Ask the Expert: 5 Ways to Increase Website Traffic

Ask the Expert: 5 Ways to Increase Website Traffic

by ed2go instructor, Chris Minnick

If you own a website, you probably have a simple objective: get people to see it! If you have a blog, you want readers. If you have an e-commerce site, you want customers. If you have an informational site, you want to raise awareness with as many people as possible. Whatever your subject, you’re probably wondering about the best ways to increase traffic to your website.

Gaining visitors to a website can be difficult. There are millions of websites, and no matter what your website is about, you likely have hundreds or thousands of competitors who are all trying to reach a limited number of people. So how do you attract visitors to your website?

The most effective way to gain new visitors is by showing up on page one of the search engine results for various targeted key terms. Research has shown that 91% of searchers don’t go past page one of search results, so showing up anywhere beyond page two is practically the same as not showing up at all.

Here are 5 simple ways to increase website traffic by earning a higher search engine position.

1. Discover popular keywords with little competition.

This is an easy way to increase your organic SEO, that is, to help people find you when they Google something. Look for words that convey your message, and that people commonly search for, but that aren’t being used by the competition.

2. Make your website fast.

By fast, I mean crazy blazing fast. If your site loads faster than your competition’s, Google counts that in your favor when deciding which site to show higher in the results.

3. Make your website mobile-friendly.

Google cares a lot about mobile, because users care about mobile. More than half of all searches are now done using mobile devices, so if you’re not mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on one of the most effective ways to increase traffic to your website.

4. Make your website secure.

Serving your site over a secure (https) connection is becoming one of the easiest and most sure-fire ways to get a real boost in search engine position.

5. Write, write, write! 

Bill Gates declared “Content is king” in 1996, and that’s still true. Writing great content is one of the top ways to get more website traffic from Google. Plus, the more high-quality content you have, the better your chances will be of some piece of content catching on and getting real traction with readers.

One thing you may notice that’s missing from this list is the recommendation to focus on building links to your content. Link building has been widely abused by less ethical marketers, and search engines have become much less reliant on links to indicate quality as a result. Your best bet regarding links is to let them happen organically because you have such great content, rather than actively seeking to gain links.

If you’re wondering “How can I drive traffic to my website?,” you’ll probably find there is a lot of information and a lot of different opinions out there.

These 5 steps are just the beginning of all the ways to increase web traffic — but you can learn more at ed2go!

Learn About Our Online Course: Achieving Top Search Engine Positions

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About our ed2go instructor

Chris Minnick is an author, blogger, trainer, and Web developer who has overseen the development of hundreds of web and mobile projects for customers ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises. In addition, Chris has authored and co-authored books and articles on a wide range of Internet-related topics including JavaScript, HTML, CSS, mobile apps, e-commerce, web design, SEO, and security. His published books include JavaScript for Kids, Writing Computer Code, Coding with JavaScript For Dummies, Adventures in Coding, Beginning HTML5 and CSS3 For Dummies, Webkit For Dummies, and XHTML.