Boost your website traffic with these 13 unbeatable techniques
Congratulations! Your website is finally ready and you decide to put it online. You share the link with your professional network, but your traffic is stagnating and you're not succeeding in building user loyalty. Like anyone who has created a website, you want to increase your visibility and convert more customers.
So you ask yourself the fateful question: how can you increase traffic to your site? 🧐 It's a question that's on every website owner's mind, especially now that digitalisation and the pandemic have further demonstrated the power of the Internet. But more competition means more effort to boost your visibility!
We'll help you boost yours with 13 must-have techniques ! 🔥
1 - Measure your site's traffic
The first, and by no means least, step is to measure your traffic: it's where it all starts! How can you put in place a strategy to increase traffic if you don't have any quantitative data to fall back on?
Your site's performance indicators are invaluable data for defining an appropriate strategy. There are 5 of them that are the most revealing and essential to traffic management:
- ➡️ Bounce rate
Percentage of visitors who view a single page of the site and leave immediately. The lower the bounce rate, the better.
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➡️ Conversion rate
Also known as the "transformation rate", this is the percentage of visitors who have carried out an action (purchase, registration, quote request, etc.). -
➡️ Number of unique visitors
This is the number of Internet users who visit one or more pages on your site. -
➡️ Visit duration
This is the average time visitors spend on your site. It is particularly relevant for checking its attractiveness. -
➡️ Most-visited pages
This indicator is perfect for identifying your most effective pages and drawing inspiration from them.
🖥 All these indicators can be found in specialist audience measurement software and tools. The best known and 80% market leader is Google Analytics. Google's tool is the best known and undoubtedly the most widely used - or, at least, its free version.
But it's not the only one. There are much more complete and relevant alternatives for your e-commerce site.
Shop application, for example, is a comprehensive, intuitive and easy-to-usee-commerce software package that supports you in the day-to-day management of your website with a host of features. Its audience analysis tools are automatically integrated into your website, giving you the benefit of advanced statistics, visible via a clear and comprehensive dashboard :
- website traffic,
- average basket, best customers,
- most frequently used payments,
- most viewed and most sold items,
- precise sales trends, year-on-year comparisons, etc,
2 - Improve your search engine optimisation (SEO)
To attract traffic, SEO (search engine optimisation) is your greatest ally. When properly exploited, it allows you to be at the top - or at least on the first page,- of Google results.
💡 You can carry out a technical SEO audit of your website in order to have basic quantitative data on which to base your SEO strategy.
The secret is to work well on your keywords and properly study your personas so that you only capture qualified traffic. A number of specialised SEO tools - some of which are free - can help you find the most relevant keywords for your sector, as well as enabling you to measure your competitors' performance 🔎.
3 - Create high-quality, relevant content!
Your site can be the most beautiful and the most well-designed, but that won't increase your traffic - or at least it won't! A regularly updated blog will help you build a loyal audience and position yourself as an expert in your field.
Your content needs to be useful, relevant to your target audience and enjoyable to read. To achieve this, it's advisable to vary its formats, so as to constantly surprise readers:
- 📄 Articles
The most widely used content and the best suited to keyword research. Write engaging blog posts that are optimised using SEO tools to position yourself in Google results.
- 📊 Infographics
Infographics are very popular with web users, due to their high virality potential and attractive visual appearance. You can publish them on your social networks and redirect the audience to your site.
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📖 White papers
Often used by BtoB companies, white papers are dossiers that deal in detail with a specific subject. They are very popular with professional targets and allow you to collect valuable data via their download. -
🎬 The video format
The video format is a real springboard for boosting your visibility, thanks to its dynamism. It's a particularly effective communication tool: 93% of marketing managers say that a video post on social networks has enabled them to attract at least one new customer (Oberlo 2020).
4 - Exploit social networks
When it comes to visibility, it's hard not to mention social networks. Although natural referencing remains one of the best ways of increasing your traffic, social networks are even more important!
📈 The figures are clear:
- Over 2 million businesses use Instagram for advertising ;
- 200 million Instagram users visit at least 1 business profile a day;
- Over 30% of users buy directly on social networks;
- 43% of B2B marketing experts say that Facebook is their main advertising channel;
(Source: Netoffensive.blog - 2020)
Social networks are particularly effective for increasing engagement, interactivity and closeness with your readers. You can :
- promote your blog content
- post engaging videos of all kinds (IGTV, real, tik tok, etc.),
- post "lives" and interact live with your users,
- post stories (videos, photos, polls, etc.) and keep users interested,
- sell your products directly via social networks, etc.
The possibilities are endless.
It's up to you to choose which social network is best suited to your website (LinkedIn for B2B and professional content, Instagram for e-commerce sites with its e-shopping module, etc.).
5 - Think user: improve the ergonomics of your site!
If your website is slow to load, visitors will tend to leave it more quickly and, in most cases, not return. On the other hand, if your site is not fast enough, it will be penalised by Google and will therefore be less well referenced, which will affect your traffic.
As you can see, the ergonomics of your site is a point that should not be overlooked! The user experience must be at the heart of your digital strategy:
- the site must be clear, fluid and easy to understand ;
- it must not contain any bugs, 404 pages or empty pages;
- the interface must be ergonomic and users must be able to find answers to their questions quickly.
💡 Think of chatbots, which are now real performance levers for companies. They make it possible to answer the most frequently asked questions automatically; in this way, they considerably improve the user experience!
🛠 Why not entrust the management of your website to a specialist tool?
Commerce Cloud from Salesforce is a fully modular e-commerce shop management software . Save time by automating your time-consuming management tasks and focus on the user experience:
- offer your customers an increasingly personalised shopping experience thanks to Einstein, the AI included in the tool;
- collect and analyse your site usage data directly in the tool to adapt the customer journey as quickly as possible... and maximise your ROI!
6 - Don't neglect emailing
The effectiveness of emailing has been proven time and time again! It's one of the best ways of attracting visitors to your site. To build an effective emailing strategy, you need to follow 3 key steps:
- Collect as many email addresses as possible and create customer/visitor files.
- Carry out AB testing and evaluate which email model performs best, gets the most clicks, has the highest open rate, etc.
- Set up a clear emailing strategy, with precise sending dates and a well-defined target.
💡 There are several software packages specialising in emailing, but you can also adopt CRM software for more global management of your business.
7 - Create a Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) is your paper directory 2.0. If you run a physical business as well as a website, consider registering your business on GMB.
This free tool lists all the details of establishments based on Internet searches, with a local dimension. It's a real referencing service that shouldn't be overlooked.
👉 Example: someone types "local shoe shop" into Google. If you are listed on GMB and your shop is close to the user's location, the tool will make you appear on the first search results. The user will then have access to all your information, including a direct link to your website!
8 - Do some guest blogging (we'll explain)
Guest blogging means inviting other (quality!) writers to write for your blog. It could be an expert or a reference in their field writing on a very specific subject, a collaboration between bloggers, an influencer... the possibilities are endless.
The reverse also works! You can write and post on other blogs to increase your profile and drive more traffic to your site.
9 - Add CTAs... without moderation!
A CTA (Call-to-action) translates into French as "Bouton d'Appel à l'Action". It's a clickable visual element that redirects your users to your content offers in the case of a download, for example.
They are very effective for collecting data about your customers (contact details, name, address, email address, etc.), which you can then use to send commercial offers, newsletters, etc.
10 - Paid search for those of you in a hurry
Natural search engine optimisation is certainly an excellent way of acquiring free, long-term traffic, but if you want to give your site an (initial) boost of visibility during a particular period (Christmas or Valentine's Day, for example), you can use paid search engine optimisation. to your site during a particular period (Christmas or Valentine's Day, for example), you can use SEA, aka paid search!
Do you see these sites positioned at the very top of Google results in the "Ad" format? These are websites that use paid referencing via Google Adwords. It's a great way to gain visibility quickly, but only temporarily!
11 - Think about new tools
That's right! You have to move with the times and keep up with new trends in digital marketing. Many new digital tools have emerged since the pandemic: e-tailers and digital professionals have had to innovate to maintain their business and keep Internet users interested.
Among these new tools, the most popular are:
- 🎙 Podcasts
The podcast, aka the tool that brought radio back into fashion! If you're comfortable with the microphone, you can record podcasts and publish them on your website. This type of audio content is becoming increasingly popular with internet users, and it's easy to share!
- 💻 Webinars
Webinars, which are a little more formal than podcasts, are aimed at a professional audience. They are videoconference meetings open to the public, which address a particular subject. Very effective for attracting prospects!
12 - Include your website URL in your email signatures
Your professional email signature is a much more effective means of communication than you might think! It's a quick and easy way to increase traffic to your site. You can include :
- your website,
- your appointment scheduling platform
- your social networks,
- your most relevant certifications,
- your recruitment platform, etc.
13 - Mobile first, a must
Last, but not least, mobile first! A must if you want more traffic to your website. And once again, the figures speak for themselves:
- 37.4 million French people use their mobile phone to access the Internet every day,
- 4 out of 10 Internet users only use their smartphone to access the Internet,
- 34% of French people make at least one purchase a month on their mobile phone.
Mobile First is a concept that involves designing a site with priority given to the mobile version and gradually adapting the interface to larger screens. Having a site that adapts perfectly to mobile screens means smooth browsing and more traffic!
So, are you ready to boost your website traffic? 🔥
Article translated from French