10 Ways to Get More Website Traffic (Without Spending Money on Ads)

You’ve got a great website- now it’s time to get more website traffic. It doesn’t matter if your website is setup to convert, has amazing photography, and your brand is designed to make customers fall in love with you. If you aren’t getting a constant influx of new website traffic, your website can’t do its job.

So if you don’t want to spend any money on advertising, follow these ten tips and over time you’ll get more website traffic, make a bigger impact in your customers lives, establish yourself as an authority, and make more money from your business.

Let’s start with the basics.

Having your website optimized for search engines is a non-negotiable, and yet most of our clients come to us with websites that have never been optimized.

It takes about six months or more for your site to really pick up steam on Google, so you better get your site optimized soon.

If you’re a local business, you’ll want to optimize for your location.

If you’re an online business, you’ll want to optimize for your niche.

Check out this beginner’s guide to search engine optimization and give your site some Google juice.

2. Add your web address to all your online hangouts

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s often forgotten.

List out all the places your business lives online and then double check that your web address is linked.

Think of everything- even register your business with Google if you haven’t.

This also includes Yelp, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Instagram.

It’s easy, so get this done fast.

3. Blog More

The one thing you probably didn’t want to hear, but just because your web address is now on all your internet hangouts, that doesn’t mean you’ll get more traffic.

But if you want to consistently get more website traffic, you’ve got to continually be giving people reasons to go to your website.

And the only way to do that is with adding content.

Here are some of the benefits to blogging:

Adding Value: By generously giving away so much content, you’re adding value to your brand. You’re helping people build trust in you. You’re building an ongoing relationship with your audience.

Adding SEO: Google loves fresh content, and a large chunk of its algorithm’s ranking factors has to do with freshness. So unless you’re adding a new portfolio or case study piece every week, your site is getting dusty. Time to add content.

Adding Authority: People need to know that you know what you’re talking about. That you are an expert in your field. So if your industry involves an expert-factor (think service providers), then blogging should definitely be in your marketing arsenal.

Adding Delight: So what if you’re not a service provider- let’s say you sell a product, like wine or liquor. Couldn’t you delight your customers with weekly wine/cheese pairings (featuring your products of course) or provide a recipe or entertaining ideas that involve your products? Add in enticing photography and the blog posts will sell your products for you.

But what if you don’t like to write?

There are ways you can get around this.

Embed your YouTube videos into a blog post and have the video transcribed (Google crawls for words and its AI can’t read videos).

Add in the recording of your podcast along with a transcription of the episode.

Hire a content writer.

Use a talk-to-text feature and edit for any errors.

There’s no excuse for not blogging if you want to get more website traffic and the benefits will serve you for years.

4. Utilize Pinterest to get more website traffic from new users

Now that you’ve got a blog up and running, it’s time to get those posts on Pinterest.

Design a Pinterest friendly (vertical), eye-catching image to go along with each blog post and get those onto Pinterest.

There are a few things you’ll have to do to get the most of Pinterest (you can’t just pin at random to random boards without a strategy).

Sarah Morgan, one of our clients, has a great Pinterest course and with a minimum investment in both time and money, you’ll start attracting more traffic from Pinterest each month.

The lifespan of an image on Pinterest lasts for months, if not years.

Instagram and Facebook can’t compete with that. It’s better to rely on search engines (like Google and Pinterest) that lead to high quality content on your website to get fresh site visitors each month.

5. Entice with a freebie to get more website traffic from your current followers

Email marketing is still going strong- but having people sign up for your random newsletter isn’t enough to get people signed up.

What can you offer that’s high-value but gated so people have to give you their email address?

Is it a quiz? A PDF? A coupon? A field guide? A checklist?

Think of something your customers would love and put it together as a free gift for signing up.

Then promote this on all your Instagram hangouts- and don’t forget to design a great image promoting it for Pinterest.

6. Get on relevant directories to get more website traffic from qualified leads

Getting on relevant online directories for your industry will not only provide a backlink (which improves your SEO) but can also potentially become a great source of website traffic for you if you differentiate your content/profile from the crowd.

Not all online directories are created equal, and sometimes you’ve got to pay to play, often through certification or a paid membership, but these types of directories often qualify potential leads looking for a high quality service or experience.

It’s important with online directories to check that they are actually getting website traffic (check their Alexa ranking) and that they provide a quality experience, or the backlink could potentially harm your own site’s ranking.  

7. Add calls to action to all your online hangouts

Posting on all your online hangouts is one thing.

But leading people back to your online home is better.

Use your social media content as the gateway to the content on your website with simple calls to action.

Create posts that give a tease to your latest project, product, event, or blog post and make sure to tell people to click on that link in your bio (or in the post if you’re not on Instagram) to get the full story.

And if IGTV is one of your online hangouts, make sure to tell people in your video to find the video link over to your website.

8. Guest post on someone else’s online hangout

This includes writing a guest blog post, cohosting an Instagram or Facebook live, being interviewed on a podcast, or being featured on a YouTube video.

Just make sure that as part of the feature you can link back to your own website. Extra credit for getting to mention your freebie so people can sign up for your email list.

9. Send a consistent newsletter to get more website traffic regularly from your current subscribers

Speaking of email lists- don’t neglect yours.

Send a consistent email out to your subscribers letting them know about new content, new products, new projects you’ve completed, sales and promotions, or launches.

The trick is to remember to tell people to go to your site.

“Check out this blog post here”

“Book your stay here”

“See our latest project here”

“Click here to get a 20% discount on your next order”

Make the action you want people to take clear and send them to your website.

10. Create sharable content

Whenever you create content for any of your online hangouts, think, “Would someone share this to their audience?”

People love sharing great content and adding value outside of their own content.

If you think about it, it’s a lot easier than creating continual content of your own.

This is especially popular on Instagram Stories, where others can easily share content they’re loving.

Take notice of what your ideal customers share and start making content they’ll love.

So how does this get you more website traffic?

If people share on Pinterest, others will click on your images and go directly back to your website.

If your content is shared in an Instagram story, you’ll reach new people who might follow you and eventually click on the link in your bio.

All content should lead back to your website.

How to Get More Website Traffic: Conclusion

When it comes to your website, you can’t set it and forget it.

You need to continually give people a reason to come back for more, because most people shop around. Most people research months in advance before they make a purchase. Keep giving people new and exciting reasons to keep coming back. This isn’t just about making money- it’s about being an important part of your customers’ lives. Your website should be their go-to source for inspiration, expertise, and purchasing.