Getting more users to come to your website can be a challenge if you don’t know what to do. Maybe you have tried some of the common ways to increase your website traffic. Having an eCommerce store may even complicate the process.
Let’s take a look at some more uncommon ways to increase website traffic.
In order to get web traffic to your eCommerce website, several things need to be in place. You need to make sure your site is built properly and employs a solid site structure and layout.
It should also be responsive, mobile-friendly, and optimized for search engines. That being said, we all know the common ways at your disposal for driving traffic to a website.
Yes, you can post on social media and run advertisements everywhere. However, what if you wanted to employ some of the more uncommon ways to increase website traffic?
Believe it or not, some of these techniques will actually give you a pretty nice boost in if they are implemented correctly.
What is Website Traffic?
Simply put, website traffic is the number of people that are visiting your website over a specific amount of time. This can be measured daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Perhaps the best baseline of measurement is to track monthly visitors. Google Analytics is a great way to track this data.
The idea behind driving traffic to a website is that the more traffic a website gets, the more likely it is to increase conversions. Whether those conversions are sales, link clicks, ad clicks, or affiliate marketing, the concept is the same.
Website owners try all sorts of things to increase website traffic. Some of these techniques fall flat because they are not implemented correctly or because they were the wrong process to use.
Another big problem that website owners face is gaining traffic but not conversions. A good example of this is an eCommerce website that posts on social media and gains visitors, but does not increase sales.
You see, an increase in website traffic doesn’t matter if you are not able to increase website conversions and make money.
What is eCommerce?
The term eCommerce means that you are selling a product online. Over the years, online stores have become wildly popular because it makes it easy for people to shop for products from anywhere.
There are several ways to set up an online store. The process you take will be based on the type of CMS platform you are using. One of the most popular options is WooCommerce.
This is a hugely popular online store platform that plugs directly into your WordPress website and gives you the ability to sell physical and digital products online.
One of the biggest issues online storeowners run into is trying to both increase website traffic and increase conversions. As stated above, you can try some of the more common techniques available to drive traffic to a website.
However, there are also some more uncommon methods you can use to help drive traffic to your eCommerce website and help with conversions. Even better, is most of the methods below will help you do this for free.
Let’s take a look at 11 uncommon ways to increase website traffic to your eCommerce website.
1. Build a Resource Page
A resource page is always a good thing to have on a website. However, this is also a great way to increase website traffic. You can do this in a few different ways. Add resources to the page, add thank you blurbs to companies you admire and have done work with, or add your favorite products and services.
A resource page just isn’t a good move for SEO purposes, though. It also keeps your current website users and customers engaged because it is considered new content going up. This leads to repeat visitors and an increase in conversion rates.
2. Overhaul and Restructure Your Old Blog Posts
If you have a business website, eCommerce site, or both, it is always a good idea to have a blog section. Starting a blog on your website gives you an outlet to post fresh new ideas. These can be product or service related, news and updates, stories, and other articles you may want to publish.
Over time, your blog posts can become stale, outdated, and may need some content and statistical updates. Things like new screenshots, new images in general, and specific content revamps can really help increase traffic.
If you add other SEO specifics like keyword optimization and meta descriptions, your old blog posts have a chance to skyrocket.
3. Guest Blog on Other Websites
Another uncommon and often overlooked way to increase website traffic is to guest blog. Guest blogging on other websites has a bunch of benefits for you.
Not only does it get your name out to people who would have otherwise not seen it, but it also gives you the chance to get important links going back to your site from other solid industry websites.
It is a good idea to guest blog on sites that are at least somewhat like your own. You want to hit an audience that will have an interest in what you are selling on your site.
Never be afraid to approach other website owners either. The worst answer you will get is a simple “no.” At which point you have lost nothing. More often than not though you will get a resounding “yes” because it is basically free content for other sites.
Remember, this will give you a backlink to your website, which is excellent in regards to SEO purposes.
4. Optimize Your Site for LSI Keywords
In order to do this, you need to know what an LSI keyword is. Once you do, you can put this practice into place. You see, LSI keywords are words and phrases related to your target keyword.
And don’t get me wrong, it isn’t exactly easy to rank high for any keywords without putting in the work. However, using an LSI keyword strategy is a fantastic way to help your article rank higher and increase website traffic.
If you are still a little confused regarding this technique, then take a look at this example.
Say you are writing a post or building a page about social media. Obviously “social media” or something close to that will be your main keyword. The LSI keywords would be words like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
5. Start Doing Content Transformation
Content transformation is simple. Basically you take your current content and transform it into another type of format. There are several different formats to choose from. Take that content and transform it into an eBook, video, infographic, or podcast.
When you transform the content and repurpose, it gives your audience more ways to interact with it and gives them several different ways to view and use the material.
These days, video content is extremely popular. Oftentimes, transforming or converting your text to a video piece will help increase website traffic right away.
6. Properly Submit Website to Search Engines
A common mistake website owners make is not getting their site properly indexed and submitted on the big search engines. Yes, once your website is up you can perform all types of search engine and website optimizations.
However, getting your website properly submitted to the big search engines if often overlooked. You want to make sure you have a proper XML Sitemap on your website.
Using tools like Google Search Console and submitting to Yahoo and Bing the right way will increase your website traffic because it helps the search engines properly index and list your site.
This is the next step to take after the common website SEO moves have been made.
7. Require Users to Share for Bonus Content
You should always have social sharing buttons on your website. This is a fantastic way to increase website traffic because it allows site users to share your content across social networks.
In order to take this a step further, you can also require users to share content in order for them to get more bonus content. The bonus content needs to be something that your users will want.
Something like an informative eBook, or maybe a file they might want. Maybe a specific file or audio download or other relevant info that will make them share.
This means your content is being shared by your users, and others are seeing it and getting interested as well.
8. Start a Podcast
Three simple words, Podcasts are exploding! As a matter of fact, 36% of Americans listen to a podcast every month. This number continues to rise as well, as both creating a podcast and submitting it for listeners gets easier and easier.
Not a lot of people who do podcasts create them specifically to increase website traffic. However, in this case, it is a great idea because whenever you gain a listener you will also garner interest in your website and other content.
Going on podcasts that others have created is also a good option. You can be the guest and plug your own website and gain traffic that way as well.
9. Ad Swap With Another Website
One of the more uncommon ways you can increase website traffic is to do an ad swap with another website. Ad swapping is exactly what you think it is…a relevant website runs an ad for you that links back to where you want, and you do the exact same thing for said website.
No money switches hand, but it is a great way to market your site on other websites and help increase traffic back to you. You can actually do this with as many other relevant sites as you want.
The more ad swapping you do, the greater potential you have to increase website traffic.
The best thing about ad swapping is it won’t cost you anything. So you can get some good online marketing in place for no cost to you.
10. Promote Your Site Using the Blogger Outreach Method
Okay, before we dig into blogger outreach for a second, it is important to remember that yes, oftentimes this can come off as spam (initially) and may not be your first option to increase website traffic.
However, if handled correctly, this can be a very powerful and personal way to get more traffic flowing to your website.
Basically, blogger outreach is a way of putting your content, product, service, website, etc, in front of relevant bloggers and journalists by sending them personalized emails.
The main goal here is, of course, to get these people talking about what you have sent them. This, if done correctly, will lead to increased website traffic.
The main problem here is that sometimes these emails can come off as spammy for some. But, if you take the time to personalize them (even if you are using an email template), then these emails can be very powerful.
Create a solid one and hit the right people, and your website or product will get more eyes on it in no time at all.
11. Run a Contest or a Giveaway
Running a contest or a giveaway is a good way to not only drum up some interests because users have a chance at something for free, but it is a great way to interact with site users and gain increased traffic.
You will notice that most of your favorite brands and other websites have certain contests and giveaways.
There is a simple reason for this. They work. They build brand recognition and build website traffic over time. There are several great ways to run a contest or giveaway from your website.
Whichever way you choose to go with it, simply interacting and offering something of value to your website users increases their interest in most everything else you do as well.
Final Thoughts
There are multiple ways to increase website traffic, both quickly and over time. Many of the more popular ways to increase website traffic are used by everyone, and oftentimes, you have to pay for them to be relevant.
By trying out some new, more uncommon ideas, you give your eCommerce website a chance to increase traffic and gain popularity over time. Furthermore, these ideas will not only increase website traffic, but will also increase website conversion rates.
Go over and try some of the ideas above. See what works for you and what may not. I hope the ideas are helpful and that over time, you see a significant increase in website traffic and conversions.