In this digital age, increasing numbers of people are turning to the Internet to research companies before they make purchases. Therefore, your business’s website is the first look many customers will have at you. In addition, it is the portal by which you can reach new customers who knew nothing about you until they found you on the web. Use several techniques to increase the traffic your website sees and, in turn, build your business.
Search Engine Optimization
One of your primary goals is to appear at or near the top of the search results when people search for terms relevant to your business. Therefore, think about what people might type into a search engine if they are looking for what your business provides, and use these phrases in the text of your website. This is a technique called search engine optimization, also known as SEO. When these phrases appear in your page titles, headings, and plain text, the search engines will rank you higher in the results for these phrases. Try to get a keyword density of approximately 3 percent for maximum effectiveness.
Regular Website Updates
Search engines also prioritize websites that have been updated recently because they are likely to be current, active sources of information for people searching online. One of the best ways to update your website regularly is to add a blog to it. Write and publish at least one post per week, ideally two or three, to keep your website near the top of the search rankings. You can also use your blog to incorporate one or two keywords in each post to get people interested in a variety of topics to your website.
Targeted Advertising
Gone are the days of blindly spewing out advertisements online. Now, you want targeted advertising that shows your ads only to people who are likely to be interested in them. You can advertise by Google, which displays ads based on what people are searching for or what types of emails they receive on Gmail. You can also advertise on Facebook, which allows you to target by age, gender, education, occupation, location, and several other categories.
Referring to Website
The last major way to increase your website traffic is to refer to it when communicating with your existing customers who might not know about it. Put it on your business cards, include it in your newsletters, and mention it to people you do business with. When referring people to your website, tell them why they should visit it. Maybe you post coupons on the website or have special deals only available online. If you just added a blog post that people might care about, mention that as well.
