We all want more traffic to our websites or blogs but getting it is not always that easy. In fact many of us either, have or considered the unethical and unhealthy ways of getting traffic. Here I am going to show you 7 healthy ways to get traffic to your site.

First, What do I mean by Unhealthy?

There are lots of people out there who will sell you Traffic. Don’t ask me how they do it but they can and do. However it is unhealthy because number one they are not really interested in your site or post and they will quickly leave your site because they probably got there with a link that promised them something entirely different. This will mean your bounce rate on your site will be huge and to google that will mean your site isn’t that great and will not rate you highly.

7 Healthy Ways To Increase Traffic To Your Website.

1. Search Engines.

What we all want more than anything else is organic traffic. By this I mean, traffic that has come from your post being suggested to them by Google, Bing or Yahoo after they searched for something. E.g your post has been ranked highly by these search engines.

Ranking highly does not come easy and sometimes time comes into play, especially if your site is brand new. Waiting can be a hard game to play, but there are things you can do to hurry along the process. Firstly you must have Google analytics and Google Webmaster tools installed on your site. Having Bing Webmaster tools is also a must. Read my post on installing these on your website or blog.

Once this is done you need to submit each post to Google fetch and Bing fetch as you publish them. This can get your posts indexed in the search engines quite quickly. Indexing is not the same as rank but it has to be indexed before it can be ranked. To get ranked you need to have great keywords in you post title and great content. To get more on these two subjects read my posts What is a Keyword Search Tool and writing great content .

2. PPC

PPC stands for pay per click and if done well you can get a really good result for your investment. Now you just heard the word investment. Pay per click you means you will pay a certain amount of money per click through to your site. There is an art to this and you need to know how to best invest before you attempt it.  I recommend starting with Bing ads rather than google adwords which is essentially the same thing. Just on a different search engine. You can read more about how to use it properly in my post, The Beginners Guide To PPC

You will most definitely drive traffic to your site but you need to know that you will get a return on your investment.

3. Facebook Ads

Now this you will have seen a lot of and maybe even tried yourself. If you don’t know what you are doing you can lose a lot of money for no reason very quickly. As with PPC you need a very targeted campaign that will not only drive traffic to your site as well as getting a return on your investment. You can read my post on Facebook ads and how to use them properly.

4. Guest blogging

This is where you write a post that will be published on other people’s sites. Why would you do that? Well if it has a similar or complimentary audience as yours then you will be getting your name and site in front of their audience too. You get to put your links in the post which will obviously link back to a post or page on your site.

Now finding guest blogging opportunities can be difficult. Some sites offer you the opportunity to guest blog for a price. The most I have seen is $40 but for that they will create a social media campaign for advertising the post. Personally I think that is good value, even if they have a relatively small reach. The big boys ( there’s a lot of women too but you know what I mean) will work together to create guest posts. Now undoubtably this is done through building a personal relationship built on common benefit. I’ve seen these relationships with what I call great bloggers too. Rarely have I seen it with newbies.

There are many bloggers who, if they have the right mindset will accept guest blogposts.

Number one that’s new stuff on your site, you haven’t had to work for and Google, Bing and Yahoo like regular content on new sites. On any site for that matter. After all organic traffic is what we all want. Money while we sleep.

It might be that you will have to approach and build relationships with other bloggers in a similar or complimentary niche as yours. You can’t just email them and say can I guest blog on your site. The answer will be no. Pitching it in an honest helpful relationship will get a much better response. There are some bloggers who will advertise that they are looking for guest bloggers. Apply, what do you have to lose?

This leads me nicely on to:

5. Social Media

The main social media platforms are Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Google +. Each have their own rules and some you will be more successful with than others, dependant on your niche and your preferences.

I guess there is no surprise in the order in which I listed them to tell you my preferences. Facebook has been in my life for a very long time so I guess I am just used to it more. Is it the best social media platform? maybe not but I can easily navigate it and joining groups and engaging in them comes a bit like second nature to me. For any groups always follow the rules and you can build great relationships and with their opportunities to share posts etc means that you can definitely increase website viewers and they may also share your posts on their other social networks too. I give Facebook probably half an hour of my day but the opportunity to have your posts shared on other social media platforms is awesome. Get My List Of Fabulous Facebook Groups Here

Pinterest came next but it probably should have come first because it is actually the main source of traffic to my website than any other. Pinterest should be considered as a search engine rather than a social media platform. Okay so I started out using it as a voyerism way to create images of my perfect life… ha ? Didn’t we all ? The thing is that the majority of users are still using that way, and they like to buy.

As business owners, yes if you have a blog or website you are a business owner, you can leverage Pinterest to gain more traffic to your site and therefore more sales. Read either of my posts on Pinterest to get more information. Creating Rich Pins for Pinterest and Using Pinterest effectively.

Instagram can be a hard one to crack in order to get traffic to your site. You can post a link so people can copy and paste in each of your posts but the only one that will go to your site directly is the one in your profile. There is a way to get more links and I use Linktree. Read my post on Using Instagram effectively for more information.

Twitter is much better because it allows direct links. Google + is often left out but can generate a great source of traffic if used consistently and you join the right communities for your niche.

Any Social media platform you use works best if you use it consistently and have a schedule.

6. Relevant Discussion boards or Forums

There is a relevant forum or discussion board out there, whatever your niche. The best way to find them is by searching in google “ niche “ + Forum or discussion. Google should, if it’s doing its job well send you to appropriate sites.

Now don’t think you can go in there and spam your website to all and sundry. At best you will be ignored, at worst you will be struck off. You will learn a great deal from the discussions about the pains and needs of your target audience. Therefore you will be better at serving them. You should enter these forums as a way of creating online supporters or friends. Only when you have built trust, which happens over time will they become traffic to your website.

Again this is not a quick traffic result but you will get healthy traffic to your site. Over time this will increase quite dramatically.

7. Wiki Answers Or Quora

These are very similar to bespoke discussion boards but with a host of broader topics for you to explore. You need to set up your preferences and interests. Fill out your profile, then watch and learn. If someone asks a question which you can answer, then tell them without sounding salesy. I have found Quora to be the best of the two but try out Wiki answers too. We are all have different preferences.

You can post your website links in the answers but it is best to just help out first. Now I have to tell you when I first started with it, I answered someone’s question , honestly and helpfully but with no links. Someone else messaged back saying they were interested in visiting my site and what was it.? Obviously I told them but then got a message from Quora saying I had violated their rules ! So be careful with just giving your site URL but it seems you can link to back to a specific post. Personally I think the person who asked for my website, was a competitor who then reported my reply. It can be a brutal world out there sometimes.

And number 8. (because I like to give value) Word Of Mouth 

What do you answer when someone asks you what you do for a living? They never really ask this though do they? They say “So What Do You Do?” Rather than saying what you do for a living ( your Job ) try saying I help people to…. with my website or blog……

Brave I know but if you are serious about getting traffic to your site and making money from it you will work on filling in those dots. You can also go old school and have a few business cards made up to give to people. Only give them to those who show any interest though. You may have a product or service that works locally , rather than or as well as globally.

Any true business person will not shy from building relationships and trust face to face. I know of many bloggers who attend traditional B2B ( business to business ) events to promote their site.

So if you want to drive traffic to your site, get organised and make time for all of these traffic building opportunities. If you have a budget, I highly recommend PPC as a way of driving traffic to your site quickly. Obviously you could use the social media platforms to advertise too but please make sure your ads are highly targeted.

We want to earn not lose money.

I hope this has been helpful and please head over to my posts that are linked in this post so you can learn more about the different strategies I have listed to help you increase healthy traffic to your website.

If you want to learn where you can get the best training on earning money online head over to my post on Wealthy Affiliate.

With Grace and Gratitude

Karen