One of the most coveted jobs a marketer has is traffic director ... website traffic, that is. Traffic to your website translates into leads, which translate into conversions, which translates into revenue. So, traffic, especially the right traffic, is undeniably a big deal.
The question, then, is how do you get bumper-to-bumper traffic for your website? Here are some tips to get you started:
1) Ditch the outdated website design.
Just like interstate highways have diverted traffic from old country roads, a modern website design optimized for mobile and in line with buyer expectations will draw traffic. Load speed should be zippy. A single second delay in your website loading time can result in a 7 percent loss in conversion, and 40 percent of web users will abandon a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
In addition, a mobile responsive design and platform is almost a necessity these days. Not just because the Search Engines say it is, but because that is how many visitors are consuming your site today.
2) Make navigation easy.
Marketers can take another lesson from interstate highways. Interstate highways make it easy to get to your destination. Similarly, your website should be easy to navigate. Visitors do not want to wander around on your site trying to find the information they need. The easier your site is to actually use, the more traffic will come.A recent CIO article notes: "Website navigation is very important. Unless you're only driving visitors to landing pages, you'll need to facilitate smooth transitions from one area of your site to the others. After all, a visitor who enters on the homepage needs to be taken to a conversion page, i.e. a product page, contact page or dedicated sales page ... The point is that visitors should be able to find what they're looking for with minimal effort."
3) Give 'em something worth seeing.
You know those big billboards on the interstate that say things like "World's Biggest Frying Pan - Next Exit"? If you are a big fan of frying pans, such a sign is irresistible, and you are going to take that exit to see the attraction. What is the lesson?
If you want to draw traffic to your site, you have to provide irresistible content to your target audience. Use catchy headlines, videos, infographics, case studies, white papers, interviews, how-to articles, and blog posts brimming with relevant, engaging information. If you build a great content strategy, they will come. Remember, the day of the static "brochure" website went extinct years ago, think of your website as a publication!
4) Show your social side.
Social media marketing is a huge piece of the traffic pie. Entrepreneur's "Here's How to Fix that Lonely Wasteland You Call Your Website" gives this advice about using social media: "Stop being afraid you're going to annoy people on social media. You can and should be posting multiple times a day. As long as you're not literally reposting the same exact post over and over, you'll be fine."The article goes on to offer specific suggestions about posting frequency. For instance, it advises posting to Facebook at least twice a day and Twitter multiple times every day. The point is that you need to post often enough that your target audience does not forget you.
5) Work with a digital marketing agency.
To get the most traffic, you have to employ a variety of digital marketing strategies. For many businesses, this can be overwhelmingly time-consuming. That's where a digital marketing agency comes in. Partnering with an experienced digital marketing agency will pay off in terms of increased traffic and conversions, sometimes very quickly.
A digital marketing agency can help you map out a stellar content marketing strategy, optimize your web design, coordinate all your campaigns with social media, email, and traditional marketing methods, and drive traffic to your site in record numbers.
Are you prepared for increased web traffic? Request an assessment today to begin a conversation about what our team of digital marketing specialists can do for your business.
Written By: Doug Milnor
