Driving traffic to your website is one thing. Driving targeted traffic, traffic from those who are actually interested in your products or services, is something entirely different. Your website is a reflection of your off-line store and business and you’ll need to focus your online marketing campaign in a strategic manner, drawing the attention of those you know you can serve. If you own a restaurant, you’ll want to stick to local traffic. If you own a retail store with an online storefront, you can focus on a broader group. Regardless, there are a number of things you can do to bring targeted traffic to your site.
Proper Keyword Research
Keyword research is important not only for the development of your site but for the marketing of your site as well. The content on your site will contain the main keywords and phrases you have opted to focus on and will help you to target your traffic. Let’s say you own a Greek restaurant in Philadelphia. You’ll probably use the words “Greek restaurant” a few times, but that term may bring traffic from people all over the country. Using “Greek restaurant in Philadelphia” or “Philadelphia Greek restaurant” on the other hand, will bring you traffic from people who are in the area. If you have a retail store with an online ordering platform, targeting your traffic to your local area may not be as important, but you’ll want to make sure you are using terms that accurately reflect the products you’re selling.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization goes hand in hand with proper keyword research. The way you use the keywords you have chosen will have a direct impact on how visible you are in the search engines. Your targeted keywords should end up in your site’s heading, in the meta description, and within the content on your pages. You or your SEO consultant will also use those keywords as you work on your off-site marketing campaign, building backlinks and in social media marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a great method for driving targeted traffic back to your website. Most social networking services will allow you to create an advertisement campaign specifically geared towards age groups, interest groups, or geographic locations. Determine which is best for your business and set up a test campaign. People won’t follow you on these sites unless they have some sort of interest in what you have to offer.
Forum Marketing
If you have the time, participating in online forums related to your business’s niche is another great way to network and drive traffic back to your site. A forum directly or even loosely related to what you do is a great way to meet not only potential customers but fellow business persons as well. The people you meet on these sites will be interested in your niche. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be there to start with.
Pay Per Click Advertisements (aka PPC)
While there are certainly a number of free methods for driving targeted traffic to your website, you may want to consider setting up a Pay Per Click campaign through Google Adwords. You’ll be able to write a brief advertisement that will show up at the top or on the side of the search engine page when a person enters the keywords related to your niche. You’ll only pay for the advertisement if someone clicks on the ad to visit your website. This type of advertising isn’t for beginners but a well-designed campaign can bring extremely targeted traffic and deliver a strong return on investment. PPC Advertising is especially great to drive some initial traffic to a newer site for testing purposes.
It is important you drive quality, targeted traffic to your website. Those who are really interested in what you do are the ones who will turn into customers later on. The rest are simply wasting your time and resources.
