Having a website is like having a physical location somewhere in town. How are you going to get people into the doors of your business?
How are you going to get people to come to your website?
People coming to your website is known as website traffic, which I have written about previously.
People coming to your website is known as website traffic
In that article, I break traffic sources down three ways: Organic Traffic, Paid Traffic, and your Email Newsletter.
I even made a nifty little graphic for it.
Organic is traffic that comes to your website, which you have not paid for. Paid, of course, is traffic that comes that you paid for.
These sources mentioned above take time. It is sort of like a wave you see coming off in the distance.
It has an accumulative effect. Therefore, we have to do some things as business owners to help and that is what I am talking about in this article.
So, if you are ready, here are four tips you can use to begin driving traffic to your website.
1) Business cards
Grab a stack of business cards and make your website address prominent. In fact, have your designer to make a QR code and put on the card.
In a moment’s notice, this will make it easier for a potential client to pull up your website on their mobile phone.
2) Go out and meet people.
Hey, I’m talking to the choir here. I need to invest in a day to go meet people.
There are lots of opportunities in the town where you live. You have the Chamber of Commerce, Toastmasters, Business Networking International, Kiwanis Club, and Rotary International.
Your town also may have several entrepreneurial groups you can attend.
If you have a clear target audience, go where they are. Shake their hands, look them in the eye, and tell them what you do and how they can find you.
Hint: your website. Give them that business card!
3. Get local publicity (public relations).
There are a couple ways to generate local publicity.
First, you can sponsor a little league team, sponsor anything related to youth, including a program, or simply give donations to a good cause. The right amount of donation will lead to publicity with in their circle and often a broader audience.
Now, we are not doing this for the gain that we are getting, but because we believe in what we are supporting. However, it can accomplish these two objectives.
Next, you can create a news release. This can be tricky because it doesn’t always lead to coverage. Your news release has to be related to something that is actually news worthy.
Starting a new service that is more unique than your competitors? There is a story.
Selling new products that are highly coveted? You have something for news.
Once you create the news release, find the right places to send your release. That is tricky too.
You will need to know the various outlets that publish news releases, including a local paper, a local digital news publisher, TV, radio, etc.
Under utilized publishers include niche bloggers tied to neighborhoods or cities.
How do I write a news release. Learn more at HubSpot.
Next, you want to find the right person to send them to. You should begin building relationships with them now.
You can do this by sending them an email letting them know you appreciate their work or an article they wrote. If you meet them in public, shake their hand, introduce yourself to them.
Publicity is a bit of a long game, but once you get in a publication, the benefits can be a great value.
4. Volunteer to speak.
You may have just winced when I said this. Volunteer opportunities come up all the time and it’s beneficial to take advantage of them.
It may be a podcast, in front of a group of people, on the radio, or on a livestream, but it can pay nice dividends. Just like you would tell people your phone number, make sure you give your website address.
Read to see tips of giving a speech.
If you speak to a crowd, give out a gift or a promotional item that includes your business name, logo, and website address.
Wrapping it up
These four things are things you can control that build a momentum of traffic for your website. If you look at each item as an investment, the interest will build and begin to pay more for your investment.
It is not easy to build traffic to you website. It takes effort or money. People don’t just show up because your website is online.
You can help it along.
Have questions how you can use these? Get in touch.
No time to read right now. No worries.