Web visitors. We all want them, but how do you get them to your website? Better yet, how do you get qualified customers who are interested in your specific product(s) to your website? Here are 4 cost-free tips that can help your business be found on the internet.
1. The key to getting the right traffic is using the right Keywords
One of the most important facets of generating traffic is having the right keywords throughout your website. Your Keywords should appear in 4 key places:
- The Title Tag
- Meta Tags
- Header Tags
- General page content
Meta Tags are hidden bits of words on your web page that Google, Bing, and other search engines use to determine what your website is about. While they don’t have much weight in helping your overall search engine rank, it’s still important to have proper Meta tags.
Header tags are used for styling content on your website, as part of the HTML (the code that forms your website). Having the proper keyword in your Header tags can make a difference in your search engine rank.
Most leading Content Management Systems (CMS) help make it easier for you to ensure your keywords appear in these 4 critical areas.
It’s important to choose keywords/phrases that relate to your business or product. Let's consider a small music store that exclusively sells custom, one of a kind, handmade guitars. Examples of keywords that could be used to build a keyword phrase would be,
- Guitar
- Electric
- Acoustic
- Custom
- Handmade
- One of a kind
Build phrases that you believe your customers would use in search engines to find you and get these phrases into your website! In the music store example, you could assume that potential visitors might search for: “handmade guitars”,or “Custom handmade acoustic guitar”, or “one of a kind handmade guitar”. Having these kinds of key phrases on your website could help you show up in Google’s and other search engines results for these searches. Not only would you be generating new traffic but qualified traffic interested in your product.
Check out one of my earlier posts on landing pages to learn more about choosing appropriate keywords/phrases.
2. Start a blog
Having a blog on your website offers some great advantages:
- It helps display your expertise and passion for your product or service;
- It is an excellent way to get key phrases onto your website, and;
- Search engines love new content! Websites that are updated with fresh new content are more likely to show up higher in relevant search engines results, which could mean more traffic for you.
Creating blogs is not as onerous as most people think. Scan other media articles for ideas that connect your target audience with your products. For example, we build websites and help businesses get found on the internet. You are reading our blog about getting found on the internet. Coincidence? I don’t think so!
3. Get links to your site
The most challenging aspect of increasing traffic to your website is getting links from other websites back to your website, and ideally, websites that rank high in search engine results. Why does this matter? Having links to your website on other high ranking websites tells search engines “hey, this website must be important if it’s on all these other high ranking websites”. How might you do this?
- Submit your sites to online directories, such as http://www.dmoz.org/.
- Participate in blogs, forums, and other online communities that relate to your business. By being an active member you can often include links back to your website.
- Write articles for other websites. Ensure that you can point back to your website in the article.
4. Take advantage of social media:
Take advantage of Facebook and Twitter. Get users "liking" your Facebook page and "following" you on Twitter! Having a social media plan is vital to making this step a success.
The more content you post on the internet and the more tools you use to publish that content, the more likley you are going to be found when people go looking .
For a great example of how these tips can help your business get found, do a quick Google search for our company, Webbuilders Group. You will see not only our main website, but our listings in online directories and many of our social media publications, including Blog postings, our Facebook page, our Twitter page and our LinkedIn page.
Want a blog for your website? Need help choosing the right keywords for your website? Contact us today to start getting better results from the internet.