By Karen McRae, Special AFS Contributor
So, you got a website! Great! Now what? Your phone isn’t ringing, no one is filling out your contact form, your business isn’t growing.
But you did what you were supposed to, you made a website, what’s wrong? You can’t expect to build a website and, “poof” your business explodes! The Internet doesn’t work like that. Before your business can grow, you need more people to come to your site.
What you need, is more traffic!
Sure, more traffic sounds great, but when you don’t have a huge budget to spend on getting traffic, what other options are available? Luckily there are some cost effective ways to increase traffic to your site. Here are 4 of our favorites:
Answer Questions On Quora
“What’s Quora?” You might be asking. Quora is a “question and answer website where questions are created, answered, edited, and organized” by the people who use the site.
There are tons and tons of questions on Quora that are begging for a response. Start by creating a free profile, then, boom! You’re off to answer questions like a boss!
Use the search bar to find topics that are on par with your business, and take a look through the questions that people have asked. When you find something that you either feel you can answer really, really well, or if you see an answer you disagree with, you can supply your own information.
Pro tip: This is also a great way to do a little audience research. See what people are asking and create content on your website around those topics!
Just remember, while you want to generate traffic to your site, you don’t want to seem spammy. This can be a powerful tool to demonstrate your authority and knowledge on a subject, so make sure you’re responding in helpful, valuable ways (you can include links in your responses without seeming like a spammer)!
You can also search for “[your industry]:forums” on Google and see what comes up. Use the same tactics above to hop in and start responding!
Drive Traffic With Killer Email Campaigns
No, this advice is not coming from 2012! Despite what you might hear email is still a powerful marketing tool that many companies are using to drive sales. In fact, in a 2016 survey by Econsultancy found that 75% of companies “agree that email offers ‘excellent’ to ‘good’ ROI”. That’s not too shabby!
If you have a list (you have an email list, right?), even if it’s just a few people, start sending out valuable, informative emails to your out. Put a signup link on your website and in your social profiles, and use this guide to help you drive that traffic!
Use Images to Inspire Your Audience to Visit
Did you know that “social media posts with images create 650% more engagement than text posts”? That’s a shocking percentage!
Start thinking more visually. What images can you create to share with your audience (that will link back to your website)? Maybe it’s new equipment or a new stretch. Maybe it’s how to make a new kind of protein smoothie or pre-workout snack.
Whatever the images are, always remember to think about how they can help or inspire your audience. Your reward will be more traffic to your site!
Last But Not Least: Stop Talking About Yourself!
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: all the content you create should be created with your target audience in mind. Don’t talk about services, don’t share images that only promote your business, don’t keep announcing new classes. Those things can definitely be a part of what you promote, but they shouldn’t be the only thing.
Connect with the people you’re talking to. Provide them with insights and valuable information, that they might not have had before. Show that you understand their pain and what they need.
Then, and only then, will they come.
Karen McRae is the Content Strategist for Superpowered Web, a fitness web design agency specializing in design, branding, SEO, and content marketing for independent fitness studios. Check us out here!
Join the Conversation!