If you are wondering how to generate traffic to your website, I have 21 proven and helpful ideas.
As we learn more about how search engines work and what they want from us in order to show our content to others, this list will get longer. That is why you can download more tips from my Resource Library when you sign up for my newsletter.
That will give you 51 ways, some of which you may not have thought of.
This post was originally published December 26th, 2018 and has been updated to be current with new information. This post may contain affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure is here.
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My name is Irma and I help new bloggers to learn the ropes. There is a lot to take in that first year of blogging, from choosing a niche to changing your mindset from worker bee mentality to that of successful entrepreneur.
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What is targeted traffic?
Targeted traffic is the portion of traffic that is a part of your target market. Your targeted audience arrives at your site due to marketing strategies and offers crafted specifically to grab their attention.
These pre-qualified visitors can turn into leads, which can turn into buyers, then become repeat buyers, and ultimately turn into loyal customers.
And you need targeted traffic to work your sales funnel(s). The more people who enter your funnel, the more potential buyers you will have for your products and services.
With millions of websites on the internet vying for your target market’s attention, you need to actively attract and convert your ideal buyers.
Targeted traffic is also known as your avatar or ideal customer. FYI I have an Avatar worksheet in the library as well, so sign up for my weekly newsletter and grab it if you need help with this.
How to define your target audience
To refresh your memory, creating an avatar starts with a broad target audience.
- An example of a broad target audience could be women.
- Niching that down further, an example could be middle-aged women.
- Going one-step further, you could target single, middle-aged, women.
As you can see, you can continue niching your audience down as needed.
When you know your target audience well, you can successfully market to them by providing the information and solutions they need.
And your specific audience is looking for information from people who target their felt need.
How to target your audience for increase website traffic
While knowledge of online technology and marketing is very helpful, you don’t have to be an expert. You can learn as you go.
Implementing what you learn, as you learn it, can make a real difference to your bottom line.
To increase traffic in a targeted way:
- Create engaging content
- Apply proper SEO techniques according to current standards
- Monetize your website in anticipation of new traffic
- Use strategies to continually increase the amount of visitors to your website.
Proper keyword research is the backbone of SEO.
All search engines, from Google to YouTube to Pinterest require proper keywords so that they can show your content to people who are looking for it.
Poorly keyworded content ends up in the bottom of search results and that makes blogging success much harder to achieve.
Related Post: Easy Keyword Research for Beginners
As well, be ready for your new traffic.
You do not want to bring people to your site and have them leave right away because there is nothing to engage with.
- Put opt-in boxes all over your website to encourage people to join your mailing list.
- If you are selling eBooks or eCourses, have them “above the fold” so that people can find and buy them if they want.
- Inter-link your content to keep readers on-site longer and increase pageviews.
In other words, have a strategy for the people who visit.
Do not make visitors guess what to do next…tell them.
They will appreciate a website that is easy to navigate and that has posts with helpful links so that they get more information (yours or others).
But if you want them to click a link, tell them to in creative ways.
Not bossy, as in CLICK THIS LINK!! Be subtle while being helpful; tell them:
- Click here for more help
- Go to this blog post for more information
- If this topic interests you, here is a product you may be interested in
or words similar and then link to the appropriate post/page.
Promote Thyself
There are plenty of free ways to increase traffic. Just be aware that free can equal slow.
I would suggest paid ads for the content that is really popular and slow ways for other content until you see if it gets popular.
The quick way to get traffic is by paying for ads on places like Facebook and Pinterest.
It is important that if you try these methods that you understand how to do it correctly.
Take a course that teaches how to read analytics and how to tweak as needed. Don’t just try the “Boost” method on Facebook; this will give you minimal results and an unhappy experience. I know because I tried. Twice.
And then I took an actual Facebook ads course and I learned that the boost method is basically useless. It has a limited purpose which I guess is why it is offered for free.
Getting traffic to your site isn’t difficult
Search engines can do a lot of the work for you if you use good SEO practices. Read my review of Adventures in SEO and then sign up for my newsletter to find out when the course is open again.
With that said, you can try any and all of the following tips to increase traffic on your website.
21 Ways To Generate Traffic to Your Website
Use these ideas to help you reach your target market and your goals.
1. Set yourself up as an authority
The topic you chose for your website is one you should know a great deal about. People in your circles see you as an “authority” on this subject.
To help others see you in this light, share as often as you can, everywhere that you can. Get out there and “be seen” in your local area and online.
- Share your knowledge and experiences on your website.
- Offer to guest post on similar sites.
- Team up with another authority figure.
- Host a webinar to teach or mentor others.
- Mention and quote your favorite authorities.
- Sponsor events.
- Stay up to date on your topic to keep traffic coming your way.
Above all, keep learning and sharing in a variety of ways and places to build your authority reputation.
2. Collect and review traffic data
Learn how to collect and use traffic data to analyze your web traffic, marketing endeavors, and advertising campaigns.
Related Post: Google Analytics Tutorial
Keeping track of where your traffic comes from, what actions visitors take, and where they go, enables you to identify what works, what doesn’t work, and what you can do to draw more targeted traffic to your website.
3. Don’t be afraid of learning SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of raising your position on search engine results pages (SERPs) by using specific strategies, techniques, and tactics.
The course I use and recommend is Adventures In SEO 2.0. Join my newsletter to find out the next time this amazing course will be open for enrollment.
Related Post: Ten Easy SEO Wins
The higher you are on the results page, the higher your ranking is and the more targeted leads you’ll get.
4. Create interactive blog posts
Your content needs to be interactive. Ask questions that allude to a problem and its solution.
For example, a life coach that wants to find readers who need more money and a positive mindset could create a blog post asking something like, “How Are Negative Thoughts Limiting Your Paycheck?”.
Readers who can relate, that is those that have negative thoughts and want more money will click through to find out more. Remember to use an enticing call-to-action in your promotions to encourage click-through.
5. Get a good pop-up for email capture
Having a good pop-up email capture in place can literally make the difference between being forgotten and making multiple sales. It also does wonders to increase traffic to your website.
Since pop-ups can be annoying, especially if not used properly, it’s important to choose a pop-up that has a variety of options and features.
I use MailerLite and my pop-up is set to appear when a user scrolls to 50%. This way I know I am targeting people who are reading my blog post.
If the pop-up covers up or restricts viewing the info before they know it’s good, they may just leave the page, never to return. Use pop-ups wisely.
6. Create a free printable worksheet to give visitors
After explaining an advanced or confusing concept, offer visitors a printable worksheet or checklist related to the concept.
It can help people get better at learning how to do something new when they can quickly run through the steps as they learn.
7. Create a top 10 list
You can create a top 10 list of the most important skills your reader should have on a particular subject.
Sometimes they just want a quick fix and need a little hope that there is a solution for what they consider their problem. This type of content also makes a good freebie to give new subscribers.
8. Create plenty of How-to Posts
Millions of people search the internet with the words “How to” in front of their search. How to posts are by far the most popular content to write because so many people want to read it.
How to posts will increase traffic to your website with people searching for that very same query.
9. Market and network connections new and old
“Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.”
Keeping up with your market and network connections can give you an edge, especially when it comes to traffic. Keep in touch with your existing connections but remember to make and build relationships with new people in your industry. Networking is an excellent way to increase traffic to your website.
Both new and old connections can be an advantage to your business and send targeted traffic to your website.
10. Create engaging headlines
Make sure your blog posts have well-crafted titles and headlines as well as sub-headings, when applicable.
Related Post: 101 Great blog post titles that really work! (they also work as newsletter subject lines for a win-win)
Your titles and headlines should be engaging, contain power words to encourage action, pique curiosity, and when possible, allude to the solution of a problem.
11. Create a tutorial
Nothing beats a great tutorial to reach your target audience.
Be sure to check your analytics and create content like this only for your popular posts.
If no one is reading that type of content on your blog it is a waste of time creating more of it.
- You can begin with a teaser alert telling your mailing list readers that you will be working on a tutorial for them.
- Your next email can announce that in two weeks the tutorial will be ready.
- Send out emails with dates and times to have readers sign up.
Limit the special offer by time or number to create a sense of urgency.
12. Offer hacks on topics of interest
People love short cuts or hacks. Create posts on how to use topic related hacks to make life easier for your target market.
You may be surprised how many people use the word, “hack” when doing a search for your topics.
13. Join Webtalk to network and increase traffic to your website
Webtalk is where all the bloggers went after Google+ disappeared.
You can share your content with other users around the world, while meeting new people and networking. It’s a wonderful way to have your content spread.
Never heard of Webtalk? Here is a short video to introduce you!
14. Learn how to use video
For many website owners, writing keeps them busy. They don’t often think of putting themselves out there on video but video is on the rise and people love it.
Consider learning how to use YouTube or TikTok or any popular video app and create your own channel to capture targeted traffic. Web users love videos.
Afraid of getting in front of the camera? Like everything else, it takes practice and then more practice.
Related Post: Fear of Success
15. Use your elevator speech
If you want to draw more traffic, craft and practice your ever-ready elevator speech.
Write out a short synopsis of who you are and why you are doing what you do. Read it out loud to yourself until you have honed it. Be prepared to use this elevator speech whenever someone asks you what you are up to these days.
16. Include links to relevant posts
Clearly this one is a favorite of mine 😉
Links are important, both incoming and outgoing links. Make it a priority to link related posts on your site to each other. This is often referred to as “internal” linking.
Here is an example: Related Post: 101 Blog Post Titles That Really Work
So if you want more “click worthy” blog post titles, newsletter subject lines or ideas for CTA buttons on sales pages, you could go to my blog post for ideas.
In addition, occasionally link to related content on expert sites. This is called “external” linking.
Linking to expert or authority sites can help to elevate your authority standing. When a website refers to and links to your site, it is referred to as an “incoming” link.
17. Create a newsletter to increase traffic to your website
Once your mailing list is set up, it’s time to create a newsletter.
You may think these are too time-consuming or you don’t have the right skills. Don’t worry. Your newsletter can be as simple as an update or the notification of a new product.
I get long newsletters and I get super short sales newsletters. Look at the ones you get and steal ideas.
18. Run a contest or sweepstakes
Before you create a contest or run a sweepstakes, be sure to know the difference both professionally and legally. Every state has its own rules when it comes to what differentiates the two.
You can give away eCards for coffee shops, Amazon shopping, or whatever product or business that you know the majority of your readers can access.
Just make sure that it is tied to some benefit for your business.
19. Make your website search engine friendly
Your website content should relate to the needs and wants of your target market.
- Use an easy to navigate theme that makes creating menus and sub-menus easy.
- Group similar topics together under one heading
- Keep useful information in the sidebars
- Limit the ads to keep load times fast
While visitors will share website posts and other info, search engines play the most prominent role in your success. Keep them happy by beginning with a quality website theme or template.
20. Create a Facebook group
When you create a Facebook group related to your business, you essentially create a community where people with similar interests can interact with you and each other.
A Facebook group is the best way to connect with your subscribers. Invite them to join your group to learn what they need most.
You can create a new group for each topic on your website. Record helpful videos for people to give them helpful information on a particular topic.
21. Keep in touch
If you are between contests or new product messages, make certain to keep in touch with your readers.
- Email about a good article on a related hot topic.
- Send a message about your latest post.
Just keep feeding your readers information they are interested in.
If it is a new season, send them an infographic with some interesting topic related facts.
Create an infographic with one of your own sayings and pass it along.
Conclusion
I hope that you have enjoyed this post and found it helpful. Please share with others…sharing is caring! Let me know in the comments if these tips work for you!
Be sure to sign up to my newsletter and grab those other 30 traffic generating ideas. Once you have implemented a few of these, you will start to see the impact in your analytics.
Until next time, happy blogging and follow me on Pinterest!
-Irma 🙂
