When it comes to driving the right kind of traffic to your site, you already know the basics: Start an insightful blog. Use PPC advertising. Be active on social media.
All of those things help direct traffic to your website, but you want to know how to drive the right kind of traffic—people who end up buying from you and becoming your loyal repeat customers.
How do you do that?
I spoke to several content marketers and got their thoughts on how you can get your ideal customer to wind up on your site.
Spend Time on the Appropriate Channels
Lots of businesses try to do it all when it comes to directing traffic—and rather than focusing on a few highly profitable networks where their target audience is really spending time, they spend a little time in many different places that aren’t all that worthwhile.
Emma Siemasko, a copywriter and content creator, said, “Businesses have to figure out where their audience hangs out on the Internet in order to be successful at driving traffic. Are they hanging out on certain Reddit threads? Are they scrolling through Facebook on their mobile devices? Which blogs do they read? Where are they, and what is their typical behavior like? Once you know that, you can start developing strategies on how you can get your website in the right places.”
Key takeaway: Find a few highly relevant places where you can focus your traffic-driving efforts—and stop wasting valuable time in online spaces that aren’t producing results.
Leverage Remarketing to Bring Back First-Time Visitors
Remarketing allows you to reconnect with site visitors who left your site after stopping by with some initial interest. Using this PPC strategy, past visitors will be shown ads via a display network to remind them to come back to your website.
Ross Simmonds, a digital strategist, said, “One of the most often overlooked marketing opportunities for relevant traffic concerns people who visit your site due to initial interest and never return. While these folks may not have wanted what you were selling in the moment, things might be different in the future. Using remarketing, brands have the ability to track these visitors and entice them to come back.”
Key takeaway: Use remarketing to bring back customers who are high in the marketing funnel. These customers are interested—they just need to build a relationship with your brand and be convinced to buy.
Speak Only to the Right Kind of Traffic
Your customer-facing language might currently be trying to speak to everyone—instead of just to the “right” people who are most likely to convert. So when it comes to everything from your website copy, to your blog content, to your social media posts—you need to speak only to your most ideal customers. They’ll hear you loud and clear.
Nathalie Arbel, a content marketer and former product marketer, said, “You need to speak the 'dialect' of your target, in their language, appealing to their worldview. They'll recognize you as one of their kin, and when they visit your website they'll already have a deep connection to you and a higher likelihood of conversion. Even if it alienates some potential traffic, writing with personality is better than using generic language that hits home for no one.”
Key takeaway: You can’t be everything to everyone. Speak only to your target customers, and they’ll respond accordingly.
Get Help from a Professional
If you’re a one-man show trying to run your business and drive the right traffic to your website, you can only do so much. Turning to a professional who can dive in to these efforts with focused attention means investing in someone who can help your site get the attention it deserves.
Jacob Warwick, a digital marketing consultant, said, “Hire a community manager and start having a conversation with your market. Sounds vague, but all business is relationship building.”
Key takeaway: Sometimes you need to turn to someone with specialized industry knowledge and the time to do the job right. Don’t be afraid to hire an expert who knows how to drive the right kind of traffic to your website.
Driving the Right Traffic: No Quick Fix
There’s no magic wand you can wave to drive the right kind of traffic to your website. It takes a lot of different tactics working together. But with the strategies outlined here, you can be off to a solid start. Just remember: Stay focused, and go all in where it counts.
How do you attract the right people to your website?