It’s anti-climactic. You invested hours and dollars into building a fantastic website, received an A+ rating on your website analysis and now, you’re eager to see all your hard work pay off. But then…
… crickets.
Sure you’re getting traffic, but where are the conversions? You thought this website was going to make you money and all you’re seeing are bounce rates hovering around 80% with nothing to show for all your hard work.
Therein lies the problem.
The people arriving on your pages aren’t your target market.
Although you might be seeing a slight increase in visitors, chances are you aren’t seeing the highly targeted traffic you need to make your website pay off.
I hear this concern from a lot from business owners.
Your website should be making you money. It should be turning a profit. Everyday it’s not bringing you qualified new leads, you’re losing potential customers to your competition.
There’s a solution.
Here are eight of my favorite ways to increase the caliber of people arriving on your website so you’re more likely to see your hard work pay off.
1. Post on LinkedIn
You’ve heard the advice a million times – post optimized content to your website to drive more search engine traffic to your pages. Although posting optimized content to your website is critical for ranking well on search engines, posting on other platforms, such as LinkedIn can boost your SEO and expand your audience.
If you’re targeting other businesses, LinkedIn Pulse is a must.
You can upload your content like you would a post on your website. When you hit publish, instead of launching it to your current reader base and any searchers who happen to stumble upon it in the search results, you send it a new audience. A targeted audience.
LinkedIn makes it easy for you to reach more people. You can add tags to your posts to help them get found by people who need to hear what you’re saying. You can optimize your posts to help bump them up in the search engines. These people are interested in your message, making them more inclined to listen.
But where does the traffic come from? It comes from within your post.
Link internally to other posts on your website. Or, add a call to action at the end. The reader will be hungry to learn more from you if the content is well-written and relevant. He will click through to your website and there you have it! Better traffic.
2. Post on Medium
Another publishing platform I support and use is Medium.
Medium works in a similar way as LinkedIn but it has a different kind of social network behind it. Instead of making connections using your email database, you get subscribers who sign up to hear more of what you have to say.
There are a wide variety of topics discussed on Medium, including the latest technology, the Zika virus and the 2016 presidential election. Chances are, there’s a place for your industry’s topics too.
Gary Vaynerchuk, owner of VaynerMedia, is outspoken about how he uses Medium to grow his audience.
To help you find readers, there’s a built-in search function. People interested in your topics can find your articles.
The most popular posts appear on the first page driving even more people to your business.
Each post is automatically labeled with a time stamp. It shows your readers approximately how long they can expect to spend with your article. Shorter is sometimes better here, but it depends on the topic you’re discussing.
As with LinkedIn, don’t forget to link back to your website throughout the post and end your article with a call-to-action.
2. Exchange Shares
Is there someone who is influential in your industry? Or someone you have considered joining into a digital partnership with? Chances are these people or brands are also on the hunt for new audience members to consume their content.
And therein lies the opportunity.
Offer to exchange social media shares so you both win. If you scratch their back, they’re more likely to scratch your back in return.
The premise is simple. You’ll share their content with your audience if they’ll do the same for you. This will help you get your website in front of more people who are already interested in what you have to sell and help you offer more value to your current followers. It’s a double win.
3. Pay With a Tweet
Consider this a spin on your standard lead magnet.
Pay With a Tweet is a service you can use to deliver quality content and get social shares in exchange. You won’t acquire a new email address but you will acquire more opportunities for people interested in what you sell to land on your pages.
SumoMe uses this often to get people to tweet about the spreadsheets they’re notorious for preparing for readers.
Here’s how it works.
- Create a lead magnet, such as a checklist, ebook or something else helpful.
- Promote it in a blog post or e-blast.
- To give people access to your new list, ask for them to “pay with a tweet” or another type of social share.
Your followers have the option of “paying” for your giveaway by sharing a link to your website on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. It’s a fast and easy way to reach new audiences.
4. Create a Facebook Group and Engage
Facebook pages used to be the way brands shared content and got people to visit their website. That’s not working as well anymore. Now, with Facebook’s strict algorithm updates, more page owners are struggling to get their posts seen.
Enter: Facebook groups.
Facebook groups offer a different way to reach audiences and spark conversation about your industry. They’re a place where brands can talk directly with consumers and answer customer questions in real-time.
Create a Facebook group and invite your email list. Once there, people can engage with other brand evangelists and hear directly from you.
To grow your group, encourage people to invite other friends in their network who are interested in your industry.
As your audience expands, you can use the platform to promote your website and attract a following. This can help you get more exposure to new audiences and bring more targeted traffic to your pages.
5. Be Smarter About How You Email
Gone are the times when getting an email was considered exciting. These days, people are buried in their inboxes. Still, our inboxes capture our attention throughout the day.
When someone reads your email, he’s focused on your message. Leverage that fleeting attention by encouraging him to visit your website. There are a few easy ways to do this:
- In your email signature, include a link to your latest blog post.
- In your autoresponder, encourage people to check out your website until you’re able to return their message
- In your messages, answer questions by linking to articles posted on your website.
Get creative about how you use your inbox to get people engaged with your website. The more you can drive people to your pages, the more time you’ll save responding to messages and the better traffic you’ll see pour in.
6. Get Featured in Articles
Have you ever heard of HARO? It stands for Help A Reporter Out. The service connects businesses with industry insights with reporters who need experts to quote.
Sign up to receive notifications three times a day of publications in need of industry experts. If you see a pitch you’re particularly well-suited to respond to, get in touch with the reporter. You’ll get more links on outside websites and widen your reach online.
7. Speak!
Offline events can turn into big time website traffic drivers if you’re strategic about how you get your audience engaged.
If you’re invited to speak at a conference, take advantage of the opportunity to expand your audience. Here are a few ways you can do this:
- Have people sign up for your email list, then follow up after the event;
- Have people tweet their favorite part of your speech from their phones, then follow up with them afterward;
- Have people go to a specific landing page to get more information about your business or download your materials.
Don’t rely on your audience to remember you after they leave the room. Get them engaged on your website while they’re watching you on stage. This will pull up your website and contact information on their phone right away so that later, when they’re settling down from the day, you’re top of mind.
Driving Highly Targeted Traffic is Strategic
It’s not easy to grow an audience. When you want to drive more qualified leads to your website, you have to be strategic.
Think about where you’re already touching your customers. Are there ways you can leverage those touch points to reach new audiences? Are there new platforms you can utilize to build your reputation and acquire a larger reader base?
The Internet is full of loopholes and ways to help you get in front of your target market. Contact us for a free business consultation where we can dive in deeper on this important topic. We’ll help you find specific ways to reach more people online.
