Often, my Indianapolis small business customers come to me asking how they can increase web traffic for their company’s website. Are you a small business trying to get noticed online in a sea of other competitors? Perhaps you don’t want to spend a fortune, or to do a complete overhaul of your existing website. In these cases, here are five tips you can try which may give your website an instant boost:
To boost your web traffic, simply set these 5 activities in motion
1. Include your web link everywhere: If people aren’t reminded of your website address, they won’t visit. So put your web link everywhere. It should be on every employee’s email signature, business card and brochure. You should also include it in email or print newsletters, advertisements, invoices, company letterhead, banners and vehicle signs. Encourage customers to use the website to find information, such as how to schedule an appointment or to learn more about your offering.
2. Refresh your website content: Has your web content been changed since you launched your website? It doesn’t take much to make a difference, but editing and refreshing stale web copy can help reinvigorate your website and attract new searches via Google and other search engines. Not sure how to enhance your web content? Think about how your business, customers or products/services have changed over the years. Do you need to add additional information or pare down extraneous information? Could your customers use the website to find additional information? How could your website help drive or pre-qualify leads for your salespeople?
3. Do SEO keyword research: If you want people to find your website, you’ll need to know what topics or keyword phrases your customers are using to search for information. Use Google’s free keyword tool to search on terms for your industry. Then look at ways you can alter your website to incorporate those phrases into your content – from the title tag to the photo captions and content on each page. Give this information to your marketing team or agency to implement for best results.
4. Get active on social media: Social media marketing provides an instant opportunity to drive new people to visit your website. It’s time to start using social media regularly if you haven’t already. Create a business account and make sure to update the profile with your company logo, company description and of course a link to your website. You can use social media to share content and engage with customers and prospects, driving them to check out your website for more information. Using social media daily, not sporadically, will help increase your website traffic through links and mentions.
5. Start blogging: Blogging is my #1 tip to my customers who are looking to increase their website traffic. Blogging creates ongoing, indexed content for your website that you can optimize (see tip #3) for greater search engine visibility. It’s relatively easy to set up a blog section to your existing website, and it’s even free to host your blog, since you are already paying for website hosting services. Blogging has evolved to become a legitimate content marketing strategy, enabling companies to share helpful tips and information about their industry, and a way to showcase their expertise. Your company leader or internal expert should be the main “voice” of your blog, but your entire company can get involved in brainstorming ideas for content. If you don’t have the writing knack, an outsourced specialist can help you transform your team’s ideas onto timely blog posts.
I hope you’ll consider implementing at least one, if not all of the five tips above to give your website a competitive edge and start driving additional traffic through your greatest marketing tool – your website.