The internet is in a constant state of growth, continuously changing along the way. This makes it harder than ever for websites to stand out from the millions of competing sites. However, there are many strategies you can employ to drive traffic to your website's online shopping cart and increase your daily sales. Here are five such strategies.
1. Write Original Content
This is a pretty straightforward strategy that many online businesses use. Even if you're not an online business, original content helps build your online presence. You probably know a lot about the industry in which you work, which makes keeping a company blog or writing online resources like white papers or case studies a very valuable resource. Share what you know to prove that you know your business.
At the same time, don't copy text or articles from other websites, because this will get you nowhere. Write interesting and original content so that when people search for it, you'll be the one at the top of the search results. This brings us to the next point.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Appearing at the top of the search results for a given topic is important for being found by people searching online and for driving traffic to your website. This is the most obvious and common strategy online businesses use. SEO is dependent on your use of keywords throughout your website. Keywords are the phrases potential consumers type into the Google search bar. If your website doesn't contain these keywords, then your site obviously won't appear in the search results for those keywords.
3. Embrace Social Networking
Social networking may seem like a frivolous activity that takes away from other efforts that might be perceived as far more productive. However, social media is becoming a very powerful influencing force on the internet. Facebook has hundreds of millions of users who can be easily reached for minimal expense.
Other sites such as Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn and Google+ will help generate traffic to your site because social media users love to share content. If you're creating original content and sharing it with social media users, that content has the potential to reach countless thousands, many of whom will then go to your website and potentially increase your sales.
4. Keep Writing
You already know that you need to create unique content for your website to help generate interest, but how often do you need to make these content contributions? Most businesses need to upload new content on an almost daily basis to maximize the effect of online content on a website's search rankings. However, this is not always a realistic or feasible use of time for small businesses.
While you may not be able to create daily content for your website, you should always be working to add new content on a regular basis, even if it's only one blog post a week. This will help increase the number of pages Google will scan and consider when its users search for your type of service, which invariably means that your site will appear in more search results.
5. Be Patient
This is easier said than done, but marketing your business online isn't a quick thing. It will take time to create results. It may take as long as six months before you start to notice a significant difference in your website's traffic results. You may find yourself losing patience over what may seem like wasted effort. Don't despair, and most important, don't stop in your efforts. Marketing isn't something that will bring success overnight, and some of these tricks will take a long time to reach fruition. In the end, all your efforts will pay off.
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