Blog > 10 Ways To Increase Your Traffic

Posted on Monday, 27th October, 2008 at 6:46am

Working towards a consistent stream of high traffic online seems to be all the rage these days, and little wonder, as it seems the benefits can be financial, as well as social. It is in this light that I would like to put forward my ten most successful traffic increasing strategies. I have no doubt that these won't work for everybody, but they certainly can't hurt if done correctly. So here goes for ten awesome tips!

Create Content First, Design Second

This point has been made time and time again by both me, and other designers, developers and writers, and it's for a good reason. Why would people want to visit your website if the content of it is worthless to them? If you can make pages that contain what people want to see, then you're in business. It's a simple idea, but it seems to be a pointer that's missed by far too many people to be considered redundant.

For more information on how to write great content, refer to the fourty plus articles just on content that are posted on the renown A List Apart online publication.

The Power Of Meta Tags

Implementing well written, well executed meta tags into a website is often all it takes to see a huge rise in traffic. If you are able to generate meta tags that accurately describe your website, and that contain keywords that correctly target the phrases and terms that users are most likely to use when searching for your website, search engines will go nuts over your pages, and users will flock to your website in droves.

I won't go into details with meta tags, as the benefits have already been documented brilliantly numerous times, but make them one of your main priorities when looking to increase traffic.

The Targeted Advertising Bandwagon

Google AdWords, among other competitors' options, is a targeted advertising service that can increase your traffic tenfold if used correctly. If used incorrectly, it can send your website plummeting into the ground.

Advertising your website is made easy by cutesy interfaces, and you'll find yourself having forked over the cash before you even realise that you've done so, which is why it's even more important that you make the most of your targeted advertising package. By spending some time to write a professional pitch line, the full rewards of a broad advertising scheme can be your path to online success.

It's easy to get your hands on free advertising credit these days, as hosts and advertisers alike are giving them away to anybody who will take the time to try their service. For this reason, there's no excuse to not use one of the most effective ways to increase your traffic.

Post Comments On Blogs

There is no better way to attract people to your website than to bring it directly to the people who would be most interested in it. On a similar strand to targeted advertising, commenting on a blog will give you a direct, targeted link back to your website, which will in addition be indexed by search engines, and at the same time allow you to meet contacts in the blogging community who may well link to your website.

Commenting on a blog often provides an extra boost to a website's popularity that you normally couldn't get from other strategies. However, it can also cause a website to fall apart if used incorrectly. If careful attention is applied, commenting on blogs can prove as effective as targeted advertising, and it won't cost you a cent. Comments on a blog that is of a similar content to your own will attract the users of the blog you are voicing your opinion on, and if you can strive to make a bold impression on the community that is tied to that blog, your post will become a beacon that attracts others to your own website.

It should be noted however, that unless your content is of a similar interest group as the blog you are commenting on, your bounce rate may rise sharply because of the link. The disadvantage of using comments to drive users to your website is that they are not necessarily visiting your page because they have an interest in the service or product that you offer, but rather because they are curious about who is behind the comment. If you can make as much of as impression on that user as you did with your comment, you're in luck. If not, they will return to the blog, and go about their business as usual.

Be sure to make certain that the content of your comment is not representative of a side of you that you would not want potential clients or visitors to know of, as people tend to form opinions about others very quickly, and a comment will fuel the fire greatly. By leaving a comment you are making a personal statement and it is important to realise that a statement can make or break your public image in a split second. Use comments with care, and they can be your best way towards a healthy increase in traffic.

Analyse Your Audience

Statistics programs are another thing that is all the rage, and there is a good reason for that. Disregarding the fact that it's just plain cool to see your website grow over time, stat programs allow you to decide where you're going wrong, and where you're going right.

Search robots are very smart programs, but you need to remember that's all they are. They are programmed to pick up the latest, the greatest, the spur of the moment, and for that reason you need to make sure that everything you publish is interesting to your users, for that is how search engines will see it too. You can figure out what is popular, and what is not, by looking at your website stats. Pages that have more views are generally more popular, and pages that have fewer views are generally less popular.

Get yourself a decent stats program, look at how your users react to your pages, and figure out what the popular pages have that the unpopular pages don't. If you can bring that "x-factor" to your unpopular pages, you'll see a dramatic increase in your traffic.

Links To Others Are Your Friends

How many times have you typed your own website into Google to see what comes up? If you answered yes, than you are in the majority of website owners who do so often to find out who is linking to them, and where from. For a simple, easy increase in traffic, simply add links to other websites that you enjoy, or blogs that you read, and before long you'll find that the owners or readers of those sites start coming your way because of search results.

For an added bonus that comes from this tip, most statistics generating programs include information on who is linking to your website, and by adding a backlink to websites you enjoy, guess where your website will show up? A simple thing to do for often such a dramatic increase in traffic.

Provide Free Content

It's a well known fact that people who surf the internet hate paying for things, and the rise in online piracy can only testify to that fact. That said, they love free things, and that's where you come in as the provider of that. By offering some sort of product or service for free, you are more likely to be linked to by other websites, including blogs and personal journals, and attract a large spike of traffic. What's more, offering something for free often sets a precedent for trust and respect, and that can only be a good thing to have when you're looking for business opportunities.

Don't Put Money Before Your Users

If even for a second your visitors feel like they are being used, abused and having money extracted and drilled from their clicks, you might as well quit while you're ahead. Users want to feel at home when they visit a website, and despite all the effort you might go to to drive the traffic to your website, they will not stay, not recommend anybody to your website, if they feel that they are being screwed.

Use advertising placements wisely, never put more advertising than content, and certainly don't make them pay before they can see your website's content. People need to know what they're buying, and what they're getting into, and are very good these days at sussing out a good deal from a mile away.

Keep Yourself Refreshed

There is nothing more boring to both users, and search engines, than old content. Just the same way you wouldn't eat stale bread at a restaurant, not dissimilarly will your visitors tolerate a lack of updates from you.

It is also very important to maintain your old content, just as much as it is for you to add new stuff, and your traffic growth will only benefit from doing so. Search engines place a lot of emphasis on the maintenance of online content, and you are unlikely to be smiled on by their evil, robotic eyes if you do not comply. It's one thing to get a great search engine listing, but you need to work constantly to maintain that listing.

On a similar note, users love being able to keep up to date with the content of a website they enjoy, so consider offering services such as a newsletter or a news feed so that your visitors can always be up to date with your content.

Help Goes That Extra Mile

If you help somebody, you can be sure that the favour will be returned some day, tenfold. They say a good deed lasts forever in the mind of the receiver, and that is something to always keep in mind as you interact with the visitors to your website. This help can be as complex as offering your services to somebody in need, or as simple as replying to all the comments on your blog. Never forget that it is your users who keep your website running, and fuel your passion, and that they should always come first in your mind, no matter what.

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Comments

Tom Ford posted on Monday, 27th October, 2008 at 12:07pm

Great article, it really spoke in a language that I could actually understand, and for that I only have praise!

Keep up the great work!

Nathan Kleyn posted on Monday, 27th October, 2008 at 12:36pm

Thanks for your kind words Tom! I hope it helps now and well into the future! Let me know if any of the tips work out for you!

Justin Brooke posted on Tuesday, 10th February, 2009 at 12:00am

Contents and the submission of these contents to directories can help the site increase web traffic and its reach on the web.

Website Development in Surrey posted on Saturday, 5th December, 2009 at 12:59am

Quite inspiring,

This is some great advice to increase your traffic,

Thanks for writing about it

ridwanzero posted on Thursday, 21st January, 2010 at 9:48pm

It’s Dear Friend,
a fact: If you want your website to make you money, generate leads or get subscribers you have to advertise in order to drive traffic to it. Of course this is true for any business, but it is absolutely essential for online business.
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