SEO (search engine optimization) is a great way to increase site rank in search engines and gain exposure. While it is highly effective, SEO is not meant to be a stand-alone effort to increase website traffic.
In this article, I will list eight other ways aside from SEO that may help gain more clicks.
1. Have a Fast and Secure Website
Ensuring a fast and secure website is an essential step to do when trying to drive more traffic. Google announced that having a secure website is the easiest way to boost SEO ranking, while a fast website prevents losing visitors from slow loading speed.
Install an SSL certificate to secure your website. An SSL certificate will encrypt website data during transfer so that malicious third-parties cannot harvest it. Most recommend choosing web hosting packages that have at least 99.8% uptime and fast server response times.
2. Write Guest Posts
Writing guest posts is a great way to increase exposure to your website. Guest blogging is practically writing content for other blogs, and in return, they will allow you to place links to your site while letting their audience know about you.
To do this, find blogs with a similar niche that accepts guest posts. It may be hard to search with common keywords, so I recommend using advanced search operators. In the Google search bar, type:
(niche) intitle:”write for us” inurl:”write-for-us”
Replace (niche) with your website’s niche, and you should find guest posting opportunities in the search engine. To see more options, you can change “write for us” with other keywords related to guest posting such as “contribute to,” “write for me,” and “become a contributor.”
3. Create High-Traffic, High-Value Content
People will always need knowledge and information. Creating educational content that addresses their curiosity regarding the website’s niche should drive more traffic.
Quickly start with content that answers frequently asked questions (FAQ). Find out what questions people commonly ask about your niche, and be as informative as possible when answering. You can also make a how-to post that guides the readers in accomplishing their goals.
According to Content Marketing Institute, there are six types of content that drive the most traffic to a website. I recommend learning more about it to optimize your efforts.
4. Use Paid Ads
Paying for online ads is another effective way to get instant traffic without spending too much effort. Like regular ads, paid ads give your website exposure by searching keywords or showing them to potential audiences.
The safest option is to choose PPC (pay per click) advertising, like Google AdWords or Facebook Advertising. As you will be paying every time someone clicks the advertisement, it should be easier to track the effort’s effectiveness. Moreover, Facebook Ads provide targeted ads to relevant users to increase ad clicks.
5. Leverage Social Media
Social media is the best place to get exposure for your website. Think of it as a communication channel to listen to your target audience’s wants and needs, then participate in their conversations as a solution.
Start from joining the conversations regarding your niche on Twitter. With over 270 million users tweeting each day, you can get discover by posting multiple quality content with related hashtags.
Facebook is also a great platform to get traffic. Facebook has the highest user engagement level compared to other social media, and it has more than 1 billion users registered. You can share educational blog posts or video content to get discovered.
6. Answer Questions on Forums
Question and answer forums are great to drive traffic and exposure to the website. You can answer questions related to your niche and point people to your site as a complementary source. It may drive more clicks to the website, exposure, and establish your authority simultaneously.
There are plenty of Q&A forums on the internet, but I suggest choosing the bigger platforms to gain more effect. Quora, for example, has 200 million monthly active users who spend an average of 10 minutes per day on the site. Another good site to start with is Warrior Forum that has over 1 million active members.
7. Repurpose Content
Producing new content can take a lot of time, as it needs plenty of time and effort for writing and researching. That is why repurposing content is a great way to save time and bring traffic to the website.
Repurposing content is practically finding new ways to amplify the reach of your old posts. For instance, you can turn posts into videos as they are the most engaging media format on the internet. Creating micro-content by posting snippets of your old posts on social media should also bring more traffic to your site.
8. Update Existing Content
Content needs to be updated to stay relevant in search engines. New competitors bring in fresh content related to your niche every day, and Google may lower pages on SERPs if the content becomes outdated.
To do this, find old content with decreasing traffic through Google Analytics. Then, analyze top-ranking competitors and see the information your content might have missed. Renew screenshots, check for broken links, update necessary information, and you’re set.
Bonus Tip
Doing all the research without specified tools can be frustrating, time-consuming, and difficult. Consider using a tool like Ahrefs, which allows you to look for relevant keywords, find content gaps, and track positions and links easily.
Conclusion
Solely relying on SEO may not be the most optimal way to drive more traffic to a website. Combining other tactics should help you gain more exposure to potential visitors and eventually more clicks to the website.
I hope this article helps with understanding different ways to gain more visitors to your website. Good luck applying and combining the tactics, for any questions, do not hesitate to leave them in the comments section below.