“Create a website and wish they come” is a grand idea. Too bad that isn’t going to work to bring in the traffic these days! Whether you paid thousands of dollars to set up your website, or you made it free and easy using a cookie cutter web host, you are still at risk of having a stale site. What you need to do is build up your network to improve your Google search ranking. Need some tips to get started?
- Create a blog for your business website. Post on your blog at least once a week, and once per day after you get into a routine with your blog. Don’t have the time to blog? Hire a blogger to do your dirty work.
- Interview experts related to your business and post them on your website. Everyone loves to read expert opinions about a subject. Also, fellow writers love to find expert reports to use for research for their own web content. The fastest way to get backlinks to your site, aka traffic, is to attract a wide variety of users who are referring to your website on their website.
- Don’t be a stranger! Guest post on other blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. Also create a social media profile for your business rather than including spammy links in all of your posts.
- Tag your site with social media bookmarks including Facebook, Pinterest, Digg, Stumble Upon, Twitter, Reddit, and Delicious. Everyone is into sharing these days so make it easy for your users.
- Publish an article on your website that is controversial. Look for subjects in the news that are stirring controversy and write about them.
- Wanna know how to get users to interact with your site so they stick around longer than a click? Get the users involved by creating a quiz or a poll.
- Build a “Best Of” list highlighting other blogs, businesses, websites, summer activities, books, etc. Whatever you can think of that would be relevant to your business, a “Best Of” list will grab the attention of users who are searching for random things featured on the list.
- Give your users a freebie, such as an eBook or printable, that is related to your business. Do you sell carpets? Hook your users up with an eBook guide to choosing a carpet. Want to drive traffic to your web design business? Give your users a printable step-by-step to picking the perfect web host.
- Set up a contest. Everyone loves good, healthy competition, and when searching the web, it’s fun to win random goodies. Do you have a store front you are trying to promote? Set up a photo contest via Instagram or Facebook that encourages users to snap a shot in front of your brick and mortar building in order to earn a prize. If you’re trying to promote your site through Twitter, ask followers to tweet at you for the chance to earn a giveaway.
- Videos are in vogue, so consider using a podcast or submitting videos to sites like YouTube that are related to your business. Remember to tag your site in the video description so users can hunt you down.
Now that you’ve added a few more tools to your web design toolbox, you can expect your web network to grow like mad. Of course with the web, currency is in the current. Keep your website up to par and up to date with current content and active pages in order to keep users happy.
Miranda B is a freelance writer available on WriterAccess, a marketplace where clients and expert writers connect for assignments.
