Five ways to help drive online traffic to your website

When increasing traffic to your website, keep in mind that it’s generally better to drive ‘qualified traffic’, or potential customers, rather than just ‘traffic’ which could be anyone. It can be better to have fewer visits from your target customers rather than millions of views from people who aren’t likely to purchase from you.  

Try focusing on these five key principles to help get the right traffic to your website:

1. Get to the top of search engines

You could increase the chance a customer finds you by using search engine optimisation (SEO) tactics. This includes adding relevant keywords to your site within the content on your homepage or product description, adding text or questions your customers may be asking, making sure headings and titles are relevant to what you do, and covering the reasons why a customer would buy from you.

To help develop relevant keywords:

• list all the things your business does
• assign common words/phrases to each product
• use these words in the content on your website
• check the effectiveness using Google’s Keyword Planner
• search for keyword search tools online (some are free).

Once you’ve developed the relevant keywords to optimise your site, you might consider using Google Ads to help your business appear within the top of paid search results in Google. Search engines change the ways their platforms are optimised fairly regularly, so it’s worth keeping informed or getting expert help.

2. Add searchable content to your website

Creating content that provides great advice, tools, or insights can make your website more valuable to both your customers and search engines. This could help improve your page ranking (how far down the search results page you sit when customers search for you).

Examples of searchable content could be:

• industry research
• articles or case studies
• blogs related to your business, customers, or industry
• testimonials from satisfied customers
• videos
• infographics. 

Linking to other credible sites or resources within this content, when relevant, is another way to help improve your organic SEO rankings. Make sure you maintain this content by checking links to ensure they still work, and updating blogs regularly.

3. Build a social media presence

Social media is another channel you can utilise to help drive new and existing customers to your website. By creating a profile, uploading relevant and engaging content, and managing your social media presence accordingly, it can become a valuable tool to drive people to your website to purchase or make a sales enquiry.

Once you’ve established a profile, focus on building your followers and engaging with customers by:

• posting relevant insights inside customer communities (such as Facebook groups)
• sharing engaging content about your business, products, suppliers, or staff
• using paid social media advertising to help you reach the right audience
• reposting content from thought leaders and industry influencers.

Social media is also a key customer service channel and word-of-mouth-tool where customers may talk positively about your business, so to use it successfully you’ll need to dedicate time and money to maintaining it and responding to enquiries or comments.

4. Be mobile friendly

While having a site that works well on mobile devices won’t necessarily drive traffic to your site, it can impact the amount of time people who land on your website decide to spend there.

Mobile accessibility and having a responsive website which can automatically display your content and information in a way that is easy to read and navigate is fundamental – particularly if you’re an e-commerce business. If you’re unsure, take Google’s test to see how your site ranks for mobile users which can help you understand what you need to do to make your site more mobile friendly.

5. Build your business’s profile

Whether you’re starting a new business or trying to grow an existing one, building and maintaining your business’s profile can be a valuable way to drive awareness of your products and services, and traffic to your website.

Some examples of how you could build your business’s profile include:

• visiting trade shows or exhibitions
• speaking and networking at events
• participating in online communities or forums
• collaborating with other businesses.

Once people are exposed to your business, they will often search for you on social media or on search engines to find out more, which is why these first four principles are so critical.