“If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
For us marketers, the answer is a resounding “no.”
The only key factor for our success is the number of people who saw our “trees,” and whether these timber cries drove them to action.
So if it’s all about making an impact, how can you boost your online visibility, improve your content strategy, and ultimately drive website traffic—without spending 1 dime?
Great question.
And the answer is simpler than you’d think.
Here are 5 free tactics you can implement right now and double your website traffic in just 1 month:
Tip #1 – Update Your Top 10 Traffic-Generating Blog Posts
Do this right now:
Dig into your website stats on Google Analytics and pick the 10 blog posts that are already generating the most traffic to your site.
Now you can focus on upgrading these specific posts by refreshing their content.
Google’s algorithm is constantly looking for fresh, quality content to promote. So the trick here is to lead Google to believe that you’ve actually added amazing new content.
First, have a read through and make sure that everything’s up to date. This includes updating your keywords to ensure that you’re using the most relevant ones to date.
We’ve recently gone over all our Natural Intelligence blog posts that had 2019 in their title, and rewritten them to fit the 2020 marketing trends and changes. This took less than 2 weeks and zero dollars, and we already see the boost in unique visitors and average time on page.
Another easy fix-up is to revisit your headers and subheaders and rewrite them in a more compelling manner, or in a way that supports your revised keywords.
Once your updates are done, you can also repurpose these specific blog posts into other forms of content, like eBooks, infographics, whitepapers, and social posts and link them back to your website. You may as well maximize the benefits of the work that you’ve already put in.
Remember, SEO today is a game of quality, not quantity. So, zoom in on your content and make sure that you’re optimizing your pages for the SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
Naturally, the above tips are also important when creating new content. Keep these same principles in mind to ensure that you’re maximizing your online visibility.
Tip #2 – Build Backlinks to Your Top-Performing Pages
Since you’ve already analyzed and identified your top 10 blog posts, and you’ve gone ahead and refreshed their content, these pages are in tip-top shape.
But there’s another step you can take to drive even more traffic to them. And that’s backlink building.
When Google detects that your content is being linked to from other places, it boosts your ranking on the SERP. These links perform best if they come from third-party sources such as online reviews, comparison websites, etc. But it is also wise to create your own backlinks within your website and from your social media channels.
It’s pretty easy (and costs nothing) to do the latter, so focus at first on your top 10 blog posts and make sure to include your keywords in the link’s anchor text.
Now, to tackle the trickier part—getting other people to link to you:
This part is all about relationship building. The best place to start would be by reaching out to your existing partners and offering to contribute guest blog posts to their website.
This not only helps promote you as an industry expert but will also earn you external backlinks to your site.
Of course, you should also offer them a spot as a guest blogger on your website, and help them build their backlinks as well. This is a nice “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” type of partnership, and has benefits for both sides.
What we do at Natural Intelligence is we interview CMOs and marketing directors we admire, as a way of building thought leadership and strengthening relationships.
Here’s 1 example:
And here’s another:
Keep in mind, though, that it is more effective to have 1 backlink on many different websites rather than having many backlinks coming from one website.
This means it’s time to start doing a lot of outreach to all of your different partners and collaborates.
Now here’s a pro tip for you:
Some content formats are proven to generate better links and social shares.
These include lists, quizzes, “why” posts, “how-to” posts, infographics, and videos.
So, you may want to go back to your top 10 blog posts and see whether they fit with one of these formats; if not, make some adjustments.
(Oh, and did you notice that this blog post is in a list form? And includes videos? Well, that’s thanks to the inspiration from Backlinko’s “7 New Strategies” guide, which we were also happy to backlink to here).
Tip #3 – Get Visual with Video
One of the best content formats, as just mentioned above, is video.
Consumers today are flooded with information 24/7. So it’s usually the most visual and dynamic forms of content that get more eyeballs and clicks.
People enjoy consuming videos and sharing them. So it’s critical for you to include video as part of your content strategy.
In fact, marketing research has shown that web pages that include video drive a 157% increase in organic traffic. Plus, videos attract twice as many monthly visitors to a website and boost the average time on page (it takes time to watch a video).
That is a massive ROI for video marketing!
So, what are the best practices for optimizing your videos? If you’re using YouTube as your video platform, there are several tips to keep in mind:
- Create a catchy title that includes your keywords, use relevant tags, and include an eye-catching thumbnail.
- Think of the description box as another place to include relevant content. Be sure to include the most valuable information in the first couple of sentences as viewers do not always click the “read more” link.
- Make sure to include your website URL at the beginning and the end of the actual video. It’s probably not a bad idea to include it in the first line of your description as well.
- Encourage viewers to subscribe. That way, your videos will pop up in their subscription feed, encouraging them to engage with your video and subsequently jump over to your website.
Once you’ve created your videos, and optimized them for SEO, it’s time to share them on your own website, blog, social media, and via newsletters.
And this leads us to our next tip:
Tip #4 – Take Advantage of Your Email List
You’ve already got a mailing list, right?
Let’s maximize it to its full potential and drive more relevant traffic to your website.
Google will love your web pages more, and (this may be more important) your recurring customers will too.
Or in the words of author and blogger Seth Godin:
“Why are you yelling at the people who are trying to block all the noise when you could be whispering deep truth to the people who are dying to hear what you have to say?”
So, how to make sure your newsletters delight and drive traffic to your website?
First, you definitely want to have a subscription-based list—meaning that everyone on it has opted in and is interested in hearing more about your expertise and offering.
But, take into consideration that different people may have different interests.
Here’s an example:
If you’re a meal kit delivery company, your customers likely have various dietary preferences—vegetarian, family-friendly, low-carb, etc. Whatever the parameters are that are relevant to your product, it’s vital to filter customers into groupings and personalize their experience accordingly.
The same goes when you’re sending out emails—it’s crucial to segment your audience and send out information that will be relevant to them.
Make sure your content and messaging are properly targeted, and you’re bound to drive more click-throughs to your site.
The next critical element is to have one clear CTA (Call To Action) in your email.
Think about which landing page you want your users to land on, and what the desired end goal is. This end goal should remain your main focus when crafting the messaging in your email.
Keep the copy short and make your CTA button highly visible. If you’re directing readers to fill out a form, keep it to 3 fields or less. The more fields you add, the lower your conversion rates are.
Most importantly, don’t forget we’re living in a mobile-first world. It’s critical to use responsive email templates that are compatible across all devices.
Tip #5 – Increase Your Social Media Presence
Social media can be a wonderful vehicle for conveying your other top-performing content.
So, after you’ve implemented the first few steps to up your content game, it’s time to use social media to increase your reach and further boost your website traffic.
The key to doubling website traffic, according to Garrett Moon, founder at CoSchedule, is to share the same piece of content several times over your social channels.
But how can you do this without becoming spammy?
Moon advises marketers to set up a well-planned social sharing timeline. With each social share, it’s also important to use a different message:
- Pose a question to your followers
- Intrigue them with a fun fact
- Inspire them with a quote taken from your article/content page
Your social timeline should look something like this:
When done right, this is a very effective strategy. We know this because we use it on Natural Intelligence’s LinkedIn profile.
Moon also lays some ground rules to help you ensure that what you’re sharing over social media brings value to your audience and does not turn people away.
One of his top tips is: “Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t like.”
The best way to gauge whether you’ve become spammy is to put yourself in the reader’s shoes and ask yourself how you’d perceive the content if you were on the receiving end.
Quite straightforward, isn’t it?
Now It’s Your Turn
You’ve got everything you need in order to double your website traffic organically without spending a single dime.
Start implementing these 5 tips today, and check your Google Analytics next month:
- Identify your top-performing blog posts and optimize that content for SEO
- Backlinks, backlinks, backlinks. Each one is a “vote” in favor of your website and helps boost your ranking on Google
- Create awesome video content and enhance its visibility with the correct keywords, tags, title, and thumbnail
- Utilize email marketing to get readers to click through to your site
- Increase your reach with social media and set up a smart social sharing timeline
Which of these 5 tips are you going to start with today? Contact our marketing specialists to uncover more SEO tips.
Get more SEO tips
