There’s never a bad time to drive more traffic to your website. Whether you’re launching a new business or growing an existing one, getting more website visitors is an essential part of the buyer journey. It’s how people come to know, like, and trust your brand. And if you sell online, it’s the final step in closing a sale.
But you don’t just want any website visitor. You want people with a high intent to buy what you sell. Otherwise, you could waste a big portion of your marketing budget and effort.
Consider this guide your new traffic-generation playbook for getting more high-intent visitors to your website.
Contents
- SEO strategies to get more traffic to your website
- Content marketing strategies to get more traffic to your website
- Social media strategies to get more traffic to your website
- Email marketing strategies to get more people back to your website
- Paid advertising strategies to get more traffic to your website
- Referral and community strategies to get more traffic to your website
- Website traffic FAQs
SEO strategies to get more traffic to your website
Driving traffic to your website starts with optimizing your site and directory listings so you can be discovered. Traditionally, that’s included organic search and SEO (search engine optimization) strategies. But in today’s AI world, that also means embracing the evolving field of GEO (generative engine optimization), where you aim to appear in results on AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
1. Optimize your website for search engines and AI answers
While the marketing industry is still learning the ins and outs of GEO, the basic tenets of good SEO have remained the same for decades, and early signs point to there being a lot of applicability within GEO, too.
Many of the points on this SEO checklist will also help you gain visibility on AI platforms.
Optimizing for search starts with nailing the SEO basics. That means:
- Building a fast, responsive site that’s mobile-friendly.
- Creating short, clear URLs for all of your web pages and content.
- Adding structured data as part of your website development and design process.
- Incorporating an internal linking strategy across all pages of your site.
- Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile.
- Building up your library of reviews and responding to each one.
2. Get listed in online directories
Online directories, like your Google Business Profile, remain an important step in the discovery process for many consumers. Not only will they send direct traffic from people who click through from your listing, but they’ll also help you get ranked on search engines.
People still turn to broad online directories, like Yelp, and industry-specific ones, like Angi for home services or TripAdvisor for travel. Take the time to claim and optimize your business profiles on all relevant online directories, including key information like your hours of operation and your website URL.
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3. Create high-quality blog content consistently
We’ll talk about how blogs help drive more traffic through social media and other platforms in a bit. But first, we’ll mention how great they are at supporting your SEO and getting more visitors through search engines.
When you consistently publish new content, search algorithms and AI systems see your website as fresh and active. They also “read” your content and may rank it in results or cite it in AI answers.
Beyond that, high-quality content has the potential to earn backlinks. That is, other websites may link to your content as an authority, which is a signal to search engines that you have a high-quality, trustworthy site—the type that search engines like to surface in results.
4. Target long-tail and local keywords
Every field has big players that dominate search results for short keywords that get lots of search volume. If you type in “baseball,” chances are the MLB site will appear. If you sell baseball equipment, it’s going to be hard to compete for that broad search term.
That’s where long-tail keywords come in. These keywords are longer, typically four or more words. And when those longer search terms include a location intent, like “baseball equipment near me,” a local business has a chance to rank for it.
Another benefit of targeting long-tail and local keywords? It signals higher conversion intent. If someone’s searching for sports gear near them, they’re probably eager to buy it. This is the kind of traffic you want to drive to your site! Here’s a guide to finding the best local keywords for your business.
5. Improve your website’s technical specs
To drive more traffic to your website, you need more than great visuals and clear copy. Your site’s technical specifications matter, too. They impact your ranking in search and can even influence visitor behavior.
Here’s where to focus if you want to optimize your website for traffic:
- Site speed: A slow-loading website affects your ranking on search engines and leaves prospective customers feeling antsy. Many visitors will leave a site that takes more than a few seconds to load.
- Mobile optimization: More than half of all web traffic originates on a mobile device. If your site isn’t pretty and functional on a phone, visitors will be frustrated. Plus, Google’s “mobile-first indexing” means they assess the mobile version of your site first.
- Crawlability: Search engines crawl each site on the web to understand what it’s about and determine if and where it should rank for certain keywords. If your site has code that blocks the crawlers, you’re limiting your reach online.
- Schema markup: Also known as structured data, this standardized code gets added to your HTML to act like a translator of what’s on your site for search engines and LLMs alike. In the era of GEO, this technical element is gaining focus.
If the tech side of SEO seems a little intimidating, this straightforward SEO audit will help.
6. Refresh old content
Here’s one of the easier tactics for boosting website traffic. If your website’s been around for a while, chances are some of your old content has gained some standing in search. By updating old pages that used to rank well but have fallen off, you can give them new life—and get more traffic—with less effort than recreating all new content.
To decide what content to refresh, undertake an audit of your blog. Look for pages that either used to rank well and don’t, and those that got really close to page one of the results but never quite made it? Review those and see if there are opportunities to:
- Update statistics and examples to make them more current.
- Adjust on-page SEO tactics like heading tags.
- Expand keyword coverage to rank for more adjacent terms.
- Find new subtopics to include.
- Add authority through expert quotes.
Look at this discussion on Google’s E-E-A-T framework for evaluating content and use it to help you refresh old pages.
Content marketing tactics that drive website traffic
We’ve already talked a bit about the power of content marketing to increase traffic to your website through search engines. Here are more ways to use that valuable resource to attract high-intent visitors.
7. Publish comprehensive guides and hub pages
In the era of AI content, there’s a lot of surface-level stuff out there. If you want to make your website a destination, create high-quality, can’t-live-without-it content.
Not sure where to start with content creation? Turn to your sales team. Ask them what real prospects and customers are talking about in the field. Do they hear a similar problem or question all the time? Turn that into a blog post! Give readers comprehensive answers to and support for the things they actually care about, and you’ll drive right-fit prospects to your site.
8. Create downloadable resources
Downloadable resources, like guides, templates, planners, and courses, take content to the next level. You can use them as lead magnets by asking visitors to share their contact details in exchange for the download. But when they’re super valuable, you can also add links to them in other marketing outreach like ads to attract new visitors.
If your team can create content like that, you can drive traffic to your site and likely even encourage backlinks from other sites that want to reference your expertise in their content.
9. Repurpose content across multiple channels
Content creation is a lot of work. Once you’ve built out a solid library of high-quality assets, find ways to get even more from them through repurposing. This allows you to continue to publish on a steady cadence—something that’s vital if you want to drive more traffic to your website—and it helps you reach audiences off your site, too.
This might look like breaking your long-form blog into a social media series on Instagram, a carousel post on LinkedIn, and an email drip campaign. Or, you might turn your podcast into a blog post with key takeaways and the full transcript. Then share audio clips on social media and create social images with key pull quotes from the episode.
All of these actions use something you’ve already created to generate new website traffic.
10. Use video content to increase visibility
82% of marketers say video has delivered a good ROI for them. That’s not surprising when you consider that people are consuming billions of hours of video each day. If you want to use video content to drive more traffic to your website, there are several ways to go about it.
First, you can use video elsewhere on the internet to draw viewers toward your site. That might look like establishing a YouTube channel for your brand and posting SEO-optimized content regularly, or creating short-form social media clips for your brand account.
This personal injury firm includes client testimonial videos on its home page.
Once you’ve captured the attention of viewers off-site, leverage video on your website, too. Create content that showcases your team, your work or products, and the “why” behind your brand.
11. Answer common customer questions
People often head to a company’s website to answer a specific question they have as part of their customer journey. Some are just starting to do research, while others are looking for granular information about your product or service.
When your website is a hub for these answers, it’ll draw curious customers.
For those who are just starting to research solutions, you can include more generalized informational content about your industry and the problem you solve. To appeal to prospects who are at the comparison shopping stage, build landing pages or blogs that provide a rundown of your product and a top competitor’s side-by-side.
FAQ content not only helps prospects understand what you do and how you can help them; it’s also beneficial for GEO search. Early research into GEO is showing that FAQ pages may be scraped and served up as answers in AI search results. If you structure your page to answer real questions you often hear from prospects, you stand a chance at getting that coveted LLM citation.
Social media strategies to increase website traffic
If you’re looking to drive more traffic to your website, establishing a presence on social media is a great place to start. Today, 73% of Americans use social media. Many turn to it as a discovery engine for new products, service providers, and travel and hospitality recommendations.
Social media is a top driver of website traffic for businesses of all sizes.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, there’s a social platform you can leverage to connect with an audience that might need your offering. Once you’ve connected with them on social, your content helps you stay top-of-mind and drive more traffic to your website.
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12. Share content strategically across platforms
Not all social media platforms are created equal. Each one has its own vibe and attracts a vastly different demographic. Adults under 30 flock to Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok, while Facebook has become the domain of the baby boomers. LinkedIn, meanwhile, has cornered the market on the B2B audience.
The first step to using social media as a website traffic driver is deciding where to focus your efforts. Find the platforms that best suit your brand, and establish an account on each. Then, it’s all about creating regular content. When you continue to show up in people’s social feeds with relevant posts, you remain top-of-mind. While they may not need your offering today, if you’re always in their field of vision, you’ll be one of the first names they think of when they’re ready.
13. Use LinkedIn for B2B traffic
If you serve a B2B audience, establishing a presence on LinkedIn is a must. Brands can build out a company page on the platform to share updates about their team, business, company culture, and more.
To get even more out of LinkedIn, consider creating a plan for executives, your sales team, and other public-facing employees to establish their own presence there. By building up an audience on their personal page, colleagues can boost your brand’s profile.
14. Leverage Instagram and TikTok for brand discovery
If you sell to consumers, Instagram and TikTok are great places to build a brand discovery and website traffic engine. Today, over 80% of Gen Z and millennial shoppers turn to social media for advice on what to buy. By regularly sharing content on your brand’s social media channel and using hashtags strategically to enhance your discoverability, you’ll get found by people who are looking for the exact product you sell.
15. Try influencer marketing
Influencer marketing isn’t just for the big brands—small businesses have much to gain by partnering with hyper-targeted, locally-minded influencers.
Influencer marketing expands your reach and builds trust with a whole new audience. People follow influencers who talk about something they’re interested in. Over time, they come to trust them as they would a friend. When that influencer then suggests a product or service, the follower takes them at their word.
16. Participate in industry conversations
Social media is designed to be, well, social. When you approach it like an online networking opportunity, you can drive more traffic to your website.
Find spaces on social media to take part in industry conversations. These may be peer groups, mastermind communities, or groups specific to a region.
Being a helpful, knowledgeable voice keeps you top of mind with people in your community. When they need your service or get asked for a referral, you’ll be one of the first names they think of.
17. Encourage employee advocacy and sharing
Sometimes the best advocates for your brand are sitting at the desk right next to yours. Businesses can create a systematic approach to employee advocacy to get their name out to a broader audience and drive traffic back to their website.
Amazon employees adopt the nickname “Amazonians” to describe themselves and often serve as brand representatives and advocates online.
Create guidelines for your employees to post online. Share a document with suggested social posts that employees can edit and make their own. Create an internal system (like a Slack alert) to tell employees when new branded content goes live so they can easily reshare it on their own social channels.
When employees have a framework for how to share about your business online, they’re more likely to do so.
Email marketing tactics to bring visitors back to your website
If people are signed up for your email marketing lists, chances are they’ve already interacted with your business. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not valuable to drive them to your website.
92% of first-time visitors to a website don’t make a purchase. Reminding people who already know about your brand to return to your site is a great way to move closer to that first or repeat sale.
Try these email marketing tactics to encourage people to return to your website.
18. Build and segment your email list
The first step to establishing a successful email marketing program is building a healthy email marketing list. Create opportunities on your website and other online properties for interested consumers to join your mailing list. This might look like a pop-up or persistent banner on your website, or social posts sharing the perks of joining, along with a link to register.
As you grow your list, segmenting based on key buyer attributes can help increase engagement and drive more website visitors. If you have different buyer personas, you might segment based on those and send different content to each. You might also segment based on past actions taken with your brand. For example, returning customers might get different content than new leads.
Each email you send should include a call to action (CTA) that invites readers to click out to a relevant page on your website.
19. Send newsletters that promote your latest content
Email newsletters have seen a renaissance in recent years, with platforms like Substack and LinkedIn newsletters revitalizing the marketing tactic and drawing in a new set of writers and readers to the medium.
For brands, newsletters are an incredible way to connect regularly with your audience, establish yourself as a leader in your space, and share the latest content on your website.
Build out a newsletter that links to the blogs, podcasts, videos, and webinars you’ve recently published. Include some copy that highlights these resources and shares with readers why they should be excited to discover your latest content. Close with a CTA that drives readers to the asset in question so they can enjoy it right away.
20. Use automated email sequences
Automated drip campaigns allow you to send a set of messages to people on your email list. This tactic can be used to support a variety of marketing goals, from a welcome email series for new subscribers to an abandoned cart sequence that encourages would-be buyers to return to your site and complete their purchase.
With each email in the series, include a CTA that drives back to your website and invites deeper engagement with your brand.
Paid advertising channels that drive website traffic
Sometimes the best way to get more website visitors is to invest in paid marketing strategies. Advertising—whether on search engines, social media, or other sites—can get your name in front of audiences that are the right fit for your brand.
21. Run Google Ads
Google remains the top search engine around, commanding 90% of search traffic. If you want to appear at the top of the results on this incredibly popular channel, running Google Ads is the way to do it.
Google Search is still far and away the top search engine.
Google Search Ads allow you to run ads for keywords of your choosing. When people query those terms, you bid for the ad space, and the business that wins out gets prime placement on the search engine results page (SERP).
As you plan your ad campaign, consider building custom landing pages for each set of keywords and ads you run. That way, customers find exactly what they need when they click through from your ad to your site. As an example, if a landscaping company runs ads for lawn care services, the URL should drive directly to a page about booking lawn care packages, rather than linking to the home page that includes information about other offerings.
22. Use paid social advertising
As we covered above, social media has become a powerful discovery engine for consumer brands looking to connect with people ready to buy. While organic social media tactics can help you grow your reach and drive sales over time, paid social advertising can jump-start or supercharge your organic efforts, boosting your reach by showing posts to a target audience you curate.
As with search ads, it’s best practice to send those who click through from a social media ad to a targeted landing page that’s connected to the content they saw on social. If you’re advertising a specific product, drive directly to that product page on your site.
23. Retarget website visitors
As we said above, the vast majority of first-time visitors to your site won’t make a purchase. The marketing funnel starts wide for a reason. Many people stop by your site as they’re first acknowledging that they have a problem they need to solve.
That’s why retargeting can be such a powerful advertising technique. Also known as remarketing, this strategy allows you to advertise to people who’ve visited your site previously.
Examples of retargeting in the wild.
By remaining in their field of vision as they move down the funnel, you stand a better chance of being the website they return to when they’re ready to buy.
Referral, partnership, and community growth strategies
Sometimes the fastest way to build your audience is to tap into one someone else has built. Whether you’re guesting on a podcast, claiming your Yelp profile, or contributing to online forums, there are ways to get your brand name out there in other established communities.
24. Secure guest spots on relevant websites or podcasts
Podcasts and respected blogs or digital publications tend to build loyal followings. Appearing as a guest who’s popular with your ideal customer can help you get on a lot of relevant radar screens quickly.
This strategy for driving more traffic to your website starts with some research. Identify the blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, and other media that are popular with the audience you’d like to reach. Then, connect with the point person at each to pitch yourself as a guest.
Once you’ve secured your guest spot, prepare to share insider knowledge you know your ideal customers will find valuable. Most guest posting or podcasting opportunities include a written bio or an opportunity to plug your business. When you get that shot, provide readers or listeners with a link to your website. And for extra impact, build out a customized landing page that builds upon what you discussed in the guest post or episode.
25. Participate in online communities and forums
For local businesses, another effective way to build brand awareness is through participation in online forums and communities. Sites like Reddit, Nextdoor, and Quora are often a gathering spot for engaged members of groups that share a common interest or live in the same area.
While it’s tricky to market directly on Reddit, there are ways you can get attention and traffic there.
If you’re a member of that group or your business serves that audience, contributing to the forum is a way to get your name out there. Avoid being overly promotional, and instead be a knowledgeable, helpful presence. If you contribute consistently, you’ll come to be known, liked, and trusted by group members.
Website traffic FAQs
Here are a few answers to the most common questions about driving traffic to your website.
1. What is website traffic?
Website traffic refers to the number of visitors who land on your website, along with the actions they take once they’re there. It’s typically measured by sessions, pageviews, and unique visitors, and can come from a mix of sources: organic search, paid ads, social media, email, referral links, and direct visits. More traffic generally means more opportunities to generate leads, make sales, or build brand awareness, but the quality of that traffic, meaning whether the right people are landing on your site, matters just as much as the volume.
2. Why is website traffic important for business growth?
More traffic means more chances to convert visitors into customers, more data to understand what’s working, and more opportunities for search engines to recognize your site as relevant and trustworthy. For small businesses, especially, steady traffic growth is often the clearest early signal that your marketing efforts are actually paying off.
3. Why does website traffic quality matter as much as traffic quantity?
Driving lots of traffic from people who won’t ever buy your product can waste your advertising budget and misrepresent the health of your marketing program. When you focus on bringing in visitors who have shown interest in your product or share characteristics with previous customers, you’ll increase your conversion rate and reduce the overall cost of acquiring new customers.
How to drive more traffic to your website than ever before
Driving more traffic to your website is a lifelong pursuit. Regardless of where your business is in its journey, filling the marketing funnel with an audience that may eventually become customers is a worthy goal.
To keep your website traffic growing, invest in a range of tactics. Paid or organic, earned media or social media—the list of options to explore is vast. If your current approaches are feeling stale, don’t be afraid to mix it up. Set a goal to introduce a new tactic each quarter, and establish a dashboard where you can track metrics and measure the effectiveness of each effort.
And remember that as your business shifts and grows, your strategy for attracting traffic to your website may need to adjust, too. That’s a normal part of evolution, and marketing teams that track the effectiveness of their efforts are better equipped to pivot with intention.
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