- Starting out with a new website and wondering how to get more website visitors?
- Perhaps you have hired experts and website visitors aren’t converting to sales?
Read on for tips, insights and help.
Every website starts at ZERO.
As I write this:
- I have launched two new websites in the last month and both are at zero. I know with a strategic approach and the right tactics that will change quickly.
- A website which I launched, put some energy into, then left alone is close to zero. Consistency is important.
- I manage a portfolio of sites with huge variation in how many visitors they get. The size of your target audience and your ability to connect with them will determine how many visitors your website gets.
I’ll use the new websites as case studies to build this article over time.
- One is on SquareSpace and two are on WordPress.
- Each will have a mix of tactics applied: SEO, social media, traditional advertising, PR, etc. There is no one size fits all when it comes to getting traffic. There are free and paid tactics. One’s that take patience and quick win opportunities.
Taking these websites from zero to being income-producing online business will have very different strategies. They each have different online business models and different target audiences.
Not all websites are created equal and some websites and some website visitors are more valuable then others.
Before you get envious of websites with massive numbers of visitors, consider how many are browsers and how many are buyers?
Do you want 100 browsers and no buyers OR
30 browsers and 1 buyer?
Be consistent with your efforts. Use focus and strategy to get customers to your site.
Step 1 – in how to get more website visitors is create a one-page business plan.
If you haven’t already got a business plan, create a business model canvas for your online business. This is a one-page business plan. Depending on what your online business is:
- A blog getting revenue for advertising and commissions
- A news / media site selling advertising and subscriptions
- An online marketplace earning commissions for sales
- A lead generating website
- Software as a service
Or any of the other online business opportunities. Having your own plan gives you actionable and focused steps to take.
Importantly, this will help you identify your customers.
Once you know who they are and what problem you are solving for them, you can work out where they hang out and where they don’t hang out. This allows you to start putting focus to your efforts.
The business model canvas also let’s you clearly communicate your idea. Great for when you need to brief experts or outsource activities. Your whole team can see and clearly understand the plan, and also provide feedback on it.
Knowing what problem you are solving helps you create marketing content and connect with your customers.
Develop your content and collateral
If you know what problem you are solving you can create, or get your team / experts to create marketing content including:
- blog content for search engine marketing (organic SEO and paid search advertising)
- advertising content for paid campaigns
- social media content for organic / outreach activity
- email marketing content (follow-up and lead nurturing)
- youtube / video marketing
When developing the business model canvas you will have identified your customer segments. Where are they hanging out? Focus your efforts there.
Test your idea to see whether people engage in your content
There are metrics everywhere. For a website the key metrics are:
- No. of visitors
- Bounce rate (how many people come and leave straight away)
- Time spent on your website (and on what pages)
- Revenue generated
You can run some simple test for your online business idea to see what’s working and what’s not. It might not be the idea, it could be your positioning.
Get your content out there!
Start marketing your website. The Internet is designed to be inter-connected. Create pathways to help your target audience connect with your content and website.
- Share your website and the content you develop.
- Get a marketing plan (even a simple one) in place to focus and test your efforts. What works? What didn’t?
- Run some paid advertising.
- Make sure your website is optimised for search engines
Remember to get it in front of people that are in the customer segments you identified as people that would buy. Be laser-focused on where your revenue will come from.