If you’re looking at this blog and asking what it means, you should start with my What Is Website Traffic blog. But you should definitely come back here when you finish reading. The short story is that website traffic is your customer base, if you had a brick and mortar, your traffic is anyone that comes through your door. Since you have a website, your traffic is anyone that lands on your website.

I’m guessing you’re on mine because you’re looking to boost the number of people that end up on your page right? Well I’m going to tell you five free ways to do just that. There is always the option to pay for your advertising, but often times, that’s not enough. There are hundreds of things that will determine your traffic, especially the returning customers that want to make a purchase.

1. Check Out the Competition

Did you know there are ways you can “spy” on your competitors? You can keep tabs on their blog content, their services, products; even their social media shares. Sites like BuzzSumo allow you to track what they’re up to and how their social media is performing. This will let you know what topics are hot right now, and what people are looking for.

2. Get Social

You’re watching your competition and what they’re doing on their social pages, how are yours? Do you have all the popular channels? How often do you post things, or interact with people that comment or share? These things will effect how your consumer base sees you. Positive, helpful feedback on a negative comment, or even a positive one, can go viral. There’s no quicker way to drive traffic than positive vibes. If you’re not using your platforms regularly, your fans will not care about your website. Use the tools as they were designed to be used, and often, and your followers won’t get bored.

3. Links Are Your Friend

Yes it’s great when someone else references your website with a link in their post. How often are you linking to your own content? Internal links (like the one at the start of my blog) will get people to click through your site more. One great post is great, but have you seen this other one? Now your consumers are seeing more than one snippet of your work. If it’s good, they’re more likely to check out other posts and pages. Link to your blog on your social media, send your links in your emails, and use internal links!

4. Read All About It!

How catchy are your headlines? Do some research on what draws people into an article. You could be the top search result on Google, but if your titles are boring and bland, nobody will click it. There are tricks to make your titles stand out. There’s also Clickbait-y titles. “Who is ready for a donut!?” Could really be an email for a tire company trying to get you into the shop to rotate your tires. Be creative with it.

5. Invite People!

Yes you can go head to head with your competitors, but why not invite them to guest star? Hosting guest bloggers not only gives you business connections, but it will expose you to one another’s subscribers. If your competitor has an SEO expert and you don’t, ask them to guest blog in exchange for your clean web design tips. Mutual success right there. You can also invite experts in your field to explain a topic to your audience. If you’re a writing website, invite a published novelist or a publisher to speak on your page.

These are just a few ways you can boost your traffic, but there are so many more. You can do some research, or you can follow me for more upcoming tips and tricks.