The Essential Guide to Growing Website Traffic for Newbies, Part II
Saving on expenses is the next best thing to making money. In Part I of this guide, we saw every method you could use to get more traffic on your new website, for free.
However, working with free methods will only get you so far. And there will come a time when you’ll want more. That’s when important things will be worth paying for.
A solid SEO, PPC, and Push Notifications strategy are among the first things that you will have to reconsider. But that’s not all! So, where should you start?
Paid SEO
Most of the methods we saw in the first part of this guide are related to SEO. And while it’s true that you can achieve some results by using free tools, nothing compares with using paid software. You can track keyword ranking, organic traffic, and backlinks.
At the same time allowing you to find the best long-tail keywords, check on your competitors, spot weak points and avoid threats, or run SEO site audits.
Increase your organic traffic with these easy SEO tips
The prices range from $30 – $130 a month. However, to accurately understand the size of an industry and the ranking of the major brands, you’ll need to add another $800/month.
The Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing, allows you to bid for ad placements, in return for a fee. You only pay when you receive the click, as the name suggests. This is how you can buy traffic if you can’t get it organically (or instead of it).
RevContent – the ad appears as a recommended post on an external site
Amazon Ads – sponsored ads, sponsored brands, or sponsored display within the marketplace.
Estimated Cost : ≈$2,000/month
Push Notifications
An alternative to boost your traffic and engagement is to target your visitors with Push Notifications. You can schedule these alerts to be sent every time you have something important to say.
And between new content, offers, or promotion, if you’re crafty in creating them, your users will really appreciate them.
And your website will reap the benefits. Moreover, if you have up to 30,000 subscribers the service is completely free.
Estimated Cost /150,000 subscribers: $150/month
Email Marketing
This channel is very useful for generating referral links. But you can also keep in touch with your audience, and provide relevant information or updates about new content.
Here are email content ideas to send your subscribers:
1. Welcome email – as soon as they register, or share their email with you
2. Timely content updates – monthly, weekly, biweekly, etc.
3. Offers and promotions – whenever something new comes up
4. Related content based on subscription preferences or activity on the website
5. Industry news
6. Social media account subscriptions or special content (about new groups, or chatting topics, or like/share contests)
7. Paid email blast
Need low-cost email marketing software? Look no more:
Most of the free platforms that we saw in part Iof this series, also feature paid membership with branding or sales-boosting perks. Some even go as far as offering content marketing, PR, or social media services.
To get even more traffic, you can get listed on startup discovery platforms. When you’re just getting started, you can pay to be featured, and get some quality traffic. Yet, as their reviews demonstrate, you can’t expect huge volumes of traffic.
Many other websites, just like all of the above, offer free listings. But you’ll be put on a very long waiting list – several months or so. Also, prices may vary, as they’re not very transparent from this point of view.
And, if you’re going for traffic volumes, you can get on paid web directory websites, like BOTW, for example. But this will cost you $197/month or a one-time $397.
Average Estimated Cost: $70
Sponsored Posts, Reviews, Top Entries
Find websites, industry forums, social media groups, or social news websites with a good reputation, and pay your way in their tops.
This practice is also known as Native Advertising – writing articles that mimic the source, and only include one or few (very few) links to your website.
Just be careful when placing your link, because many websites limit the number you’re allowed to include. While others also specifically require the link to make sense, by adding extra clarifications to the topic.
Browse related accounts, pages, groups, and the channels that are more related to your cause.
Based on their popularity, these can charge pretty steamy prices, to promote your website. And at the same time, their Engagement Rate (ER) might not even be that good.
But, if you’re going for results, try focusing on smaller influencers/channels from your niche. Chances are they have higher engagement and their prices are also more accessible.
Average Estimated Cost: $150
Cross Promos with other websites
This is a very nice way to engage with the community, by reaching out to related websites. By norm, these cross promos are done with no charge, as both parties benefit from the increased visibility the other is bringing.
However, consider throwing in some bonuses for the other party’s clients.
Cross promo website ideas:
Industry forums
Related products websites – websites that offer products/services complementary to yours (for example, software + VPN)
Educational websites – websites that offer the know-how to use your website/services
Review websites – websites reviewing your site/services
Average estimated bonus value: $150
Total Price Estimated for Traffic-Generation Paid Methods: $3,005
Bots are often to blame when you suddenly get huge traffic volumes. This is automated software traffic (not real humans), that isn’t worth paying for. It will only hurt your credibility and reputation.
Plagiarism
We know that when you find something that’s working (often with a competitor), you might be tempted to identically duplicate that to reach their success. But this will get you sanctioned.
If your users spot your bad habits, they’ll connect with the original source, leaving your site.
Fake interactions/ reviews
Sure, it might be fast and affordable to attract traffic by paying for comments, likes, reviews, etc. Unfortunately, this is also a sure way to get bot traffic. On top of damaging your credibility.
Focusing on Quantity instead of quality
More is almost never better. This goes for keywords and backlinks. Carefully select the keywords that best describe your website and content, and hook your users.
And if you’re getting toxic backlinks, ask the hosting site administrator to remove them, or disavow them.
Neglecting your website
Whether we’re talking about running an SEO audit, defining your ‘search intent’, or updating your content, these are things you need to do. If not, it will show in your traffic volumes.
As bad as forgetting to take care of your website, is not responding to your users’ needs. No matter if we’re talking about comments, contact form answers, and even checking what keeps them engaged.
Spamming aggregators and social websites
Everything you write must add value to the topic. Resist the urge to brag and over-promote and instead offer your expert, informed opinion on the topic.
Give tips or secret industry know-how, and people will willingly visit your website.
Conclusion
The best decision you will ever take will be spending on what will help you increase your profits. And that doesn’t always involve money, but time and attention.
But, when you do need to spend money on it, make sure to check the reviews, contact references, and play your cards right. This will be extremely useful in the long run.
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