4 Ways to Boost Traffic to a Small Website

Establishing an online presence doesn't happen overnight. The smaller your business, the steeper the challenge might seem. Small businesses with bare-bones websites aren't as easy to find in search engines. Few people, if any, check these websites on a regular basis. They don't attract much organic traffic. It takes time, effort and patience to build and develop your website to the point it ascends in the rankings. It also takes strategy. You must strengthen your content, be active on social media and improve your link profile. None of these should be done on the fly - crafting an optimization plan makes everything easier. You can also turn to PPC advertising to drive traffic to your website while working to optimize it. Read on for four important ways to boost traffic on a very small website. Strengthening Content Quality content is the foundation of your website. If you can't offer something that visitors want or need, then you can't expect to establish a flow of persistent organic traffic. This is common sense. That said, your online offerings aren't limited to the goods and services offered by your business. A properly optimized website also offers helpful guides, insightful blog posts, engaging videos, informative graphics and more. That's why having high-end content is so vital - it gives people a reason to come back. So, how should you go about strengthening your content? Start by following these steps: Study the demographics of visitors. You can't make content that's targeted for an audience until you know who is visiting your website. Although you clearly haven't built up a significant flow of online traffic (or else you wouldn't be reading this), you can learn quite a bit from the small number of visitors you have. Assuming you're using Google Analytics, check out the Audience feature. Use this to learn broad-but-useful information about your visitors including breakdowns of their ages, genders and interests. Check out the competition. The free way to do this is to search for your most relevant keywords on Google, then click the top organic search results. How does the content on each landing page add to the website's value? How is it useful, relevant or entertaining for visitors? You can also use online tools such as SpyFu and Ahrefs to gain vital insights on competitors' content schemes, but using these tools often costs money. It's money well spent, if you can afford it. Understand your audience's needs. What, exactly, is your audience searching for? If you own a shoe store, it's not enough to say your audience is searching for shoes. Rather, why does your audience need shoes? Are people looking for shoes that are good for marathons, or shoes that are good for business-casual office wear? Do your customers want to know when it's time to replace their shoes? Do they want shoes made in America? Do they want sandals made locally? What does your business offer? It's a simple question, and one you must answer with complete honesty in order to fully connect with your audience. Once you've taken these preliminary steps, it's time to get to work. Start by listing all of your content ideas, and add to this list whenever possible. Next, set the pace for creating new content by making an editorial calendar. Don't be too ambitious - start out slow with manageable deadlines. Releasing new content at a consistent pace is more important than ratcheting volume. When writing, always aim for at least 800 words. Don't try to stuff your content with keywords; stick with natural, well-written posts and articles. If possible, pay for professional, high-quality images. Add pictures, graphics and videos to your content whenever possible. Focus on writing insightful, remarkable content that will leave a lasting impression. Social Media Marketing Social media is important for small businesses. There is no better way to connect online with consumers in your area. A stronger social media presence will bolster your website traffic and your link profile, both of which will ultimately improve your website's SEO and conversions. Here's how you can start building your social media presence: Start off slow. Don't try to be active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and all the other social media platforms. Instead, focus on just one platform. For most small businesses, Facebook is the logical choice for its audience and versatility. However, businesses that sell highly photogenic products might try Instagram or Pinterest. Develop your voice. Your goal is to establish your website (and, by extension, your business) as an authority in your field. This is why creating high-quality content is so vital. Only share informative, engaging content. Share stories that will connect with customers. Most importantly, be useful, educational or entertaining. All of these things will make your voice credible. Boost your Facebook posts. Yes, this costs money. But this is a great way to put your most compelling posts in front of people who aren't yet aware of you. Eventually you can work on other social media platforms, but for now, stick with one platform to maximize your results. Build Your Link Profile Inbound links will likely always have value in SEO. The more quality websites link to your business, the more Google will evaluate your business as deserving a higher page rank. There's no shortcut to building a quality link profile. In the olden days of SEO, marketers would spam their links in forums and article comment sections, but nowadays Google views such spamming as low-quality linking and punishes offenders accordingly. The key to improving your link profile is by connecting with other reputable websites that are relevant to your business. Here are a few tips: Get listed on Angie's List, Yelp and other business directory website. Write guest posts and articles for journalistic and trade publications, requesting a link with your byline. Connect with influencers and bloggers via social media. Link building is a slow and steady process. You'll make progress here simply by improving your approaches to content generation and social media marketing. Pay for Clicks Even a top spot in Google's organic search rankings isn't as powerful as it used to be. That's because Google shows paid search results, knowledge graphs, locator maps, business listings, AMP carousels and more above those coveted organic listings. There's even less top-tier real estate on smaller smartphone screens. If you can afford it, then launching a pay-per-click advertising campaign is a great way to bring instant visibility to your website. Advertise on either Google AdWords or Facebook Ads and you'll get as many visitors as you can pay for. That said, PPC advertising is a great way to waste money if you're not careful. Here are some tips for first-time PPC advertisers: Start with a very focused keyword list. Don't use broad-match keywords. Include a "call to action" in each of your ads. Each ad should go to the most appropriate page within your site. Use negative keywords to filter out visitors who probably won't convert. There's so much more to pay-per-click advertising, but the above tips will get things moving in the right direction Conclusion Watching your website climb in the search rankings is a thrilling experience. If you execute a strategy like we've reviewed above - leveraging the power of strong content, social media marketing and quality link building - then you can make it happen, even if you're starting out with a bare-bones site. Don't bite off more than you can chew, and don't act without first getting to know your audience. Do these things, and even your small business website can score big SEO victories.

Search Engine Optimization

4 Ways to Boost Traffic to a Small Website

Phil Frost

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