. Give them a business card, Offer to send them an email with an article link that is relevant to the topic you are discussing. Promotion of your Website has positive outcomes when you are directing them to content (on your website) that can help them through their buying/decision process.
