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“How do I increase my website traffic?” is the number one question I get asked when speaking with potential clients. It seems to be a common concern that small businesses have. The reasons for low traffic can vary, but a few of the common issues I’ve seen include:
The website is very out-of-date
The website is not user-friendly
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has not been incorporated
The website is not responsive or built for mobile-first viewing
There are no campaigns to drive traffic to the website
In this post, I’ll review these five common website issues. By following some simple best practice guidelines, your website could start seeing traffic improvements in the very near future!
1. Keep Your Website Fresh and Relevant
A website should not be “set-it-and-forget-it”. In order for Google to rank your page on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), it needs to know your company is alive and kicking. The best way to tackle this issue is to incorporate a content strategy that will require you to update your website on an ongoing basis.
What types of content strategies might be beneficial to your business?
A blog - sharing relevant articles written by a team member (or ghostwriter) is a great way to ensure ongoing content is added to your website. This also engages your audience and helps them to see you as an authority in your industry.
A newsletter - if you send a weekly, monthly or quarterly newsletter, repurposing it or posting it to your website is a great way to add content.
Press releases or news stories - if something great is happening, share it on your website! Consider adding press releases, published articles or other news stories to your website to help keep the content fresh and relevant.
I know that the creation of content can be a time consuming task if you’re not a professional writer, which is why this is a service I offer! Be sure to check out my list of services.
2. Your Website Should Be Easy to Use
If you track website usage metrics in a program like Google Analytics, a good metric to watch is the Bounce Rate. The bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that came to your site and left after doing nothing and viewing only one page.
What is a good bounce rate metric?
According to Semrush, an optimal bounce rate is between 26-40%. But, keep in mind that there could be reasons why you may have a high bounce rate on a page. An example of a page that could have a high bounce rate is the “Contact Us” page. Typically, a user may visit the contact page just to get an email address or phone number. Once they grab that info, they - you know, bounce!
What a high bounce rate may mean
There could be many factors influencing a high bounce rate, but a couple of big ones are low-quality content and poor usability. If the user can’t quickly locate what they came to the page for, or understand what they are reading, they won’t stay long. Additional items that could impact bounce rates include:
Slow page speed
Pop-ups
Blank pages
Technical issues - images don’t load or 404 errors
Pages that aren’t mobile-friendly
A bad experience is something that can be easy to fix. One way to find out if this is causing concern is to ask a few outsiders to view your site (on desktop and mobile) to give you feedback on the experience. Then, make a game plan to fix these issues.
3. SEO is More Than a Buzz Word
Google is the number one search engine in the world, with 92% of the search engine market. But, more than 90% of web pages receive zero traffic from Google because they don’t appear in the top 10 search results. This is why businesses are investing in search engine optimization (SEO) strategies - to ensure they are top 10 in Google and can easily be found by searchers.
A good place to start with SEO
If you are new to SEO, a good place to start is by working to optimize your current website and creating a plan for integrating SEO best practices into your long-term strategies. SEO work can take some time to see impact, so plan to bring your patience along on this journey!
Here are few quick updates to consider if starting SEO:
Select a list of keywords and phrases you would like your website to rank for if someone searches Google. Find ways to incorporate these words into your website headings and content. Make sure they’re being used reasonably and avoid using them irrationally.
Make sure your content is well structured and uses heading tags like H1, H2, H3, etc.
Compress images on your website for faster loading times.
Include meta descriptions for every web page that describes what the page is about. Be sure to include some keywords in your descriptions!
When you dig deeper into SEO strategies, they can be quite technical. If you’re new to SEO, a bit of research may need to be done, or refer this work to an expert. (Did I mention I recently received my SEO certification from HubSpot Academy? Wink. Wink.)
4. A Website Must Be Mobile-Friendly
In today’s world, a website MUST BE mobile-friendly. Mobile usage accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. A large number of users on mobile means that your website needs to be a pleasant experience on both desktop and mobile device.
Responsive websites, or websites that choose the best display based on the device (desktop, tablet, mobile), are a great choice. But, to take that even further, mobile-first websites consider the actions a mobile user may take when designing strategies and accessibility.
If your website is more than ten years old, chances are it is not a mobile-friendly site. It might be time for an upgrade. Here are some items to consider when thinking of mobile users first:
Do images fit the mobile screen?
Are there clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that are easily spotted? (Think buttons)
Is your menu simple to navigate on a mobile device?
Are font sizes legible on a small screen?
Are you making use of email links and click-to-call functions?
5. Lead Visitors To Your Website
Driving traffic to your website takes effort and several different strategies. One strategy to consider to bring leads to you is by implementing an inbound marketing program.
What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is a marketing practice that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. Inbound marketing practices work to build relationships before asking for the sale, while outbound marketing methods (think cold calling) can force content on the audience, most likely at a time when they don’t need or want what you’re offering.
While both methods have pros and cons, inbound marketing can be used to drive traffic to your website. Here are a few examples of inbound marketing campaigns that can be used to drive traffic to your website:
Whitepapers
Case studies
Webinars
Social media
Digital advertising
Emails
Whichever method your organization prefers, consider trying a few inbound marketing campaigns and analyze the impact to your website traffic.
Conclusion
Increasing traffic to your website can be done in many different ways. What is important, first and foremost, is that you have a website worth the visit. Subscribe to my email list to receive tips and tricks like this for growing your small business with marketing.