If you are a blogger or online marketer, you know how important it is to reach the right target audience. Here are some of the best ways to drive targeted traffic to your website or blog.
Your website will probably be the most important asset you have in your online marketing, so you should ensure it is very easy to use. A well-designed website will make visitors more likely to stay longer on your website and they will be more likely to enter an inquiry or make a sale.
As well as looking good, your website needs to load fast and display correctly on all devices.
If your website is designed well and loads fast on all devices, you next need to ensure it is search engine friendly. This means that search engines can read all the pages of your website and they are structured well.
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Search engine optimisation (SEO)
Source: AdobeStock
Search engine optimisation is where you try to get relevant traffic to your website by ranking highly in the main search engines for keyword searches relevant to your website content. Search engine optimisation is the way of improving your website rankings in the organic or free listing in search engines. SEO can be done in house but to perform it for competitive terms you may wish to use an SEO agency such as Pinnacle Internet Marketing in order to help you.
SEO can be split into 2 main areas.
Onsite optimisation
Source: Search Engine Journal
This involves making sure that all content on the website is structured in the correct way, and that Title tags are relevant to the page content and that well written meta descriptions are used and that the correct page structure is in place for the different heading tags such as H1, H2, and H3 etc, for more info on onsite optimisation click here.
Offsite optimisation
Source: BrandAid
This is where you distribute content to other website and blogs which may link back to your website, which is evaluated by search engines such as Google and Bing and can affect the ranking of your website, as it is treated a vote for your website. However, all websites are not treated equal, and to be effective you should ensure the content you are distributing is of the highest quality and the sites you are asking to publish your website are of high authority and relevant to your website.
Search engine optimisation is not a quick process and can take months or years for very competitive keyword search terms.
If you want instant traffic then paid advertising may be for you.
Paid advertising platforms
Google Ads
Source: Guermandi Group
Google Ads is the largest display ad networks globally. There are nearly 2 million advertisers and billions of potential customers. Besides that, it is quite effective at driving traffic to your site. As the top ad network, it holds its advertisers to strict standards. These standards can seem unreasonable but they are there to ensure only quality ads are shown to viewers. Google does not show ads on sites, they also serve ads on apps and other mobile-based programs. This will ensure you reach the biggest audience possible. To use Google Ads, you need to visit their site and read the guidelines. By adhering to their best practices, it will ensure your ads reach the most people.
Facebook Audience Network Ads
Source: Wired
With over a billion users globally and millions of advertisers, Facebook has a great ad network. The network is committed to high standards of the quality and legitimacy of advertisers. They do not allow adult or explicit content and have been known to help some of the largest companies to achieve their goals. Facebook serves its ads via apps and non-site media too. In general, it is an excellent network for reaching your potential customers via a huge cache of user data. Facebook is easy and straightforward to use. It also makes it easy to see the results
Bing Ads
Source: Search Engine Land
When you use Bing Ads, your ads will appear on Yahoo and Bing plus a host of smaller search engines. In the US, Bing advertising carries about 30% of all internet search traffic. Another benefit is that the CPC is much lower than Google Ads. This can be a great way to run a profitable campaign. Besides that, the messages you post are a bit longer, which can help you be more convincing. On Google Ads, you have a 25-character limit, while Bing Ads offers you a 40-character limit. To get the most out of Bing, split campaigns into desktop and mobile. Analyze the data and modify the campaign as you see fit. Use this trial and error method until you find a strategy, which gives you good ROI.
LinkedIn Ads
Source: LinkedIn Business Solutions
LinkedIn is a platform where professional individuals gather. Connections, jobs, groups, and many other benefits make this network a great place for targeting professionals. The reason to use it is its focus on people who are dedicated and skilled in their fields. Just like Facebook Ads, this network is based on demographics. It can be great for refining your campaign to reach only the right people. For instance, if you desire to reach CEOs, HR, or managers, this is the place to be.
Instagram Ads
Source: Instagram Ads
Instagram is part of the Facebook family. You can manage your ads from the Facebook Ad Manager for Instagram ads. It has the same metrics you will find when using Facebook Ads for the dollars you spend. However, keep in mind that the Instagram audience is a bit different from that of Facebook. The users are younger and more focused on consumer ads. Besides that, it is visual. For instance, if you are in the food business, you want to create ads that convey emotional selling. In short, you focus on targeting people by creating a persona of who the target audience would like to be. To get the best results, work with someone who has a marketing background using this platform. Besides that, you need to spend a lot of time on A/B testing.
Pinterest Ads
Source: Pinterest Business
Pinterest is a great social media platform for image-focused advertisers. It is also quite effective; about 87% of users on the platform have made a purchase because of an ad they saw. Besides that, 93% of its users have used it to plan a future purchase. Pinterest ads can be used as promoted pins, videos, one tap promoted pins, promote app pins, and cinematic pins. Whether you wish to increase brand awareness, boost traffic, increase engagement, or generate sales, using social media is important. To succeed, you need to be quite creative. Pinners are perusing through hundreds of pins and your ads need to grab their attention. Engage followers with long and detailed descriptions that help to boost visibility.
Twitter Ads
Source: Global Dating Insights
There are nearly 330 million monthly active users on Twitter. A recent study found that Twitter users love shopping and they spend about $162 more than non-twitter users. If you run an online shop, Twitter is a great way to reach potential customers. Over half of female Twitter users say they use it when making a shopping decision such as when looking for great deals. Twitter is a great place to drive conversions and grow brand awareness. A site can improve its value when they run ads since you do not pay for followers. To be effective on Twitter, you must use images that draw attention and fit a brand. Utilize CTA, which encourages users to go back to your site.
Reddit Ads
Source: Cpaign
Reddit is a great but under-utilized source of traffic. It is a great place, especially for creative types. From paintings to picture, Reddit uses many art elements. You can target your audience based on interests instead of keywords or demographics. You will be able to get real-time feedback with this useful feature. When an ad is displayed, there is a comment option which will let users leave replies or a short review. The rates are also quite affordable and coming up a well-structured campaign can lead to huge profits.
Summary
Online advertising works great but it must be done right. Besides that, you must do conversion monitoring and A/B testing. This will help you learn if the campaign is producing the sales or the inquiries that you need for the best possible price.
