5 Steps to Grow Your Website Traffic Organically
Define specific keywords.
Post quality content. (Quality over quantity matters.)
Use keywords frequently.
Local SEO v SEO
Keep content fresh.
When growing a small business, wanting or expecting quick results can be easy, especially as the business website is built and published. This can be increasingly true if you're a hands-on content manager working diligently to build your brand and website. It's a bit of a roller coaster that goes something like this:
“Day 1 of publishing a website is exciting because it’s done, perfect (or almost perfect), and beautiful.
”Guys: thanks for supporting my new business! Check out my brand-new website here at www.thebestever.com and take a look. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I have poured my heart and soul into it. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Day 2 is just as exciting because tweaks are made, it’s shared among family and friends, and it’s still so beautiful.
”Guys: thanks for checking out the website. I worked really hard. Yes, creating and managing it on my own is so fulfilling. I am so thankful for your support. Isn’t it beautiful?”
Day 3 is a whole new day because web analytics reflect that the only people viewing this beautiful website are mom, dad, grandmother, and siblings. The website is still beautiful, but the realization occurs that traffic needs to increase.
”Oh, look! Unique traffic to the site is fairly low, but that’s okay because we just got started. I mean, we only published two days, okay, so that’s to be expected. I’ll give it time. Yay for my parents, siblings, and grandmother checking my page! They’re the greatest. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s so beautiful.”
Day 4 is rough, and tears begin to flow as mom is now the only one checking your website (besides you).
”What am I doing wrong? I should never have done this. This will never work. I wasted all my time and money. It’s so beautiful. Why has no one found it yet? Even my mom hasn’t checked my website today. I should go live in my van by the ocean. But it’s so beautiful…”
”
While the above may seem dramatic, this constantly happens with getting traffic to websites or other big projects rolled out to the public via the mysterious social media machine.
It's exciting and challenging work, and it takes a bit longer to gain traction when it's published. Let's look at 5 steps to organically get traffic to your website to get started today.
1. Define specific keywords.
Search engine optimization (SEO) works based on specific keywords or phrases that enable people to find your website via search engines. Each industry has keywords that people use when searching for a particular business. Knowing the keywords related to a specific website is vital to fine-tune SEO. For brevity, search for a keyword engine to help generate particular keywords. There are both paid and free ways to search for SEO. Start by using the free search options and test those out. Make a list of high, low, and medium keywords relevant to your website/business and prepare to use them throughout your content. Keywords are only helpful when used. Make use of these free traffic generator tools to search keywords here:
2. Post quality content.
Quality over quantity matters when posting content. If high-quality daily content is an option, that's great. If not, stick with quality. Add a blog page and generate helpful posts and resources that include the specific keywords from step 1 throughout.
Keywords should be used organically through the headline, subtitles, and body content to grow website traffic.
3. Use keywords frequently.
Steps 1, 2, and 3 work together to generate website traffic in digital marketing. Knowing the list of SEO keywords or phrases is the most important step. The second most important step is using the keywords throughout quality content. The third step is using the keywords frequently. Much like establishing brand identity by repeating business taglines, phrases and using logos, the repetition of keywords helps establish websites online through web traffic marketing.
4. Local SEO v. SEO
Depending on the nature of the business, local search can be a powerful tool in growing web traffic organically. People like to do business locally when possible. As a result, focusing your digital marketing on local SEO is valuable.
HubSpot
“46% of all Google searches are looking for local information.”
Fine-tune your website to include clickable contact information. An image is insufficient because users will have to type business information into a search feature on their phone or computer. Name, address, and phone number should be included at the bottom of pages in the footer. A specific contact page is helpful for search engines.
Check for free online business listings on Google My Business, Yelp, Bing, YellowBook, and Apple Maps. Everything listed about the business should include name, address, phone, website, and other business-specific, relevant information. Make sure it's correct, and check back periodically.
Finally, to generate local web traffic, establish and post often to social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Tag or check in at local businesses from your business page to organically grow traffic to your business through local reach.
5. Keep content fresh.
As a website exists over time, the content will naturally age. Old content will rank lower in Google rankings and can be refreshed, reused, or repurposed. Changing the date on the post is not sufficient to boost Google rankings, so changes to the actual content will be required. This is helpful to a business for two reasons. First, your Google rankings should improve with fresh content. Second, reusing content is valuable when business gets hectic. Work smarter, not harder.
Website management can be exciting and overwhelming. If you're unsure where to start, click the button below and have us look at your current website. We offer a free assessment and consultation to give fresh ideas on generating website traffic. Flywheel Marketing would love to work with you.
*Specific keywords and phrases were used throughout this blog post that are relevant to the topic. It's not difficult to weave them in throughout your content. They are italicized only to show where they are. See how easy it is? We can help with this too!