Top 10 Sources of Online Traffic You Might be Forgetting
It’s no secret that driving traffic to your website is one of the most critical aspects of online marketing. Most people tend to think of Google search and social media as the primary ways to increase traffic numbers, and most people would be right—the majority of online traffic probably does come from these sources for most websites. However, they aren’t your only options.
Sticking to these sources alone leaves you without access to potential clients that could be found elsewhere on some of the less popular outlets across the web. If you have a strategy in place for social media and organic search and it’s time to get creative, diving into a few lesser-known diverse traffic sources is a great start that will really pay off in the end.
10 Sources of Online Traffic You’ve Never Heard Of
Below explains 10 different sources of online traffic that you may not have heard of in the past, but could mean big things for your company if you leverage them and nurture them the right way:
1. Scribd.com
Scribd is a great document-sharing site that lets you upload your documents for a community of readers. According to the site, it has nearly 80 million monthly readers around the world, and those who pay for the service have access to over 400,000 books from over 900 publishers. While many of these are published books, magazines, and news sources, there are also many other types of documents uploaded that may work better for small business owners. For example, you’ll find quite a few informative articles and EBooks on various topics. In short, those who subscribe have access to a digital library, which is compatible for mobile devices s well as tablets.
Scribd gives website owners the potential to gain traffic from those users who choose to download their work. If you don’t have an EBook yet, that is okay (like I said previously, shorter articles are available for access as well), but keep in mind that it is a great way to re-purpose content and utilize your information. Check out the free monthly trial of Scribd to see if there is an audience out there that may be interested in your work. If so, get to downloading.
2. Flickr
While Flickr may not be an obvious choice for driving website traffic (unless of course you’re a photographer), it is actually a really great way to link to your website and get involved in a forum type discussion, which could potentially drive traffic to your own site. Use the photos on Flickr for your business blogs, and then leave a comment under the photo and add a link to your own blog post. The photographer will likely be happy to see how his/her photo was used, and others who liked the photo may also be interested in the topic you are wrote about. This extra traffic to your blog, as you know, will help drive traffic to your website.
The very first photo I click on illustrated how you can link back to your own website in the comments of a photo, shown below:
As you are probably aware, Yahoo Answers does not always have the best answer (or best reputation for that matter), but posting an answer on someone’s business related question could actually help. If you’ve written a blog post about a topic or have an example on your website that will help, link to it in your answer and thus, improve your chances of more traffic.
Being an older site, it also tends to rank fairly high on the Google SERPs. While the reputation isn’t as great as a site like Quora (we will get to that next in #4), it is still a great place to contribute to an answer you are knowledgeable about because ‘best answers’ tend to rise to the top. It still has good authority so you don’t have to worry about being associated with a poor website, you just want to make sure you’re using the resource the right way.
Another great aspect of Yahoo answers is the fact that you don’t need to be a member because it technically isn’t a social media site. The goal here is for people to read your answer and follow it to your site if you play your cards right. It’s as simple as that.
4. Quora
Unlike Yahoo Answers, Quora is a social networking site. The concept is similar in that Quora allows you to answer different questions (especially focusing on those related to your field) and then link back to relevant resources if necessary. You see where this is going—if you can link back to one of your own webpages, you can help drive traffic that way. A few extra features and benefits include:
- You can connect with users and link to your own content. This ultimately allows you to connect with other people that are interested in similar topics, but also to improve the visibility of your website.
- The site has a feature where it will link you answer to related questions so that you are being linked even when you are not seeking out the questions yourself.
- People can follow individuals and companies, so the more great answers you can give, the more followers you will gain.
- Of course, if there are any questions you have, this can also be a great way to create a dialogue within the online community.
Although Quora is gaining popularity, it is still a fairly under-used tool by business owners. The community can benefit from businesses like yours, and you can benefit from the traffic it has to offer. Always remember when you answer a question to link to your profile and website. In my opinion, this will definitely be one of the most effective tools you add to your online marketing efforts.
There are also quite a few features of Quora not discussed above, so if you’re really interested in the site I highly recommend checking out this article or scoping out the site for yourself. Below is a screenshot of a sample question and answers:
5. iTunes Podcasts
Can your content be repurposed for a podcast? Many don’t consider this as a realistic option, but it’s actually much easier than many realize. If you have developed a lot of information on a blog or your business website, a podcast may be a great option for taking the next step with the information you already have. The thing about iTunes podcasts is that they are very niche, so people looking for information your brand has to offer are often the people who will be interested enough to continue on to your website and be excellent conversions. This strategy for producing traffic can be really effective if you have the ability to turn your information into a talk or series of talks that people will be interested in hearing.
Learn more about creating and publishing a podcast here. Below is a screenshot from Penmachine.com:
6. BizSugar.com
BizSugar allows businesses to upload content to the website even if that content was published on your site previously. This will then turn-up in searches by BizSugar users through a polling based system—the most relevant results to their interest will rank the highest. The polling system works via readers voting for the content that they find most relevant. The trick with this is posting the best content possible so that it will be the highest ranking option and voted often by users as ‘most relevant.’ Once again, the more visibility you can earn, the better chance you have that some of that BizSugar traffic will funnel right over to your site.
What’s cool about BizSugar is that it won’t publish the entire article. It will publish a snippet of the article, and if people want to read more then they have to navigate over to your page. In the end, it’s a little bit like it’s own mini search engine.
7. Reddit
This is definitely an example of a site that is an unexpected gold mine for driving website traffic. While many businesses do not think to post to Reddit because it is an informal site for pleasure, posting something entertaining and business relevant can bring a surprising amount of traffic to your website. Like BitzSugar, Reddit also works through a polling site where readers determine which discussions rank the highest. Again, this is where you need to really put effort into producing good content in order to be successful.
Another aspect of Reddit is that you can comment on different posts as well, which can allow you to use the site the same way you can when you use Flickr, Yahoo Answers, or Quora—by posting and linking back to your site.
8. Instagram
While Instagram does fall under the umbrella of social media and maybe isn’t unpopular, it can be used in several ways to drive website traffic that businesses forget. First, the use of hashtag can help link you photos to shared interests with other users. If they find your content interesting, they may click on your profile and choose to follow you. Second, always have a link to your website on your profile so that people can access your mobile site with ease. For more tips about using social media to your advantage, visit here.
Slideshare.net is an excellent place to re-purpose content into a PowerPoint slide show. The idea is to take your most relevant or popular content and put it in a new format that will then be accessed by Slideshare’s visitors, which is estimated at over 60 million visitors each month. Their site explains that they are the world’s largest community for sharing presentations and other professional contents. Again, as with all of the other sites discussed, remember to always include a link to your website so that the traffic can come speeding in your direction!
10. Email Lists & Online Discount Sites
Although sending emails is considered one of the most obvious forms of online marketing, I want to bring your attention to it because it is an especially good way to drive online traffic. Including a link to your site on an email blast is sure to bring potential customers who open your email and take interest to your site. People that are really interested in what you have to say may also forward your email on to their own friends and family.
If you offer a discount or coupon code in your email, these will also often end up on sites like Retail Me Not, or other voucher type sites that people look at to find online discounts for products or services that are typically exclusive to certain people. These sites can also drive traffic to your website initially from people looking for a deal, but if they find your content interesting they may have conversion potential.
The Takeaway
There are many other ways to drive online traffic, but the key is to get creative and try to branch out from using typical social media and Google strategies alone. Visit the different traffic sources discussed above and I think you’ll find that all of them are incredibly easy to get involved with. In addition to some of the suggestions above, ask yourself what websites you frequent as a consumer and online user. These sites may have ways that you can get involved to drive your own business site’s traffic as well.
Keep in mind as well that you shouldn’t be driving traffic (from anywhere) to a website that isn’t ready to go. Make sure you have a good web design, so if people do navigate to your website you’re prepared and you keep them clicking. This is called a sticky web design. Be careful if you are planning on re-designing your website if you already have established rankings so that you don’t lose them. You can learn more about re-designing a website and how to keep your SEO rankings safe here.
We would love to hear what you think. Have you had success using any of these suggestions? Do you have some ideas of your own? Use the comments section below to share your thoughts.
We would love to hear what you think. Have you had success using any of these suggestions? Do you have some ideas of your own? Use the comments section below to share your thoughts.
About The Author
Jason Hawkins / http://www.themiamiseocompany.com
Jason Hawkins is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Miami SEO Company. He has over ten years of experience in search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and lead generation. His core responsibilities include identifying ways to increase value of services rendered, training staff on advanced SEO topics, and A/B testing internal processes to consistently improve client return on investment.
