You need more traffic on your website. It’s non-negotiable. Whether you’re running a brick-and-mortar outfit with a web presence, or doing business entirely online, increased web traffic increases your brand visibility and can get you more customers. But boosting those numbers can feel overwhelming. How do you get more people to visit your website, and more importantly, how do you get them to stick around?
You need to focus on your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). Optimizing your site for search can get you plenty of traffic, even if it can take a while for SEO changes to take effect. Follow this guide to boost your website’s SEO.
A site that’s intuitive, easy to understand, and easy to navigate is one that people will want to spend some time on. If your site loads too slowly, or loads in desktop view on a mobile device, or is difficult to use, visitors will leave and you’ll have a high bounce rate. And search engines penalize sites that aren’t mobile responsive, so making sure that tablet and smartphone users can easily use your site is important for SEO.
Even if it wasn’t, you want more than just people finding your site. You want them to stick around and make a purchase. You might want them to subscribe to a newsletter or join a forum. That means you want to make your site into a welcoming environment that’s user friendly and well structured.
Use the Right Keywords
Are you using the right search keywords on your website? The right keywords can get your site right where you want it to be – at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs).
Start your keyword research by putting yourself in the place of your visitors. What keywords are they entering into search engines to find products and services like yours? Write down 10 or 20 ideas. Consider what makes your place unique – like your location, for example – and generate another 10 or 20 keywords that incorporate those differences. If you’re the only pizza place open 24 hours in town, then you should be using a keyword like “pizza open 24 hours” to set yourself apart from the competition and get traffic that the competition won’t get.
Add a Blog to Your Site
A blog is a great way to get more traffic from organic search, because each blog post is an opportunity to incorporate new relevant keywords into your site. You can also use it to post videos, images, infographics, and other visual content.
Of course, you have to update your blog regularly if you do decide to add one. You also need to focus on creating content that will be useful for readers. Content that creates value for the user will improve your SERP rankings. Regular content keeps the rankings high and can help establish you as a thought leader in your field. That’s why content writing is such a key service for white label SEO agencies – because you have to keep up a steady stream of it to keep your page ranking high.
Optimize On-Page and Off
On-page optimization involves structuring your page to make it easier for search engines to crawl, and using keywords in your metadata and in your content. It can also involve tinkering with your site’s HTML to add schema markup and canonicalization. You should add title tags, use your primary keyword in titles and subheadings, and write a meta description that can entice searchers to click on your site.
Off-page optimization involves building backlinks to your site. You need to reach out to other business owners and colleagues who have websites and see if you can exchange links. You can ask your local professional associations if they can link to your site from theirs. You can list your business in online professional directories. You can share links on social media or answer questions on Quora. You can guest post on other blogs.
Keep Track of Your Performance in Search
It’s easy to quantify the success of your SEO efforts. You can use Google Analytics to learn more about who’s coming to your site, how long they’re spending, and what they’re spending. You can use Google Search Console to get insight into how your page is performing in search.
Getting more traffic to your website isn’t impossible, it’s just a matter of SEO! Optimize your website for search, and watch new streams of visitors flow in.
