In this post I’m going to give you some really good ways to drive traffic to a new website or a site that hasn’t started any marketing work yet.
I have used these methods for both large sites and small client sites and the good news is that the following methods work on any site, do not cost money and will bring traffic in the first few weeks.
At the same time, it is important to note that you need to be consistent in implementing the methods that I’m about to explain here, so full disclosure: the traffic will come, but only as long as you are consistent.
So let’s begin – here are the methods in initials, then I’ll expand on each method:
- Google My Business
- Social groups
- Relevant forums
- SEO
- Lectures
- Whatsapp groups
Google Business Profile
Most of us know Google Business Profile (GBP) as Google My Business (GMB).
For those who don’t know, it’s A business page on Google (similar to a business page on facebook for that matter).
The service is suitable for local businesses that wish to appear on Google Maps when there’s a local search for something related to the business.
For example, I have a restaurant in downtown Manhattan. When someone searches on Google for “restaurants in the area” and he/she is in downtown Manhattan – Google will show him/her local results of businesses registered through this service.
Here is an example screenshot:
Another thing, the business profile appears prominently and graphically when searching for your business. Here is a screenshot:
It is highly recommended if you have a business with a physical address – register it on GBP.
A few more tips for GBP subscribers:
- After you have entered the Google Business Profile, pay attention to complete all the different sections and parts that need to be filled out. Do not leave blank fields, even if they are not mandatory.
- The description of the business is critical: when local results appears and your business among them, if your description is good enough, it significantly increases the chance that people will click your business profile and from there, on to your website or directly to your phone.
- Add photos. They will appear in the local search and if the photos are good, there’s a good change people will click to your website.
- Collect reviews and respond to all of them.
A lot of good reviews is impressive and instills confidence in your customers.
When people enter the reviews and see that you are answering, it also gives the feeling of a business that cares about its customers.
Social groups
Sign up for groups that are relevant to your business or in the same niche, where you can answer questions and provide value.
There are groups in every field, I mainly recommend Facebook and LinkedIn (Linkedin is more for businesses that provide services to businesses – “B2B”).
Once you’ve signed up for such groups, start looking for posts with questions that you can answer and add value to.
When you answer – be as specific as possible, give value and offer to contact you for free help.
Do not add a link to your site yet.
After a few days of answering and giving free value, when you have seen that there are positive responses and people are starting to realize you and your help, you can gently start inviting to the site.
The best would be to write a relevant article to the group on the site and then share it.
The more active you are in groups, the more questions you answer and the more value you provide – the more people will want to know you and read about you.
The traffic to the website will increase as a result of sharing the posts and also because people will be interested in you and what you do.
Relevant forums
Forums used to be much stronger before the social networks got into our lives. The good news is that there are still good active forums. The most popular one I can think of is Quara where people consult on almost any subject.
The trick is to find a thread that is relevant to your business and act exactly as in the previous section – register for the forum, search for relevant questions and give as much value as possible for free.
Help the forum
Once you answer enough questions, people in the relevant forum will notice your help sooner or later, they start seeing your name and your answers and will probably start looking you up, just to see who is this person.
That’s where you can start putting links to relevant articles on your website that will also add value or answer questions you’ve seen being asked in this specific forum.
A link to a post on your website that answers a question in a forum can sometimes bring a lot of traffic, plus it’s good for SEO.
SEO
Promoting your website organically is perhaps the best investment you will make.
If you’ve done everything properly, your site will appear on the first result page on Google in the organic (non-sponsored) results for a variety of relevant phrases.
The result is fresh, relevant traffic and new leads every day for free.
For those who don’t know how to start doing organic promotion, I recommend taking a 1 on 1 SEO training with me.
The idea is to choose phrases that best describe your business, check that there are indeed searches on Google for those phrases, and then for each phrase create a page with excellent content that “answers” the phrase you chose.
The content you write on your website pages should be excellent and provide additional value to visitors.
How do you write good content? Here’s a little tip: write the phrase you want on Google and open all 10 organic results on the 1st page in separate tabs.
Check the content on all the pages you’ve opened and check what the “competitors” are doing.
Now think about how you can give more value in your content.
Lectures
Lectures are a great way to portray yourself as an expert, receive inquiries, expand networking and bring traffic to the website.
There are opportunities to lecture in your field both locally and online.
Just grab Google and look for “free online lectures” or “lectures near me” to find such places. then register to lecture in your niche.
Try to lecture at least 4 times a year at conferences or on digital lecture platforms such as coursera.
In the invitation to the lecture, the lecturers are always announced with a short summary about the lecturer and a link to his website.
Make sure to spread the invitation as much as possible and introduce yourself, the website and direct the audience to read more about you on the About page, contact you through the website or direct them to a specific article on the website that continues the lecture.
Whatsapp groups
Open a free WhatsApp group for periodic meetings where you will give value in your field for free.
For example: if you build websites, open a group where you will teach all the members to build a website live – everyone will build a simple website for themselves.
Create a page on your website with a link to join the group and ask the members to spread this page.
That is a great way to meet people, network and present yourself as a professional authority. The group members will contact you for advice and recommend you to their friends.
Every time you write a new post in the field – distribute it to the group and ask for feedback.
Email and mailing lists
Collect emails from interested parties (for example – to join a free WhatsApp group – you need to leave details and an email) and send them periodic emails with a lot of value: what’s new in the field, what are the most common services and why, what can they do on their own and how, what are the common mistakes in the field, etc.
Every time you write a new article – distribute it to your subscribers.
Summary
The ways offered to you here have been tested by me many times and continue to work for me as to this day.
If you’re consistent, you’ll see the traffic to the site will increase gradually.
In any case, you are more than welcome to contact for advice at any stage.
I hope you’ve taken some value from this article and I’d love to hear if you have any questions.
