Everyone wants to increase traffic to their website. If you didn’t want to increase traffic to your website, you wouldn’t be reading this right now. However, there is a correct way to go about it and a way that is not recommended. When deciding how to go about getting your content in front of more people, it’s wise to make sure everything is on the up and up.

We’ve compiled a list of common methods of boosting traffic. Some of these you should do, one you should not do under any circumstance.

 

Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a valid way to increase traffic to your site, but it comes with a catch. You need to be smart about it. As much as you may want to simply write something and shoot it off to the first blog you think of that publishes anything, that method could backfire because Google and other search engines check for relevance and may flag your website for spam.

If the blog is related to your industry or niche, you are on the right track, but you still want to proceed with caution. Your content should also be useful for their audience and yours. Read several posts and get an idea for the voice of the website as well as what kind of ideas they accept. Make sure that any ideas you submit are unique or have a different perspective. Otherwise, you will annoy the blog’s editor with content they’ve already published and potentially have damaged a relationship because you didn’t plan properly.

 

Optimize Your Site for Search Engines and Mobile Devices

Most people will find you through Google or another search engine, so it’s important to make sure Google has your site in good standing. To do this, make sure every page has relevant content and keywords. Your website should also look good and be function for mobile users. A huge chunk of web traffic is done through smartphones and tablets. Content that is not optimized for them will not rank well.

 

Use Social Media

Social media is often overlooked, but it is an essential part of any successful online presence and can be an invaluable source of traffic to your site, especially if you make content your followers like to share.

Unfortunately, it’s getting harder to reach people organically through social media, especially on Facebook. This has resulted in many companies finding themselves having to pay not only to reach new people, but also to get their posts in front of users who have already like their page. While it’s a hard truth, it is necessary to pay for those adds, so that people do not forget about you.

 

Do Not Buy Traffic or Followers

There is absolutely no good reason to buy traffic to your website or social media followers. It may provide you with an ego boost, but it clouds the full picture. You don’t know which visits are from real people and which visits are from potential customers. If you need added incentive not to do this, buying Facebook likes and Twitter followers will get you penalized by the respective social media platforms. So why would you do this when there are better ways to get potential customers to your site?