Get More Website Traffic for Free

If you're a sales or marketing professional who is just now catching up with mastering online marketing, don’t worry. You’re not a dinosaur...yet.

Plenty of people in sales still rely heavily on traditional offline sales techniques to bring in the majority of their leads and generate revenues. The fact that you are reading this article shows that you know that although these methods work they can’t continue to be the primary revenue-generation techniques for most businesses any longer.

The Internet’s Impact

The accessibility and convenience of the Internet has transformed people into more active and engaged, shopping-savvy consumers. Today’s customers:

• Purchase products and services based on their needs and research more than on impulse
• Compare products, services and pricing more than ever before
• Discover companies and brands via direct and indirect online avenues
• Interact more with a company’s vendors and existing customers
• Use online interactions, especially reviews and social sharing, to establish trust
• Base shopping-related decisions on the quality of their total online fan and customer experiences

Tips for Success

There are plenty of paid options to generate website traffic, but there are many ways to get more website traffic for free. You don’t need to break the bank on visibility. Start my making sure your website is up to date and accurate. Additionally, make sure that your company has profiles on every major social network, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Stumbleupon and Instagram. When you’re done making certain that your website and pages look attractive to your demographic and accurately reflect your company’s brand, follow these tips to get more website traffic for free:

1. Interact with your target market on social media.
   There is no better way to create positive, free buzz about a business then through meaningful social media interactions. Offer links to helpful blog posts, whitepapers and videos about topics that interest potential and existing customers. Set up real-time Q&A sessions and provide polls and questionnaires to gain feedback. Promote social media contests that make your audience feel appreciated. For more tips, check out our article on using social media for sales.
   
   
2. Comment under industry-related articles and in related forums.
   The shoppers in your target audience read industry-related news and use industry-specific forums to discuss products and services. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you commenting about an article or forum post with a link back to a page on your company’s website that offers related information.
   
   
3. Use commonly searched keywords.
   All of your online content should contain industry keywords commonly searched by the people you’re targeting, including Homepage and About Us content, blog posts, site breadcrumb labels and tags. Any content that you post on other websites and in the meta descriptions for search engines should also contain top keywords.
   
   
4. Register your website with free online store and industry portals.
   If you have an app, you can expect to get more website traffic for free by adding it to an online app stores that offers free or one-time, low-cost registration. Many organizations link back to the websites of specific companies or post contact information for companies online or in downloadable PDF directories.
   
   
5. Provide free guest posts on related websites.
   A short informational or how to article on a website that sees a lot of traffic from your audience can quickly generate traffic to your website with nothing more than your bio and your company’s website link published below the piece.

These are only a few online marketing techniques that many traditional sales professionals overlook.