Guest post by Logan R. Grayson: From industry giants to fledgling startups, everyone is focusing on online marketing, but how can companies on a small budget get the most out of the tools the web has blessed us with? Traditional online traffic strategies like link-building pay off, but require patience and money in your pockets. A lot of small businesses have no marketing budget at all, and yet they still need to create effective website strategies.
Keywords, signals and road signs
Search engines route traffic through the digital space, and they will continue to do so for a long time. Think of them as major highways extending to the horizon, with corridors like social networks and emails on both sides. There is a myriad of signs along the road, and drivers will spot those that stand out.
What you need to consider first are the keywords that relate to your business or project. You can use Google’s Keyword Tool to see which popular phrases and words are likely to attract visitors. Consider also whether your website has the potential to get visitors from other countries, or those speaking different languages.
Remember that catch phrases and keywords won’t be worth a dime if the content on the website has boring and unimaginative titles. Start from there, and continue once you are satisfied with the results. Ask yourself: “Would I click on this title myself if I saw it in my search results?”
Speed, depth and regularity
Even if blogging is not your primary concern, all projects can profit a great deal from this activity. It requires mainly an investment of time, and it’s the cheapest way of improving your website’s search engine results and therefore traffic. Blog posts can last forever, while advertising works only as long as you pay for it.
Note that Google rewards original content and those who post on a regular basis. According to some polls, only 6% of what’s shown in search results represents in-depth articles. If you can qualify in that category, more people will come across your website and therefore give your competition a miss. The crucial thing, however, is to not only direct the internet traffic your site, but also to provide a solid on-site experience for visitors.
You need to grab their attention and hold it. For that purpose, textual content is not enough. The majority of clicks are the result of people seeing attractive author photos or videos. Share them every now and then and try to gain feedback from your audience. Don’t lose ground because you are not updating your content or earning those clicks and links. Pay attention to your banner ad design as well, as these can be your chance to strike gold.
Remember that even visually appealing and well-structured websites will fail to keep visitors if they run like your grandfather’s first car. Site speed affects the visitor’s satisfaction, and should be one of your primary concerns. Keep in mind that this is even more important when it comes to smartphones. When it takes forever for the servers to respond, you are also quick to choose a new route to the information you need, aren’t you?
Digital wonders
Most people don’t know that you can increase the internet traffic on your website without ever building a link or engaging in outbound marketing. Make your site is responsive, visually striking and full of unique content. Create blog posts, share photos and videos, and engage people in discussions by commenting on relevant blogs.
Don’t forget that this is a continuous struggle to be in the spotlight and never to fall out of favor. We have only scratched the surface in this article, but the rabbit hole runs deep. Digital wonderland awaits you on the other side…
About the author: Logan R. Grayson spent part of his life keeping up with the latest developments in marketing, online writing and technology trends in general. In his spare time he enjoys reading comics and walking his dog, Speck. Connect with Logan on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.