Website traffic is essential to a business’s online success. For a boating business, it helps create awareness about current inventory, promotions, and events. You typically want your website to attract traffic from people that are interested in what you offer and would potentially buy your boats or use your services.
So how do you get all this website traffic? By employing as many proven traffic methods as possible. In this blog, we will cover 30 tips for driving traffic to your site using strategies such as:
- Social media marketing
- SEO
- Paid Advertising
Let’s jump in…
Gain Website Traffic by Being Social
Get website traffic from social media platforms using these tips…
1. Join the major platforms.
There are lots of social media platforms for you to join, but the key is to only join those sites where your market regularly logs in. The top two include Twitter and Facebook. Other options include Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
2. Fill out your profiles.
Spend time filling out your profiles, including a good photo and a good description of you and your business. Be sure to include a link to your site along with a call to action such as “View our inventory today!” It will give people a reason to click on your link.
Another example: “Looking for a used boat in Naples? Click here to discover our current promotions and new additions to our inventory!”
3. Start a Facebook Page.
Log into your Facebook account and go to Anchor Texthttps://www.facebook.com/pages/create/ to get started. Be sure to fill out your Page profile completely, including a link and call to action. Then start posting content such as information about upcoming events, tips on how to keep your boat in great shape and even videos of client testimonials. You can gain website traffic by users viewing your Facebook page and clicking the link to your site.
TIP: Include relevant keywords in your page name as well as the description to help people find your page.
4. Start a Facebook Group.
Log into Facebook and click on “Create a Group” in the left-side navigation bar. You’ll be able to choose a name for the group and choose whether it’s open (this is your best choice for a business), closed (must be a member to see the posts) or secret.
This is a great way to start a discussion group or support group. For example, you could start a support group for those who would like tips on boat maintenance. Or start a discussion group for people who would like to join a boat rental club.
5. Post share-worthy content.
If you want to take advantage of social media’s naturally viral platform, then post content worth sharing. This is content that possesses one or more of the following factors:
- Unique
- Useful
- Entertaining
- Controversial
- Uplifting, inspiring or motivational
- Funny
After you post good content, then follow the next tip…
6. Encourage people to share.
Posting share-worthy content is part of the equation. The other part to present a call to action where you specifically ask people to share, re-tweet and re-post your content.
For example: “Click share if you agree”
Another example: “Share with your boating crew! ”
7. Funnel people back to your site.
While it’s great to build up a big social media platform, don’t forget that the goal is to drive traffic back to your site. One good way to do this is to pin a post at the top of your page that offers people a free lead magnet product in exchange for their email address. You can then link to your lead page.
8. Start a contest on social media.
You can get more subscribers, followers, and traffic if you offer awesome prizes and use a tool like www.rafflecopter.com. Rafflecopter lets people get more entries by sharing your content with their friends, which makes your content go viral.
Pro Tip: Offer all “runners up” a limited-time discount coupon on your products as a consolation prize. It’s a good way to boost sales.
9. Put social media badges on your blog.
In other words, make it easy for people to “like” and “share” your blog content on social media, which in turn drives more traffic back to your site.
If you’re using WordPress, you can search plugins for “social media share” plugins (go to Anchor Texthttps://wordpress.org/plugins/). Or you can directly opt for a popular plugin such as Social Media Feather (at Anchor Texthttps://wordpress.org/plugins/social-media-feather/).
10. Post a variety of content.
Variety keeps people engaged, but it also gives you a chance to see what types of content get you the most engagement. You can post content such as:
- Infographics
- Memes
- Quotes
- Jokes
- Videos
- Tips
- Articles
- Observations
- Niche-relevant “rants”
- Reactions to news stories
… And so on. Keep track of likes, shares, and comments to figure out what your audience loves.
11. Interact with your followers.
Don’t just post and walk away. Instead, be sure to reply to comments and join the discussion. It will help you build a relationship with your followers, which in turn makes it more likely they’ll want to do business with you.
Do SEO to Gain Website Traffic
Search engine optimization is the way to get your content ranked well in Google and other search engines. Here are tips for getting better rankings…
12. Use a keyword tool.
Don’t guess what people are searching for in the search engines. Instead, use something like WordTracker.com, MarketSamurai.com or your favorite tool. Enter your broad keywords (such as “boats for sale”), and the tool will list dozens, hundreds or thousands of related searches. You can then create content around those words with a relatively high number of search volume yet relatively low competition.
13. Redesign with SEO in mind.
If you’re getting ready to build or redesign a website, then don’t do anything until you’ve figured out your main keywords. Then you can include those keywords within the navigation menu, other internal links, page titles and more.
14. Insert keywords in key places.
If you’re writing content for your blog, include your keywords in the page title, the title of the article and sprinkled within the content. Use synonyms as well.
15. Consider your link names.
Try to include keywords in your links (e.g., “yourdomain.com/keywordhere.html”). It’s also a good idea if your domain name includes a keyword, if possible.
TIP: If you’re using WordPress, log in to your dashboard, go to “Settings” and choose “permalinks.” Then choose a link structure that puts the post name in the link. Note that WP also lets you manually choose your link name when you’re creating the post.
16. Create a mobile-friendly site.
Google now includes mobile-friendliness as part of their ranking signals. This means your site should:
- Have a responsive theme.
- Space links out so they’re easy to tap.
You can check your site for free at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
17. Be sure your site loads fast.
Google prefers sites that load fast, especially for its mobile users. But your visitors want a fast-loading site too. Go through your site and, if needed, reduce the size of graphics, turn off auto-play on videos or audios, and be sure all scripts are running smoothly. Make sure you inventory page loads quickly since it is usually the page with loads of information and pictures.
18. Focus on quality links, not quantity.
Some search engines look at links from other sites as “votes” for your web page. However, poor quality links can actually hurt you, so you want to focus on getting links from high-quality, authority sites in your niche.
TIP: Posting high-quality content on your blog will bring these links to you naturally.
19. Write for humans first.
Sure, you’re supposed to sprinkle your keywords into your content. However, the key is to write for your human visitors first. It does your site no good if you create content that attracts search engines but repels human visitors.
TIP: If you focus on your human visitors, you’re less likely to get caught in a Google smack. Those tend to be reserved for webmasters who try to “trick” Google into delivering high rankings.
20. Keep yourself informed.
The SEO landscape changes fast, which is why you need to commit yourself to stay informed. Keep an eye on well-known SEO sites such as www.searchenginewatch.com.
Pay For Website Traffic
Buying traffic is often a quick way to get plenty of targeted leads. Check out these tips…
21. Place ads on niche sites.
You’re probably already aware of many of the top sites in your niche. If not, go to Google and run a search for your niche keywords (such as “boats” or “boats for sale” or “boat maintenance”). Then take a look at the top sites to see if they accept advertising. If they do, then start with a small ad buy and invest more if you get good results. A popular site to post ads for boat dealers is Boat Trader.
22. Buy solo ads.
While you’re researching niche sites in Google, look for those that accept newsletter advertising. Join the newsletter first to be sure they provide high-quality content. If so, find out from the publisher how many subscribers there are and where they come from.
If it all checks out, then again start small and invest later if you get good results.
23. Use an advertising broker.
You don’t need to seek out ad opportunities yourself. Instead, you can use a “middleman” site like BuySellAds.com.
TIP: Search Google for “buy online advertising” to uncover even more of these types of sites.
24. Research prospective venues.
Whenever you find a good advertising opportunity, be sure to do your due diligence. You want to be sure the site provides high-quality information to an interactive, engaged audience. A good place to check this out is on the site’s blog.
TIP: Always ask the webmaster for the traffic demographics. Specifically, where is the traffic coming from?
25. Purchase Facebook advertising.
Your audience is probably already using Facebook, which makes it a great way to get your message in front of them. Log into your Facebook account and start here:
https://www.facebook.com/ads/manager/creation/creation/
Then use Facebook’s ad tools to narrow the demographics and user behavior down to a targeted audience. This will ensure that your website traffic is coming from the right target market.
26. Use Google Ads to Gain Website Traffic.
Google has a wonderful pay per click advertising opportunity at https://ads.google.com/home/
If you use Google Ads, be sure to:
- Choose narrowly targeted keywords rather than broad keywords.
- Test and track your campaign using the built-in tools so you know which keywords and which ads deliver the best results.
27. Arouse curiosity.
No matter where you’re placing an ad, you can often boost click-through rates by arousing curiosity with the ad.
For example:
- Who else wants to discover the secret of keeping your boat looking new?
- Click here to find out the top-performing products to use when giving maintenance to your boat.
Here’s another way to sharpen your advertisements…
28. Use polished, bright graphics.
If you’re placing banner ads or other graphic ads, choose eye-catching graphics with one or more of these characteristics:
- Bright colors.
- Simple and uncluttered.
- Good quality pictures.
TIP: The subject of your photo should be looking directly at the view or at your ad’s text, as viewers will naturally look where a person or object is pointing.
29. Present a strong call to action.
You’ll get a better click-through rate if you tell people exactly what you want them to do. For example:
- Check out our new inventory at this link.
- Click here to claim your spot at our event.
- Follow these steps to join our mailing list.
30. Track and test your campaigns.
Some ad venues provide built-in tracking tools, including Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Your email service provider likely does too. If you need tools for other campaigns, then check out Google Analytics.
An Even Easier Way
The tips that we have shared with you in this article will have a great impact on the number of potential customers visiting your site.
Although the tips are very easy for you to put into practice right now, there is a lot of work involved in running a successful online business. It requires a huge investment of time and effort, which is not always easy, especially if you are already running a busy offline local business as well.
The good news is that there is an easier way to send traffic and new customers to your site without twice the effort, and that is by allowing us to run your online marketing for you.
We are a web design and digital marketing company dedicated to helping many businesses just like yours. Contact us today at 888-928-4587 to find out what we can do for your business!
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