How to Maximize The 6 Major Website Traffic Sources

If you’re looking to get your website up and running, the more visitors you have, the better! For some tips on how to maximize five major sources of website traffic, keep reading.

1) Optimize your content for search engines: Search engines like Google index websites so that they can be found by typing in keywords and phrases. For example, Google will index blogs, press releases, and news articles. You can tell how well a website is indexed by looking at the number of sites linking to it.

2) Optimize your website for social networking sites: Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter allow you to share your content with others. If you don’t want people to auto-post your content on their pages, restrict access accordingly.

3) Optimize your website for directories: News websites, forums, and directories like DMOZ are all indexing websites. All you have to do is put your content on these sites and you have the best chance of being found.

4) Optimize your website for online advertising: You can also use an online advertising company like Google Adwords and monetize your website by selling advertisements.

5) Optimize your search engine optimization campaigns: People will find you on their own if you optimize your website correctly, but you can also hire an online marketing manager to help you increase your online visibility.

Often, it’s best to combine all of these things to maximize the chances that people will find your website. If you need tips on how to do this, contact a company like SEA.

What is Website traffic?

The number of visitors a particular website receives in a given period of time. For example, if 500 people visited your website in a three-week period, you have a total of 1,000 visitors. Unlike many other web design and marketing services that are free or cheap, SEA offers SEO consulting services which provide you with professional assistance to help maximize website traffic.

Website Traffic Sources

1. Organic Traffic

This is the traffic that comes to your website via organic search engine results, it is also referred to as natural organic traffic. These are people who are searching for what you have to offer, instead of them being linked from paid search advertising. The more natural your site ranks on Google’s list of search results, the more qualified visitors you will receive and the faster the website will grow.

How to increase website traffic from organic search:

• Research your keywords.
• Add meta tags to your websites such as description text, tags, keyword description, and other important information.
• Optimize your content for search engines (Search Engine Optimization) – visit SEO Made Easy article on SEO.SEA.com for more information.

2. Paid Search Traffic

This is the traffic that comes from paid online advertising programs like Google AdWords, Yahoo Ad network, and MSN adCenter. New visitors are also reached through paid search advertising and also referred to as paid traffic. However, it is important to note that paid traffic is not guaranteed and must be targeted.

How to increase website traffic from Paid Search:

• Target your keywords (visitors will get a better impression of your site when they see the exact keywords you want them to see).
• Create attractive ad copy that will grab attention: Include specific information about what people can expect from the site, e.g. “Gorgeous handcrafted cigar humidors”, “Free shipping on orders over $75”, etc.
• Tools like Google AdWords, Yahoo Ad Network, and MSN adCenter allow you to track the performance of your website. You can set campaign goals, daily budget, and ad copy testing to see which ads convert into qualified leads or sales.

3. Direct Traffic

This is the traffic that comes from site visitors typing in the URL of your website directly into their browser address bar.

How to increase website traffic from direct traffic:

• Make sure your site is easy to find on the web.
• Adsense, Google Analytics, and other web analytics tools help you determine the number of people searching for your URL. This will help you come up with new and creative ideas on how to attract more visitors.

4. Referral Traffic

Another form of organic traffic, referral scans are when someone personally recommends a site to another person who ends up clicking through and visiting that site.

How to increase website traffic from referral traffic:

• Create an attractive website that has a clear direction, the reason behind the site, and benefits.
• Obtain a good reputation online by supporting user-submitted content on forums, blogs, and other online resources.

5. Social Networking

People share information with their friends and family members on social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace. This means it’s important to monitor them regularly so you will know what is going on in the world of social networking.

How to increase website traffic from social networking:

• Develop a business page on Facebook, build your network and take advantage of the viral marketing benefits.

6. Natural Traffic

This is the traffic that comes from natural word-of-mouth advertising to existing visitors of your site. For example, if you have 200 visitors per day and 10 people mention your name in their blog, email or forum posts and encourage others to visit your site, you will get more traffic and social networking leads as a result.

How to increase website traffic from natural traffic:

• Encourage visitors to share your information with other members in their online communities.
• Send out weekly newsletters or join online messaging boards and forums where you can spread the word about your site.

Need Help to improve your website traffic?

At SEA, we are all about increasing website traffic and we take pride in our web design and marketing services. Give us a call, or send an email and we will answer any questions you may have. For more information on SEA’s business management systems and other marketing services, visit SEA Web Design & Development or contact us today.