Biz + Websites | Updated Oct 19
how to drive traffic to your business
& make money
intro
Once you have a website, the next obvious step is to figure out how to actually make money on it. And that means getting traffic to it. Which ends up being harder than most of us expect.
Many of us start out in business with this subconscious belief that "if we build it, they will come".
But, later we all find out just how far from the truth that really is. The fact is, getting people to come to your website requires a lot more than just building it.
But don't worry. There is plenty that you can do today to start getting traffic to your site and increase your sales.
Today we'll be discussing:
1. How to drive traffic to your business
2. Different ways that you can make money with your business website
Let's get to it.
1. How to drive traffic to your business
As I said above, traffic doesn't just start showing up on your doorstep once you open a business. You have to get the word out that you're here with your amazing products. But there are plenty of ways to get the traffic you need.
First, let's define the different types of traffic.
Organic vs. Direct (or Paid) Traffic
Organic traffic consists of people coming to your business naturally, from unpaid sources. This could be anything from people finding you via word-of-mouth, to finding your web page on a Google search. Some key forms of organic traffic are:
- Word-of-mouth
- Search engine optimization (SEO) on Google
- Social media
- Email lists
On the other hand, direct, or paid, traffic consists of the people who find your business via paid sources, such as through an ad you pay for. As you probably know, there are many different options out there for paid advertising. Some key forms of direct traffic include:
- Running tradditional ads for yourself on platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, TikTok or Google
- Paying a professional to run traditional ads for you on platforms such as those listed above
- Paying an influencer on social media to talk about your product to their followers
- Affiliate marketing, such as offering a special discount to the followers of an influencer who partners with you and/or paying said influencer a commission for each sale they bring you
- Putting an ad in a magazine or newspaper
A great business strategy will target both organic and direct traffic.
Since this is a tutorial focusing on DIY business strategies and starting your business with as little money as possible, I'm going to dig deeper into each of the forms of organic traffic and how to make them work for you.
Word of Mouth
Do not underestimate the power of word-of-mouth traffic for your business! If you haven't already figured it out, word-of-mouth traffic simply means people who find your business via other people telling them about you.
Especially if you're running a small business, or if you're just starting out, I believe that word-of-mouth can easily be the most important and influential factor in gaining business traction.
Word-of-mouth creates a name for you and builds trust amongst a community. And this is the foundation you will need to grow your business. Here are some tips for using word-of-mouth to gain traction in your business:
1. Use reviews to build trust.
Ask your customers to review your services or products after a transaction has been made. People want to know if others trust you, and will trust you much more easily if they know others do.
You can set up Google reviews or even just collect reviews via an email or a form, to keep and use when needed.
2. Use social media to build rapport.
Ask your customers, or even your friends and supporters to post about you on social media. Having someone else vouch for you can go so much farther than just posting for yourself, and will really catch the eye of others!
Try targeting a very small, specific group of people and build rapport there, at least to start. You can always change or expand later.
Caveat: You can also pay for Word-of-Mouth publicity, and this can be a very worthy investment for a new business that's just starting out. For example:
3. Offer incentives for people to spread the word about you.
You can offer incentives for people to leave you a review or even to post on social media about you. People love getting free stuff, be it through earning points, getting a 10% off coupon, or receiving a $100 voucher!
While this is technically moving into the arena of paid traffic, it can definitely be a great option for a new business trying to gain traction.
One reason why this can even be much better than paid ads is that you should really only have to pay for incentives AFTER they have landed you a sale, so there's no up-front cost. That is, if you set them up correctly.
4. Create a referral program.
Again, often people will refer others to you for free if your business is great, but you can also encourage them to do it by offering an incentive. For example, offer them a $20 coupon for every new client they refer to you with a successful sign-up or sale.
When you're starting out with a new business, it can definitely be worth it to sacrifice a portion of your margin on the next sale in order to encourage people to refer others to you. This will help you grow your business from nothing into a trusted company.
But, it's a mediated way for you to do this, so you know you are only paying for it when you're making money, so you shouldn't lose anything on it. In other words, there's less risk than paying for ads because there's no up-front cost.
You need to get the word out that you're here and you're trustworthy. A referral incentive could be a coupon to use toward future purchases, or a giftcard you will send them, etc. You can be creative and have fun with it!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is basically the way that Google (and other search engines) finds your business when someone searches online for the thing that you're selling. There's a whole lot that you can do to ensure your site is optimized for search engines, even without getting too technical.
On the flip side, there are other things that you can accidentally do to actually screw up your relationship with Google and get black-listed (yikes!) Then no one will be able to find you by searching on Google, and it will be much harder to get traffic.
So it's worth it to take some time and learn at least a little about SEO if you're going to be running a business online.
Here are my key pointers in optimizing your website.
Do:
1. Write.
I believe the number-one thing you can do to optimize your site for search engines is to write! Add as much written content to your site as you can, whether in the main pages of your site, answering frequently-asked-questions, or starting to write some relevant blog posts. The more you write, the more you will help Google start to pick up your site and get it out to your ideal customer.
2. Keyword research.
When you write, make sure that it is on relevant topics that relate to your business, and that you sprinkle the right keywords throughout your writing. Spend some time learning how to do effective keyword research.
3. Work on customer experience.
If people come to your business website and feel confused or it takes too long to load, data shows that they will leave quickly, and your SEO score will be damaged. Some things you can do to improve customer experience are:
- Make sure your site is easy to navigate with menus and makes sense overall.
- Ensure your site loads quickly by adding an image compressor to your site.
- Add links to your other pages to reduce the bounce rate (people leaving your site quickly) and keep them on your site longer.
- Keep visitors engaged by adding multi-media such as photos and videos to your content.
Don't:
5. Stuff keywords.
Don't just stuff your page or post with as many repeated keywords as you can and no useful content. That will most likely backfire and get your site blacklisted from Google.
Make sure your content is useful and readable. Google is now able to tell when content is actually helpful to people, and it doesn't like websites that are just "stuffing" keywords over and over to try to get noticed. It rewards sites with actually helpful and informative content.
6. Compete for major keywords.
Don't try to compete for short, major and broad keywords, like "brownies" for example. Instead, focus on long-tail keywords, which are more specific, such as "homemade brownies in Cave Creek, Arizona" for example.
Targeting long-tail keywords is a good idea when you're getting started, because you can build rapport with Google instead of getting lost at the bottom of the list. as you likely would when competing for major keywords.
If you try to compete for the short, major keywords like "brownies", you will be slaughtered by big companies who already have built up their trustworthiness with SEO and their relationship with Google.
Your goal here is to get onto the first page of Google for the keyword that you're targeting. That way, you can start to slowly gain traction. You can use predictive text on Google to get suggestions of what long-tail keywords people are already searching for.
My final note on SEO: it takes time.
Be patient, do your research, and trust the process! Google will take months to process your content and decide where to put you. And over time, you can continue to grow that relationship. It is definitely worth it in the long-run.
Also, remember that this post is by no means a comprehensive guide to SEO. So please do more research and learning on the topic if you are serious about working on your SEO!
Social Media
Social media is huge for businesses these days. It can easily go hand in hand with word-of-mouth advertising and publicity, because people often look to social media and those they know and trust to find businesses they can trust. They may also look you up on social media to find out if your business is legit. And they will listen to what others are saying about you.
That's why I talked earlier about asking others to post about you if possible.
But even if you don't have others talk about you on social media, building up your own presence online can be a great way to build community and trust.
Here are some top ways to get involved and build your business through social media:
- Start a TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube account and showcase your products or offer free advice in your area of expertise.
- Join Facebook groups and help answer people's questions with genuine and helpful information.
- Let your friends and followers on your personal profiles know what you do and what you offer! Don't underestimate this! Don't be salesy, but just make sure you let them know from time to time.
Remember, building relationships and community is key here. Social media is a fantastic way to grow your customer base from the ground up, for free.
Email Lists
Many successful businesses will tell you, if they are willing to share their secrets, that having an email list with effective marketing is the number-one way to keep customers coming back, and to make sales.
See, people actually don't often make a purchase the first time they see a product. In fact, it takes up to 7 times on average of a person hearing your pitch before they are ready to buy! So, if you want to be the one to make the sale in the end, and not your competitor, you need to stay in front of your customers.
Find a way to (legally) collect customers' email addresses and keep in contact with them. But make sure you get their consent first, or else you can end up in trouble.
2. Different ways you can make money on your business website.
Next I want to briefly go over some of the different ways that you can make money on your business website. There are many different options, some of which we discussed a little in previous parts of this series.
But the truth is -- you don't have to choose just one. You can actually implement multiple strategies and start getting multiple streams of income from different avenues on your business website.
Here's a list of ways to make money on your business website. Consider implementing several of these options to diversify and multiply your income.
- Make A Product
The obvious option is to make your own physical product, for example a weighted blanket, which you physically ship out to the customer after they make the purchase.
- Sell Someone Else's Product
Another option is to sell a product someone else made, such as buying and up-selling products from another store, and then physically shipping that product out from your home or warehouse.
- Drop-Ship
A more recently popular option is drop-shipping, where you list someone else's product on your store, upsell it, but never actually touch the product yourself. Rather, you simply put in the order on the other store when you receive an order from your customer. Then the other store ships the product to your customer, and you keep the profit.
- Digital Products
A less obvious option is to sell a digital product which you yourself create, and which is automatically emailed directly to your customer as soon as they make the purchase from your store. This could be something like a PDF file or printable wall art. This option can easily become a great form of passive income, because you will hardly have to do any more work for that product once you list it on your site.
- Services
Sell your services instead of a product. For example, nutrition coaching or counseling.
- Subscription Service
Create a subscription site where people pay a fee each month or year to receive your service or product. This could be a box of goodies you deliver to their door every month, or it could be some online service you provide.
- Ads
A sneaky way to get extra passive income on the side is to put banners and ads on your business website. You can then get paid for any affiliate sales that you may make when people click on those ads, or you can even get paid per click, depending on what program you choose. Try checking out Google Adsense, or Amazon Affiliates for starters.
Wrapping up
Starting a business does require some time and effort, as does increasing your traffic. But just know that the start is the hardest part.
Once you get your website set up and figure out your methods for gaining traffic, it won't be so daunting.
I hope you've learned something useful today and are motivated to start building your website traffic.
And if you don't have a business website yet, you can sign up here for my full 5-day course for FREE and I'll walk you through everything: