So you’ve got a rockin’ website, you’re active on social media, and you’re blogging your brains out. Kudos! You’re doing great! But, is it enough? Probably not.
As you likely already know, there are tons of great tips and tricks for generating substantial organic traffic to your website. Most are free, and many are foolproof. There’s no shortage of advice online on what you must do tomorrow, daily, or yesterday to increase your website traffic. Knowing where to start, however, can be tough. And that’s why you’re here.
As digital marketing experts, we know what works vs. what will keep you feeling busy but likely just spinning your wheels. That’s why we’ve taken the guesswork out of a number of proven trade secrets for driving organic website or blog traffic. And, you lucky dog, that’s why we’ve organized some of our most powerful strategies and tactics into a simple, doable 5-day plan that you can work right into your existing schedule. Ready to start increasing your traffic by next Monday?
Let’s get started.
How to Increase Organic Traffic: 5-Day Plan
Day 1: User Experience + Brand Inventory
Set aside fifteen minutes to explore your website as a new visitor. Try to use a browser that’s been cleared so you can truly get a feel for what it’s like to come in contact, for the first time, with your brand in its native habitat, the website. For extra credit, ask a friend or colleague to do the same. And, for extra, extra credit, try this exercise on mobile and in the most popular web browsers.
Now, be brutally honest about the user experience. Look for time-sucks. Is, for example, the header too long? Is the navigation hard to use on mobile? Is the email list pop-up inviting or is it clunky and distracting? You want people to come back, right? Knock out as many simple tweaks as possible that will improve how visitors interact with your site and present your brand in the best light possible. Make this a habit, please.
Now, take a fresh look at your brand. Are your fonts and use of graphics consistent? Is the color scheme flattering? Does the website experience complement the message you’re working to convey? Knowing this is important.
Start your own brand identity guidelines or reference sheet. Doing so will prevent you from straying too far when your eye catches a new font or fun gif. Take ten more minutes to ensure your social profiles each have consistent bios, URLs, logos or photos in the bio. Consistency is key. In branding, a great, new idea ought to stay an idea until it can be implemented fully.
Rise above the crowd and cut out the competition by keeping your user experience and brand tight and well-executed.
What, you may be asking, does this all have to do with driving traffic? Well, we don’t want you to be discounted as a rookie. It would be a shame to have new visitors, those who otherwise would join your tribe, bounce because they just aren’t ‘feeling it.’ Make sure they feel it by taking your user and brand experience seriously. Revisit this regularly.
Day 2: Blogging and Guest Posting
We’re going to assume you’ve already started a blog or have some strong form of content marketing in play. And we know you’ve got something great to say. So now take a look at your most popular blog posts or web pages. What messages resonate the most with your audiences?
If you’ve done your keyword research, you’re already performing pretty well in search queries. Look for ways to further expand your blog and dive deeper into subjects that your audience is enjoying already. Create or revisit your content plan or blog schedule to ensure it accurately reflects what your readers are showing you they want.
Next, make a list of complimentary blogs and websites where audience crossover is a given. For example, a yogi blog will likely attract a health-conscious crowd who would love a guest post from a vegan nutritionist. Now, reach out! Introduce yourself, share your admiration for their work, and pitch that group on featuring you as a guest blogger and allowing their audience to click through to your website.
Guest posting is an incredibly powerful, proven method for gaining new website visitors fast, provided your message is one of value. If you aren’t successful in getting featured right away, try commenting. Offer insightful takeaways from the blog you’ve just read and subtly direct them back to your own site. Make this part of your ongoing outreach strategy. Chances are if a website visitor is enjoying a blog that’s similar – though not a direct competitor – to yours, then they’ll enjoy yours too!
Day 3: Write a List or Roundup
Who doesn’t love a good list? Anything that helps our brains organize, sort, assign and categorize information is hot, hot, hot on the web. What kind of information can you deliver that your audience will appreciate and likely save? Spend some time organizing and sourcing information for your readers. Be sure to present your list in a meaningful way, like a gift!
A roundup post features different advice and contributors. This could be passive, like a roundup of inspirational entrepreneurship quotes. Or, you could invite others to actively contribute to a topic and feature them on your blog. This method is similar to Guest posting, except now the feature is hosted on your domain. And, naturally, anyone featured will go and share their post on your site with their own audiences. It’s really a win-win!
Day 4: Social Media Storytelling, a Revised Approach
Let’s take a look at your approach. Are you using social like email and blasting out promotions? Are you yelling at your customers and prospects? Or are you drawing them in? The most effective social media feeds tell a story. The key to any effective content marketing, which is what social media should be used for (in our humble opinion), is to pique human interest. You, ideally, want to leave your followers clamoring to know more. And how do you pique human interest over and over and over again? By sharing a story about yourself, your product, product history, or your customers, a little bit at a time, day by day, you’ll engage an audience and build a community.
One way to build a solid social media outreach plan is to write out your story. Break your story into nuggets of wisdom, lessons learned, and funny mishaps along the way. Feature those who believe in you and create or source compelling visual aids. You’ll find incredible support through some of our favorite resources like Canva and iStock. The key is to have an overarching and thematic story that ties your audience in, much like your favorite book or Netflix series. This simple shift in strategy will, if done right, have others sharing your journey organically while revisiting your site regularly.
Day 5: Email, Email, Email
The email addresses in your CRM or address book are the only things you own of your customers or prospects. Think about that for a minute. The @names and followers on your social media profiles could be gone tomorrow. It is possible that a social network could shut down and it is even more possible that your own account gets flagged or shut down for heaven knows what erroneous reason. These things happen all the time. Setting up a concrete strategy for collecting email addresses (e.g., a free e-book, download, or other gifts in exchange for the email sign-up) and a plan for regularly contacting those emails is one of the most powerful and underrated action items you can do.
Ready to roll up your sleeves? Or looking for more? Contact us for a free consultation to discuss how our services can work, behind the scenes, to take you to the next level.
