Recently, we at Market Vantage have been working on giving our website a facelift, both on page and behind the scenes. We dug up some of the search phrases people typed into Google that brought them to our site. We’ll be addressing many common SEO questions in upcoming blog posts (we’ve got plenty of other articles to help you master Google Ads). Today’s question is rather broad: how can I increase web traffic?
As you might expect, there are a multitude of answers, and any might be applicable or totally irrelevant depending on one’s business, website condition, and the places ads are being run, among countless other factors.
However, there are a few things that should increase traffic for just about anyone running Google Ads. These are techniques that don’t require a ton of technical know-how, but they’ve paid off time and again for our clients.
One caveat: we sometimes find that clients who adjust their advertising efforts but see no improvement are suffering from a separate problem entirely, like a broken link on their website. For a thorough analysis of every issue affecting your traffic, you’ll need to take a careful look “under the hood” or pay someone to do it.
Pay More for Clicks
Don’t worry, the other items on this list won’t consist of “pay more money.” However, we’d be remiss to not point out that higher bids and more spent ad dollars is probably the fastest and simplest way to get more traffic to your website.
Build a Better Keyword List
It’s important to make sure you’re bidding on the right keywords to generate high-quality website traffic that is likely to convert. Google loves to suggest a wide net of popular keywords related to your business, but many of them might be too broad, too competitive, or too expensive for your best interests. Choose your keywords carefully and check in on them regularly to ensure you’re not wasting money on clicks that bounce and never convert.
Run Display Ads
Display ads require more skill and foresight to create than Search ads: you’ll need someone to write ad copy, create colorful and engaging images, and manage ad placements.
Display ads typically have lower conversion rates than Search ads. However, they also tend to have a lower cost per click, which makes them ideal for increasing the number of visitors to your site. These ads work best when you’ve got a visually appealing product to show off, but we’ve seen them succeed even with clients like banks and colleges.
Utilize Social Media
The average adult spent 3 full hours on social media each day last year. This is a concerning statistic, but it also makes it abundantly clear that the place to get eyes on your ads is on sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
However, you can do more than just run ads on these platforms. Ensure your business has an actual presence on social media beyond simply advertising. Make a polished, attractive Facebook page for your business and post regularly, even if it’s totally unrelated to advertising: post a poll! Post about an employee’s commendable effort! Keep users engaged with casual, frequent content once they’ve been drawn in by your ads.
Naturally, the easiest way for you as a business owner or manager to increase web traffic is to hire experts to utilize these techniques (and many more) for you. But hopefully, we’ve made it clear that building a better web presence and getting more site visits isn’t something that can only be accomplished with outside help. A little time and effort on your part will go a long way!
