Build Traffic From Within

Filed in Traffic Tips on Aug.27, 2010 By Keith Lunt

Too many people assume that the way to increase a website’s traffic is by marketing it to new visitors. Yes, this is ultimately necessary. But it is not the only tool available.

In actual fact you might be able to help your website better in the long term by concentrating on the visitors that you currently have on the site. Those that are finding you in the search engines and those popping by often, for example on RSS feeds.

Have a look at your bounce rate and see where it is highest. Is there anything that is obvious? Does it indicate that you site is not working on a certain browser or that people are not finding what they are looking for straight away?

Look at what people are reading and see if you can give them more of what they want. Encourage them back and build that important loyal following.

And for the online shop, make sure that the products that you are offering can easily be found. Look at what items people often look at and what they often buy. Is there a pattern? Can you make changes to ensure that potential buyers find what they want? Can you show them that other visitors that looked at that item eventually bought another item?

It is well worth spending time to look at what you can do to encourage existing traffic to browse more and come back later. Quite often the changes needed are just one offs, or it is a matter of writing on certain topics instead of a broader spectrum.

But with a band of loyal readers you will slowly see your website stats on the up.