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Publish date: March 23, 2023
Step #9
To do list for this page:
Build traffic to your new website.
There are many ways to get more traffic to your site. We will go through some ideas later in this article. First, however, let’s go over how NOT to try to get traffic to your site. Some people engage in what is referred to as “black hat SEO” to try to increase their website traffic. Black hat SEO is using shady techniques that are against Google’s rules. Sometimes these work for a while, but if you get caught, you’ll be penalized by Google.
How NOT to get traffic to your site
Are link exchanges good?
Link exchanges are against Google’s rules and can get your site penalized. Link exchanges are where you make an agreement with another website owner to link to each other’s sites. This sounds great in theory because you’ll gain backlinks to your site. It’s not hard, however, for Google to detect that it was a link exchange when each site links to the other site. Don’t do link exchanges with other sites to try to increase your website traffic!
Should I buy backlinks?
You should never buy backlinks to try to increase your website traffic! Paying a website owner to link to your site is also against Google’s rules. If a company pays for an advertisement on your site which includes a link to their site, it must be a nofollow and/or sponsored link which doesn’t pass on authority. That means the code “rel=nofollow” and/or “rel=sponsored” must be included in the link. If you click on a link in WordPress, you will see the options to make a link sponsored and/or nofollow. Sponsored is for links in paid advertisements. Nofollow can also be used for any other occasion when you want to link to a site without endorsing the site (like if it’s not a trustworthy site).
Should I hire a company to handle my SEO?
If you choose to hire a company to help you with SEO, be sure that they are reputable. Some SEO companies will engage in black hat techniques which may give your site a temporary boost but could get you penalized.
What are better options to get more traffic to my site?
Now that you’ve learned how NOT to try to get more traffic, let’s learn some better ways.
SEO
Good on-page SEO (Search Engine Optimization) will boost your search engine rankings which will increase your traffic naturally. Your website will appear more often in the search engine results which will get you more organic traffic. Any of the techniques that you learned on the Page SEO lesson would help.
Social media
Having a social media presence can get you more traffic. First determine which social media platforms make sense for your site. If your website is more visual, you may want to focus on Pinterest and Instagram. For topics more related to the work environment, LinkedIn may be better for you. If you’re targeting Gen Z, TikTok may make more sense, while Facebook is better if you’re targeting older adults.
How social media can increase your website traffic
- Hashtags – Posting with hashtags can get you discovered by new users. Your post will appear with others with the same hashtag, and people interested in that topic will see your post and hopefully click on the link to your site. Be sure to include at least one link to a page on your site with each post.
- Followers – As the number of your social media followers increases, you’ll have a way to easily reach out to your fans. Also, the friends of each of your followers may notice their Likes and end up following you too.
- Brand awareness – Getting your website name out there will increase brand awareness. Make sure that your brand and/or website name is included in each post and ideally each image too. I put my website name in the lower right corner of each of my image posts.
- Announce about new content – When you create a new blog post or page, be sure to announce about it on your social media with a link to the new page. Add hashtags to let as many people as possible know about it.
- Shared infographics and images – Create interesting infographics and images that your followers will want to share.
- Comments – Encourage your followers to comment on your posts by asking questions or soliciting feedback.
Backlinks
Backlinks, links from other sites to yours, can not only increase traffic by encouraging visitors from that site to visit yours, but it can also be seen as an endorsement by search engines which will boost your SEO. As mentioned earlier, link exchanges and buying links are NOT the way to get backlinks. There are many legitimate ways to get backlinks, and the best way to get them partially depends on your website topic.
How to get backlinks
- Guest post – Reach out to other blogs to see if you can write a guest post for them. Even if they only give you a nofollow link, it will get the word out about your website.
- Apply for awards – Apply for small business or website awards such as the WebAwards. Google to see if there are any awards in your field.
- HARO (Help a Reporter Out) – List yourself as an expert on the HARO website. If a reporter selects you as a source, you’ll get some free publicity and maybe a backlink.
- Email – You have to be careful not to be perceived as spam, but you could try emailing organizations in your field. Begin the email with praise of the organization and mention any personal connection that you have to it. Then tell them about your site and why it could be useful to them or their members.
Offline publicity
I jump started my website with English lessons for Spanish-speakers by sending envelopes that contained 10 postcards to schools with a request for the postcards to be put in the ESL teachers’ mailboxes. It was an investment of time and money for postage, but it got me started more quickly. I figured that for every teacher that I won over, I would get a lot of students if they recommended my site to their students. Also, backlinks from school websites bring a great deal of authority. Try to think of offline ways that you can let your target audience know about your site.
Offline ways to increase your traffic
- Promotional materials – bumper stickers, t-shirts, etc.
- Print business cards, postcards or flyers and leave them everywhere that you are allowed to. Leave them along with your tip for your restaurant server, set them on the night stand along with a tip for your hotel maid when you travel, place a stack of them at businesses with the owner’s permission. Don’t leave them in places where they will just become trash, however.
- Speaking engagements – Speak at conferences on your topic of expertise.
Jump start with Google ads
Paying for Google ads is not feasible in the long term, but you may want to run some ads when you launch a new site. You can sign up for an account at https://ads.google.com/
What’s the next step?
Now that you have a great website and have built up some traffic, it’s time to start making some money off it! In the next lesson, learn How to monetize your site.
