6 Low Cost or Free Ways to Drive Targeted Traffic to Your Website
Driving traffic to your website is absolutely critical to getting online sales.
Whether you're starting your business or already in business, you could make a whole lotta internet bread over the next two months for this holiday season if you get people to your website and convert them to buyers.
But the traffic you're sending to your website HAS to be targeted traffic - meaning it has to be the people who need the product you're selling. Those are the people who have a problem and want your product as their solution.
Here are a few easy ideas you can use to get targeted traffic on your website:
1. Write a blog for your niche.
Providing valuable content is a great way to build trust and show your audience how much your product can help them. You can write short articles - like this one - that help your audience learn more, complete small tasks, or just to entertain them.
And don't think you have to be a grammatical genius or write Pulitzer Prize winning material. Write in the voice of your customer so they connect with your content and you'll be just fine.
You can then share your blog articles to get people on your website and people who are online searching for answers to their questions could land on your website. That's traffic that could turn into a sale.
2. Run ads on social media.
Get your products in front of your ideal customer by targeting them on the social media networks they hang out on.
You can advertise on social media networks like:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- Snapchat
And many more for just a few dollars a day!
The great thing about this is that you can upload your email lists to your ad account on these platforms and target the people who have already shown interest in your products! That's worth its weight in GOLD!
Don't be intimidated by running ads. It can be confusing at first, but once you get a basic understanding of funnels and internet marketing, it gets much easier.
The best thing to do is start with your current audience lists, get in there, spend a few dollars and learn!
3. Ask past customers for referrals and reviews.
Word of mouth (also called eWOM for electronic word of mouth) is powerful!
People trust other people's opinions of your business more than they trust yours, and that only makes sense. Why should people believe what you say about your products when you're the one getting paid to sell it?
Get people to give you reviews and feedback as much as you possibly can. If you've had customers in the past but don't have reviews, reach out to those past customers and ask them for a review.
You can even give them incentive to respond by offer a discount code if they respond with a review.
Whether you have past sales or not, immediately put a process in place to collect reviews from your customers.
Reviews and referrals convert like crazy!
4. Use videos in your content.
People remember what they see in videos, oftentimes, better than what they read in text. Don't be afraid to shoot videos and share them on your social media and your website.
This doesn't have to be a huge production. A quick video of your product in all its glory, a behind the scenes video, or even a video of you explaining how to use your product would all be great ideas for video content.
Don't be shy! Get that camera (or cellphone) and start recording!
5. Post on social media.
It goes without saying that, if you run a business these days, you should be on social media. And of course, if you're on social media, you should be actually posting content.
Again, don't complicate things. Share content about your niche, your products, your business, and even you.
You don't have to get super personal, but allowing your audience to get to know you and your business just builds the "know, like, trust" factor and makes them want to shop with you.
Be sure to link to your website from your social media pages. Getting content out on your social media just gives people in your audience another way to find your website and click on it.
6. Use SEO to rank on search engines.
That means when people search the internet for a product like yours, your website shows up in the search results. This drives organic traffic to your website, meaning you don't pay a dime for that click, so you're able to drive traffic to your website without paying for ads.
SEO can get pretty extensive and complicated, but you don't need to be an SEO expert to start with the basics. Here are five tips you can start with...
- Research and use keywords your audience is searching for. Those are the ones that have good search traffic potential.
- Optimize your website for mobile.
- Be sure your website is full of quality content that isn't spammy or deceptive.
- Increase your page speed.
- Ensure that your website provides a good user experience.
Implement one or all of these ideas into your marketing strategy to get people on your website then get those sales!
For help starting your online business selling a physical product with no inventory or selling a digital product, click here.