6 Things You Can Do to Increase Website Traffic if You’re Not in Google’s Top 10

Congratulations! You have finally achieved your goal and started your own business. However, now you have a new goal: to attract customers. If your company has an official website, then, first of all, it is worth talking about traffic. Naturally, when a company is just starting, it is not very well known to its potential customers. This article offers several effective ways to help attract visitors to your website, even if you are far from getting into Google’s Top 10.

1. Submit your content to third-party resources

As a marketer that has recently entered the market or has not yet gained enough authority in the field, it will not be able to take the top positions in the Google SERP. So what can you do if you do not have an audience that regularly reads articles on your website just yet? 

One option is to publish your content on third-party resources. These can be popular blogs, online magazines, etc. Such platforms already have a sufficient number of readers who may be interested in your products or services.

Posting content to third-party resources is called guest posting. And users who come from third-party sites using the specified links in the materials generate referral traffic. In addition to bringing in traffic, guest posting increases the visibility and credibility of your site, which is vital for affiliate offers that still have few customers. 

To make the most out of guest posting, make sure that the websites you cooperate with are: 

• Topically related. For example, if you are selling gadgets, it is best to negotiate for guest posts with websites that cover tech topics and not with travel blogs.
• Popular among the audience who might be interested in your products.
• Active and constantly updated. Even if the website is fully consistent with your topic but has its last post published five years ago, negotiating a guest post with such a site makes no sense. While older posts can still get some traffic from Google, new posts will hardly get any traction without marketing support. 
• If you produce something locally, look for websites visited by the residents of the region you operate in.
• In terms of SEO, pay attention to such metrics as domain trust and the number of backlinks and referring domains—the more a site is linked out to, the more it can help you increase your website’s visibility. 

How to find third–party websites to partner with

Finding websites that meet all the requirements may seem like a tough task, but modern tools can help you speed things up. Your direct competitors probably have already partnered with similar sites, so all you need to do is follow in their footsteps.

With the SE Ranking Backlink Checker tool, you can analyze any website’s backlink profile and see who they partnered with. Single out the backlinks with the highest Domain Authority and Page Authority scores—they often come from guest posts. The h1 of the donor page, along with the anchor text, will give you an idea of what the website’s topic might be.  

You will then still have to navigate through the site to get a better idea of what it offers. Finally, tools like SE Ranking’s Competitive Research can help you check the website’s traffic. 

In addition to digging through your competitors’ backlink profiles, you can use other ways of finding guest posting opportunities:

• Just think of the popular websites in your niche that meet the requirements discussed above. Try reaching out to them through email, social media, or even their website’s contact form if any come to mind. 
• There are plenty of guest posting communities on Facebook—consider joining them.

Whichever method you choose, make sure to offer something of value. Most websites do not mind publishing a truly quality guest post, but nobody wants to deal with run-of-the-mill content that is of no interest to the site’s audience.

2. Become an expert in your niche

Digital reputation matters. Even if you are an affiliate, you need to show clients that you are an expert in your field. 

There are several ways to achieve this. The first one is to attend various events in your industry, such as conferences and webinars, get in touch with other professionals in your field and share your experience. This way, you can find new partners, always be aware of business news, and establish yourself as an expert. Over time, you can grow from just attending such events to becoming a speaker. Eventually, people will associate you with your company and go directly to your website.

The second way is to be an active member of forums and groups in your niche. Jump into the discussions of the news in your field, share your own experience, and answer users’ questions. Sometimes the audience asks quite atypical questions, the answers to which are difficult to find — and by answering those questions, you will become a lifesaver for potential customers and establish yourself as a niche expert. 

3. Create video reviews of your product

People tend to buy more after watching video reviews. Customers prefer such reviews because they are savvy, exciting, and trusted since they are difficult to fake. Producing one video review takes more effort and time than writing a text review.

How are video reviews beneficial in promoting your company’s website? If we talk about YouTube, you can place links to your website under the video, in the description box, and in the video itself.

On top of that, links can be placed in your personal profile. There, you can include not only your website but also links to various social networks.

Remember, people are still sharing videos made 10 or 20 years ago. So, getting creative with the video review process can attract direct traffic in the long term. Furthermore, compared to regular reviews, customers remember video clips better because such content evokes emotions. Recent research shows that 69% of people prefer watching short videos to reading text-based articles to learn about a product or service. Do not forget that people love to hear stories, especially if stories tell how a product or service solves a widespread problem. Watching a video review can, in some cases, be more convenient than reading comments, especially since some people prefer to eat or work while listening to something in the background.

4. Use social media

First of all, everything mentioned earlier can be promoted using social media. You can share an expert article or current news on a topic mentioning your company. Or you can post video reviews of your products or services on social networks. It is convenient to conduct various interactive polls there to attract the target audience. Beyond that, social networks can act as third-party resources.

But most importantly, social media is a direct channel for communication with existing and potential customers. And as a consequence, it is a resource for getting social traffic. How can social websites be used?

• Direct communication with clients. It is worth creating accounts on various social networks, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. This way, you will be able to keep in touch with a large number of consumers. Clients have different preferences and tastes so that they may prefer certain websites over others. And if you produce goods or provide services useful for different target audiences, having various social networks will allow you to reach more customers.
• Post various advertisements that encourage customers to click on the link and visit your website. It can be information about discounts, promotions, new functions of your devices, product updates, and much more. Social networks make it possible to share information every second. In addition, customers can share your ads on their pages with the click of a button.
• Convenient and quick answers to customer questions. These can be usual questions about the range and price of goods, as well as more highly specialized questions that help an expert in a niche. It is essential not to leave questions unanswered. Prompt responses improve your company’s digital reputation. Moreover, it is an additional opportunity to include a link to your website.
• Interactive content. Most social media platforms provide excellent opportunities for creating interactive content that will appeal to your target audience. For example, Instagram allows you to create polls. LinkedIn is convenient for conducting industry surveys for research as a professional social network. And even Facebook can be used for interactive opinion polls using emojis.

It is also worth remembering that although social networks may not affect the receipt of social traffic, your company’s social media profiles often occupy the first position in the search results for brands.

5. Set up email marketing

The number of email users is snowballing nowadays. Most users have not one but several mailboxes. According to Statista, the number of email users reached 4.1 billion in 2021. And this quantity is projected to rise to 4.5 billion by 2025. That is why email marketing remains one of the most effective tools for getting email traffic.

But the effectiveness of the mailing depends on hitting the target audience. Therefore, it is better to build a customer database on your own than buy ready-made email lists. There are several ways to do it properly.

• Registration form. It allows the client to log in to the site, and it can also be used to collect an email database.
• Feedback form. To answer their question, the client needs to provide an email address.
• Goods order form. The space on the order page allows you to confirm consent to the newsletter next to the email field.
• Blog subscription. The client specifies an email address to receive fresh articles and news notifications.
• Email in exchange for useful content, such as books, checklists, webinars, and more.

However, just building a database of emails is not enough. Addresses must be logically grouped by geolocation, age, interests, purchase date, gender, and so on. If your business is concerned with various goods, it is necessary to select recipients for each type of good individually. Customers from London are unlikely to be interested in products sold only in Manchester. 

6. Boost your local marketing

Local promotion is another effective way for affiliates to attract traffic and, accordingly, customers. It is more profitable for affiliates to target specific territories and attract local customers than to capture the country. So how can you boost your local marketing?

First of all, consider focusing on local search. Local search queries are less competitive than more generic keywords, which means you will have a better chance of making it to the top. 

For example, your company sells health insurance, which is an extremely competitive niche. The health insurance keyword has a difficulty score of 91! Suppose your company provides services across the whole country. You can target keywords like health insurance montana (with a keyword difficulty of 45) or health insurance north dakota (whose keyword difficulty is just 10). 

Sure, local search keywords normally have a smaller search volume than generic seed keywords. But what’s the point in targeting lucrative keywords that are out of your reach for the moment?

If your products or services are local by nature (you provide cleaning services or run dentistry), the SERPs for your target keywords will additionally include a Local Pack.

According to the data, 46% of queries include local intent, which is a vast number of people looking for places near them. Local Pack helps users looking for places nearby immediately get all the details they need—besides the company name. Google provides its website, physical address, map, phone number, etc. 

Many search queries that trigger the Local Pack include a certain location or end with near me. However, it is not always the case. The search engine can also use information about the user’s geolocation and suggest the nearest establishments.

To make it to the local pack results, you must create and fill in your Google Business Profile, respond to user reviews, and answer user questions. The first part is easy—all you need to do is log into your Google My Business account and verify that you are the company’s owner. Then you should fill in your business details, confirm your location, and add some images.

Google Local Pack also allows users to leave reviews about your business. And such local reviews can play an essential role if you serve customers in a specific city or region. After all, 98% read online reviews for local businesses.

Remember that regular ranking factors such as on-page optimization or backlinks are also relevant in local search, but they are not as significant as they are in regular SERPs.

Another way to boost your local presence is by leveraging your social media profiles. To find local customers, indicate geolocation in your publications. You can also include themed hashtags in your posts. Tell the world about your products or services that can be found in that particular location. That way, potential buyers will be able to contact your company. Then, it is up to you to offer them high-quality service through communication. It is crucial to provide your customers with prompt responses to their inquiries and questions.

One more effective way of boosting your local marketing is to localize ads and email campaigns. It is vital to consider the location when collecting the lead database. You can use events that take place in a particular region, tone of voice, and unique phrases to attract local customers. 

Summary

If you manage an affiliate offer, you do not have to try getting into Google’s Top 10 to receive organic traffic and attract new customers to your website. We talked about more straightforward and effective methods relevant for affiliates, which require much less effort and are not inferior in efficiency. Let’s summarize:

1. Collaborate with your competitors and provide services to each other as third-party resources.
2. Prove that you are a true expert in your industry by providing quality content to your users.
3. Make creative video reviews of products or services to ensure long-term promotion.
4. Use social networks to the maximum to communicate and interact directly with your customers.
5. Set up an effective email newsletter by choosing the right target audience.
6. Boost local marketing by focusing on local customers.

We hope this article is helpful to you and your company.