“My website is up and running, but it’s not bringing me any business!”
“It hasn’t helped me, and I even paid someone to help build it.”
We hear this all the time, and we want to bring some clarity to this argument.
Is your website generating business? Is your website getting any clicks?
Why Isn’t It Producing The Results We Seek?
When it comes down to it, most website development companies will avoid the topic of web traffic altogether.
This is because the ones that tell you they will bring a bunch of traffic to your website are lying. It may not always be the case, but generally, if they claim your website alone will get lots of traffic, they are lying.
How do we know this? Over the years, we have built 100+ websites. We track each one in google analytics and google search console. These are tools that provide insights and data on every website.
Each site is tracked to watch how it’s being used and accessed by others. This information is crucial for businesses because it provides a target market for their content.
A website is like a store on the side of the road in a small town.
No matter where the store is located, if it’s built correctly, people will eventually visit. The key is for it to be built correctly, look pretty, and function properly.
Once this is complete, it must be submitted to google. If it’s not submitted to google, you’ll have built a store with no road leading to it. Setting it up in the Google search console allows a road to be connected to it. People will eventually pass by via internet traffic.
There is a catch…
Just because you built your website or online store and submitted it to google doesn’t mean those people are either interested in your website or interested in the products you have to sell. Nor does it mean people will be able to find your website easily while surfing the web.
You can have the most attractive store globally, but if you don’t create ways for people to find it, no one will ever visit. As we know, without visitors, there are no sales. Think of it this way. Imagine two identical stores. One in the middle of nowhere down a dirt path and another in the heart of New York City in times square.
Who do you think is going to get more visitors to their store?
The one in New York City! Why?
With so many more people walking past and popping in to look around, they are bound to get more sales.
This is the same principle that applies to your website. Even if your store isn’t the nicest in the world, it’s still going to produce a lot more sales than the one in the middle of nowhere. The critical difference between the two is web traffic.
Traffic is the only reason one is going to succeed compared to the other.
When working with a website builder, you have to understand what you are getting before purchasing.
If you decide on a website, that’s all you’re going to get, Just a website. It may look nice and function well, but it’s not going to bring the traffic you need to sustain a business.
There are many things that can help you increase the traffic to your site when it’s initially built. You can also ask a few questions that will give you the best possible outcome for your website.
Ask Your Website Builder:
Did they submit it to the Google search console?
Did they add metadata to all pages and images?
Will my website be mobile friendly?
Are all the text boxes adequately tagged?
These are the four main things any website builder should do to help you get found on google. It’s something that we for every website we build, no matter what.
Yes, it is that simple.
Why Don’t Web Designers Do This?
It comes down to time, knowledge, and cost. Most web designers will typically make sure that your mobile version of the website functions correctly. If they aren’t, then shame on them, and you should ask for your money back.
On the flip side, believe it or not, many “website builders” don’t actually know how to do it and may even be afraid to mess it up. Yet, a nonfunctioning mobile site could prevent traffic from getting to your website. So, to prevent this, they avoid it altogether. Next comes the metadata. This is usually something most people don’t catch and is usually overlooked by web designers.
Metadata is “data that provides information about other data.”
For example, when you have an image on your website from a particular event, that image could be labeled with that event name.
Now when people search for that event, your picture and website will show up in the search results. Many people lose track of how essential and vital metadata is to the success of your website.
Once all this is complete, the next question is: How do you keep building traffic to your website? While the steps above are crucial for your website, to gain the amount of web traffic you’re looking for, you still need to build more roads leading to your site. So, how do you do it?
Overall, there are many different ways to drive traffic to your site. I will go into some of my favorites and why they are essential. We will leave the technical parts out because it can get a little crazy if you’re a perfectionist.
Blogging
This is the easiest way to build traffic. Creating and writing content to educate your customers is the easiest way to build traffic to your website.
The fascinating part about blogging is it can work for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Hence this article! Many people come to us looking for a new website or with a pre-built website from elsewhere.
Unfortunately, they see little to no traffic due to roads for people to reach them by. It’s certainly frustrating for our clients and even for us. We know they have spent a lot of time, energy, and money on a subpar product with no results.
Fortunately, one of the many unique features of Google is its ability to “read.” In this case, blogs all while assembling an understanding of what your website is about. Typically, a blog answers someone’s question or educates them about something they want to know about. The best way to explain it is, you want Google to be your best friend.
People are continually searching the web, no matter what time of day. There are 5.6 billion Google searches each day! With a good website and great content, Google will begin showing the world what you’re about. This goes for anyone in any business, no matter how big or small.
Read more about how blogging can bolster your website here.
How Much Content Should Be On Your Website?
Think of blogging as a scratch card for more traffic to your website. Some are winners, and some are losers, but every time you scratch it off, you feel the same excitement while chiseling away.
Not every blog post is going to bring in a ton of traffic. Well written blogs that are over 1000 words will grant you better “scratch cards” for more potential visitors—one of the single largest factors in building massive amounts of traffic to websites.
Even creating just a few articles will get you significantly further ahead by several months compared to doing nothing. The best part is, it’s free. Please sit down and tell people what you are passionate about or knowledgeable in; it’s easier than you think!
This post is a perfect example. It explains certain expectations of a website and what you can do to maximize your traffic. We help people build websites and build massive amounts of traffic to them. Not only do We do this for our clients, but we even teach them how to do it themselves.
Growth from just 10 targeted blogs
How Many Blog Posts Should You Write?
Writing even just one blog post will have an impact on your website. After a tremendous amount of research, we have found that between 50,000 and 70,000 words are the sweet spot to get google to send you traffic aggressively. Without a doubt, it takes time.
Typically, the best results are found after a year of consistent posting to a website with constant updates. We recommend at least one every other week if you can do it. If each blog you produce has roughly 1,500 words, it will take you about 40 blogs to be right in the center at 60,000.
At that rate, while pouring your passion onto paper, I would be willing to bet you will easily be able to break 100,000 visitors per month within 12-18 months. Once your blogs are posted, think of them like wine. They take a while to age (and for google to trust them). Your blogs will be at their peak, in terms of Google, at approximately the 9-month mark.
This typically means after the blog has been posted for nine months, it will be hitting the top of the bell curve. From there, it should begin to level off. Keep in mind that is for each particular blog.
I want to take a quick break from the blog to get you fired up because numbers are the easiest way to explain how powerful this is.
Get the numbers straight
If you get to 100,000 visitors per month after a year of hard work on average, between 5%-10% of those people will give you an email address. Let’s take the low side of that at 5% of 100,000 leaves us with 5,000 new email addresses per month.
If you email them every week with a powerful CRM (customer relationship manager) and bring value to their lives, we can safely say that between 5%-10% will eventually buy. That means that between 250-500 people could be buying your products every month.
Let’s take it to the extreme. Let’s say 1% of people who sign up for your emails buy from you. That means you could potentially be getting 50 new paying customers every single month. (Data is based on current market trends)
This is where it gets crazy
It doesn’t matter what your product is. If the profit is $20 per item, you will make an extra 1,000 dollars in the worst-case scenario. If you can increase that to the 10% range, you’re talking $10,000 in additional revenue month after month.
Keep in mind that this scenario is using and an item that has a 20 dollar profit attached. If you can make $50 in profit per item at a 1% conversion rate, you end up with about $2,500, and a 10% conversion rate earns you $25,000 per month.
For me, that is some exciting news, and I hope it is for you as well! Although the numbers look pretty, there is tons of work behind the scenes that has to be done to get you there.
Keep in mind that even if you hit the 50,000 – 70,000 wordmark, you must keep going.
The more articles and words, the better off your website will end up doing, and the closest friend you will become with Google! If you stop communicating, Google will stop showing your content.
Developing Backlinks To Your Website
Essentially a backlink is a link from one website to another.
Typically, you want more websites to link back to your website because it means other people are talking about you, and Google will notice. Every website has a score in Google’s head, and depending on what that score is, it will directly affect how much trust Google has for it.
For example, websites that are known to have very accurate information, the majority of the time will or produce a lot of relevant content. Think about it, would you trust Warren Buffett giving you stock tips or a high-school student?
You would trust Warren Buffet because he is a billionaire with a proven track record. Unlike the high school student, even if that high schooler has an inside tip of accurate information. Google assigns a score to every website.
Every website pointing back to your website helps Google know that you are the real deal. The higher ranked websites that backlink to you will help your site climb to the top of Google faster.
Make Your Website an Authority
Most links to your website are useful because they can carry traffic to your website from elsewhere.
An excellent example of this may be a news website. If they write a story about your business, you will most likely gain traffic from a backlink to your business site. This new wave of traffic allows you to drive a new sale potentially.
Other website owners need content for their site as well. In that blog post you produce, you can backlink to your site, as long as it is not a sales page! This is known as a guest posting or guest blogging.
The best way to do so is by reaching out to the owner of a website and offer to write an article their visitors may enjoy. This allows that website owner to get new content on their site, and it will enable you to develop a new backlink to your website. In this case, it’s a win for everyone!
Another easy way for you to develop backlinks to your website is being a guest on a podcast. I am not the best writer in the world, but I am very good at communicating through audio, in this case, a podcast. I enjoy being a guest on different podcasts because it allows me to discuss and learn about other businesses. Podcast hosts need genuine guests for shows to make content.
Getting backlinks in return for appearing on their podcast is a pretty good deal. Pro tip: you can also share those podcasts with your network to hear about all the fantastic things you’re working on. It’s an easy way to share some inside knowledge and promote yourself and your business simultaneously.
Get Backlinks Through Research
The last way to get backlinks organically is through research. This is a tough one because most people don’t want to do research, nor o they have the time or energy to do so.
Either way, if you can do your independent study for your area of expertise, people will be backlinking to you naturally. Researchers generally want to cite where they get their data from. A great example of this is a website called backlinko.com; they do a ton of research on many websites. They don’t write much content, but when they do, it’s fantastic.
Generally, It’s filled with data and analysis that people want to link to when it’s cited on their site. They want the reader to know where they got the data, primarily when it supports the original statement. This helps build your credibility by citing them, and it shows the data you have is present and accurate.
There are tons of ways to prepare your own research. It could be a cost comparison between two products and their specs, or it can be a case study that you put tons of time into developing. You may even consider testing products against competing products. Either way, once your research is completed, they must backlink to it when other people use it.
Before we wrap this up, we need to cover some things you shouldn’t do to get links. It should be mentioned that in the same way, Google scores your site, it does for others. If you receive a backlink from a place that has a low score in Google’s mind, it could potentially lower your score as well.
What To Avoid
These things can negatively affect your website and should be avoided.
Buy links from a website, mostly non trusted websites.
Link swap. Asking someone for a link for a link
Spam your links all over the internet.
Develop links that are not related to your content/website
Get links on spammy/malicious websites.
Accumulate a large volume of very bad links
Get involved with a PBN (private blog network)
Sell links on your website.
There are tons of ways to get website traffic and links
In the world of backlink building, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, just like anything else. Decent trusted links usually start at $150 and work their way up from there. If you find a “great deal,” it’s probably going to hurt you more than helping you. It’s much cheaper to buy high-quality links than it is to remove low links that are only hurting you, and in many cases, it can’t always be resolved.
You might be wondering how he hasn’t covered social media yet. Why hasn’t he?
Well, here is the brutal truth about social media and website traffic…
Social media is excellent, but for the most part, it is instant. Its instant gratification and its instant traffic. Because of the instant burst of traffic, generally, it’s not long-lasting or quality traffic to your site. When you post on many social media platforms, you need to be producing content at least every other day to make it even a little worth your while. It doesn’t matter what platform it is.
Once it’s up there, the content hits its “peak” after a couple of hours and goes downhill from there, unlike a blog. After 24 hours, it’s almost dead. Its rare content on social media keeps working longer than that.
So if you choose to use social media, know that it’s an everyday activity to get that traffic.
Typically for most people, it’s a great way to show your friends what you’re working on but rarely will it produce the results that blogging will bring.
Get On YouTube
This is a phenomenal way to build website traffic.
How?
YouTube is the opposite of blogging with the same side effects. It can be easily searchable, you can get your content to show up relatively quickly, it works for you 24/7/365, and it’s much faster at building trust.
People get to see the person behind the camera and what they bring to the table. Building traffic to your YouTube channel is time-consuming and costly. In the long run, the results can be tremendous. Most people will fall into the blogger (writing) category instead of the YouTube (videographer) category. It’s rare to find someone who loves to do both.
I am all about YouTube as I am much more comfortable on camera and speaking than writing. The nice part about it is, swap out all the blogging for videos.
Create videos on what you do and how you do it and educate the viewer. You can develop backlinks by having other people mention you in their videos and put it down in their descriptions. The list becomes very extensive on all the benefits of YouTube.
YouTube Cant be that Easy
You must be thinking there has to be a catch. YouTube cant be that easy. To that, I say yes and no. For the right person, it’s going to be the easiest of all of them. Most people are terrified of taking videos of themselves! With videos, there is also a lot of work to do, including editing, scripting, and research to produce a great video.
Typically for blogs around 1500 words, it takes me between 1-2 hours to write it and about a half-hour to edit it. For me to do a YouTube, it takes me about 30 minutes. Why?
I am much better on camera, and I am very quick at editing videos. When I first started making videos, it took me about 30 minutes to record and about 3 hours of editing. Plus publishing and creating a thumbnail image. That was an additional 30 minutes.
All my first videos took me almost 5 hours to do, and they were horrible. You can check them out for yourself! But just like anything else, as time goes on, you figure out a system that works, and everything begins to come naturally.
For most, the easiest ways to build traffic to your website will be blogging and curating a YouTube channel. Everyone absorbs content in different ways; considering you have made it this far, you must enjoy reading. In comparison, others that read halfway through may have stayed for the entire article in a video form.
Create Engaging Content
That being said, we have five primary senses: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, and Touch. Typically content that can engage more than one of the five senses, such as videos on YouTube, will build traffic faster. Keep in mind that Google is the largest search engine globally, so the vast majority of people use it regularly.
Pro Tip: Keep in mind where your audience may hang out. The younger generation (35 and younger) will typically use YouTube more, and the more traditional age (36 and older) will use Google and read more.
Either way, if you’re looking to build more traffic to your website, I highly suggest you try these steps on your own.
The results may shock you! If you don’t have the time or the ability to complete these things, I recommend checking out our company. We can help you create all kinds of premium content, including blogs, videos, and audio files that will help drive traffic to your site day in and day out.
Best of luck, and let us know what you decide to do down in the comments. We are excited to hear your thoughts!
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