Getting more traffic to a website is the lifeblood of any online business, and increasingly important to bricks and mortar business, too. In the past, it was all about SEO, and sometimes over-optimising a web site in the process, just to get a jump on the competition.
These days, however, there are many different options:
- Organic traffic (i.e. basic SEO and keyword research);
- Paid traffic (i.e. AdWords and/or Facebook ads, paid inclusion, banners, etc.);
- Social traffic (i.e. Twitter / Facebook / YouTube / Instagram ...)
In the spirit of keeping things simple, we're going to assume that traffic can only come from one of the above sources. It will give you plenty of options to get started.
However, the first question to ask is...
However, the first question to ask is...
What Kind of Traffic do you Need?
If your answer to this is 'any traffic is good traffic', then think again.
The relentless pursuit of traffic at any cost is bad for the nerves, and bad for business. Usually, getting the right kind of traffic is a much better strategy than the hit-and-hope approach of old. Even for mass market products and services.
The focus should be on getting traffic that comes with an intent that is in line with your customer acquisition strategy. That's not always about money; sometimes it's about taking some kind of action.
Often, different strategies can be used to bring in different kinds of traffic.
For example, if your goal is to get people on your mailing list so that you can later send them a message with a different call to action (CTA), your strategy will be different than the one you use to pull in paying customers through online advertising.
Then again, if brand visibility is at the core of your customer acquisition strategy, then pulling in traffic that is hungry for information, and firmly in your target market should be the priority.
Not just any traffic at any cost.
The relentless pursuit of traffic at any cost is bad for the nerves, and bad for business. Usually, getting the right kind of traffic is a much better strategy than the hit-and-hope approach of old. Even for mass market products and services.
The focus should be on getting traffic that comes with an intent that is in line with your customer acquisition strategy. That's not always about money; sometimes it's about taking some kind of action.
Often, different strategies can be used to bring in different kinds of traffic.
For example, if your goal is to get people on your mailing list so that you can later send them a message with a different call to action (CTA), your strategy will be different than the one you use to pull in paying customers through online advertising.
Then again, if brand visibility is at the core of your customer acquisition strategy, then pulling in traffic that is hungry for information, and firmly in your target market should be the priority.
Not just any traffic at any cost.
Are You Willing to PAY for Traffic?
Let's get this one out in the open: paid traffic is not a dirty concept.
Here's an adequate cliché to go with it: sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate.
Payment, however, can take different forms depending on how you want to get your traffic. The traffic source is also closely aligned with the kind of traffic you would like to attract.
When you think of paid traffic, you usually associate it with various forms of direct advertising;
However, it's also possible to buy traffic that has been redirected from domain names that are no longer in use, and pay people to create forum posts that link back to your site; not to mention paying people with loads of followers to plaster their timeline with your advertising message.
A lot of these actions you could also do yourself. Or, to put it a different way: pay yourself to do.
But, the investment in time that is involved will often mean that the opportunity cost of building up a following of fans just to sell them a single product during the holiday season isn't going to work out.
It would be a better investment to hand that off to someone else, someone whose actual calling is in creating a stream of traffic for you, while you get on with actually running the business, and delighting your customers.
Here's an adequate cliché to go with it: sometimes you have to speculate to accumulate.
Payment, however, can take different forms depending on how you want to get your traffic. The traffic source is also closely aligned with the kind of traffic you would like to attract.
When you think of paid traffic, you usually associate it with various forms of direct advertising;
- Paid search inclusion;
- AdWords / banner advertising;
- Etc.
However, it's also possible to buy traffic that has been redirected from domain names that are no longer in use, and pay people to create forum posts that link back to your site; not to mention paying people with loads of followers to plaster their timeline with your advertising message.
A lot of these actions you could also do yourself. Or, to put it a different way: pay yourself to do.
But, the investment in time that is involved will often mean that the opportunity cost of building up a following of fans just to sell them a single product during the holiday season isn't going to work out.
It would be a better investment to hand that off to someone else, someone whose actual calling is in creating a stream of traffic for you, while you get on with actually running the business, and delighting your customers.
How Will You Know If It's Working?
Let's pull these together.
You need traffic, you'd like organic traffic, but are willing to pay if it is demonstrably profitable.
If your traffic goal is instant sales, then advertising bubbles up the list a bit, because it is very easy to divide the cost of acquiring sales by the value they generate in order to determine the return on investment.
Likewise, it's also very easy to track the conversion rate (how many sales for how many visitors) in order to improve it by fiddling with the sales message.
Modifying the landing page, and acquisition channel (including the wording on the sidebar ad, paid inclusion summary or AdWords advertising panel) all give you the opportunity to improve these ratios.
For those taking a longer term view, relying on instant sales data is meaningless: if you are trying to attract visitors to your content, in order to get them on a mailing list, and sell them a hefty annual subscription, for example, the lifetime value of a customer is much more important.
However, the basic ratios are still the same.
Here are some tips for maximising your traffic acquisition success:
You need traffic, you'd like organic traffic, but are willing to pay if it is demonstrably profitable.
If your traffic goal is instant sales, then advertising bubbles up the list a bit, because it is very easy to divide the cost of acquiring sales by the value they generate in order to determine the return on investment.
Likewise, it's also very easy to track the conversion rate (how many sales for how many visitors) in order to improve it by fiddling with the sales message.
Modifying the landing page, and acquisition channel (including the wording on the sidebar ad, paid inclusion summary or AdWords advertising panel) all give you the opportunity to improve these ratios.
For those taking a longer term view, relying on instant sales data is meaningless: if you are trying to attract visitors to your content, in order to get them on a mailing list, and sell them a hefty annual subscription, for example, the lifetime value of a customer is much more important.
However, the basic ratios are still the same.
Here are some tips for maximising your traffic acquisition success:
- Do your keyword research properly, or get an expert to do it for you: keywords aren't just for organic search and SEO, they're a method of communication -- your buyer's intent towards you, and your value towards them;
- Never be afraid to experiment with new messages and ways of delivering those messages, but make sure they remain in line with your core values;
- Track everything by using metrics reflecting how you acquire traffic, and what component of your strategy is delivered by that traffic;
- Track the metrics.
To get started, I recommend taking the Free Keyword Research Tutorial from The Keyword Coach: it will not only help you appreciate SEO more fully, but also has some great processes that you can use to determine audience intent: are they clickers or buyers?
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