Other Avenues to Site Traffic

No matter the industry or area of expertise, most business owners today know what SEO is and are aware of the power it can wield for their websites. Certainly a website can do no good for a business without traffic. Therefore, generating traffic is front and center to many marketers and business owners alike.

But, too many of these folks make the mistake of considering SEO as “the” way to drive traffic to a site. While SEO has the ability to do this, it is far from the only way to do this. And, it should never be relied upon solely for this goal.

What Else Can Help?

Following are seven traffic-generating activities that you can utilize to adjunct your SEO-specific efforts:

Get Ready, Set, Email

When new, email marketing was all the rage. Then it teetered on the edge of extinction. Now it is back and with good reason. Research shows that targeted emails with the right messages get opened, read and acted on.

Social Posting and Then Some

Unpaid social posts with compelling content—including videos and pictures—can work for you. In addition, you can cultivate attention and traffic when you promote others’ posts or ads or host social events like a Twitter Chat.

Answer Questions

Giving free information can pay off big time when you choose the right forum. Find your industry’s targeted Q&A sites and answer users’ questions. You can build goodwill while showcasing your expertise.

Host a Webinar

This is akin to participating in Q&A sites insofar as it involves you essentially giving away some information. But here you can capture attendees information and begin a valuable nurture stream. Increase the mileage you get out of these events by posting webinar videos on your website, blog and social media sites.

Start Commenting

Leverage the work someone else did by creating a good blog by adding your two cents worth. The catch here—be sure you have something useful to say. When you leave comments that add to a post and stimulate conversation, you will be noticed.

Secure a Guest Appearance

Guest blogging can get you in front of a whole new set of potential prospects that you may otherwise not have been found by. Be very selective and find those blogs that are logically related to your business and of high quality. Guest blogging, like blog commenting, is a great way to ride the coattails of another person or company that has the reputation and reach you want.

Aggregate Your Content

When you have created amazing content in whatever form—blog, infographic, video and more—let it shine. There are many content aggregators that help you publish out your rich content to multiple places with ease. Take advantage of them for the right features.

These are just a few ideas for how you can get your brand seen by more so that your site can get more traffic.

Now for the real twist—all of these activities can actually help improve your SEO. I know, I know. I said you should not focus on SEO as the only way to increase your traffic and that is true. But, when you focus on the right things for the right reasons, your SEO will be helped along the way. Just don’t make it the star of the show and you will be on the right path.