Paid traffic is good, but you can’t keep spending the big bucks all the time. At some point, you will need to rely on organic traffic. After all, 51% of all the web traffic comes from search engines.
With over 40,000 searches conducted on Google every second, the odds are in favor of organic traffic. So, how do you attract more traffic to your page? Unfortunately, there isn’t any specified formula to beat Google’s changing algorithms and encourage the growth of organic traffic.
However, there are certain things that you can do to get more organic traffic and conversions. Let’s check out five of such things that you are either not doing or doing incorrectly:
- You don’t realize the full potential of content marketing
Chances are that you publish a blog post or two sporadically on your website. Or, you don’t post them at all, because you think that visitors won’t read it since all products or services are listed on the webpage.
Data from MarketingSherpa reveals that content distribution can culminate in an increase in blog traffic by 2,000%. Moreover, it can increase the revenue by 40%. A case in point is Lance Cummins who grew his site’s organic traffic by 58.4% between July-September 2014 by employing content marketing.
The key here is to be consistent in publishing quality blog posts and thought leadership articles. The good news is that content marketing delivers more than it costs. In fact, it is a cost-effective way to boost your organic traffic.
The Content Marketing Institute confirms that content marketing produces more than three times the leads as outbound marketing. On top of that, it costs 62% less than outbound marketing.
- You lag behind in keyword research
Keywords are phrases that users type in their search bar. If your website incorporates such keywords, there is a high chance that you rank high on the search engine results pages (SERPs), which can boost your organic traffic.
The only catch is that you can’t rank for every keyword out there. Instead, look for keywords with high search volume but less competition to increase your chances of ranking high. Once you have these keywords at your disposal, use them in your content naturally and subtly
In the case of blog content, use the keywords in your headline, subheadings as well as throughout the content. As a bonus point, focus on on-page SEO optimization. Your SEO game needs to be strong as that is what drives targeted audience to your website.
If you find it hard to crack SEO, then it is best to seek professional help via local SEO companies such as an Austin seo agency.
- You are not working on getting backlinks
Backlinks are crucial for driving organic traffic your way. It is likely that your content is optimized for SEO and contains valuable information that can solve your audience’s problems. However, if your page does not rank high, your work won’t get any substantial eyeballs.
An average reader does not go past the first five results displayed on the search engine. This explains why you need to rank on the top to boost your organic traffic desperately. A helpful way to do this is by getting backlinks.
Getting backlinks from websites with a high domain authority indicates Google to give your site a boost. Consequently, you’ll notice an improvement in your ranking and organic traffic. There is no denying that there are multiple factors that determine search engine ranking but backlinks are one of many ways to up your positioning.
- You aren’t paying attention to your dwell time
Ahrefs defines dwell time as, “the amount of time that passes between the moment you click a search result and subsequently return back to the SERPs.” In other words, it is the time that a user spends on your website
For example, if you put up a blog post, readers come your way. If a reader spends hardly a second and returns to the search engine’s page, then Google gets the hint that the visitor did not find anything significant on your site.
Similarly, if a reader ‘dwells’ on your webpage for long, Google takes it positively and improves your ranking. Not only is dwell time good for your SEO and organic traffic but it also gives you the idea that your audience is interested in your work. As you build trust with them, you can boost your conversion rates as well.
Some simple ways to enhance your dwell time include providing in-depth, long-form content, ensuring that the font is readable, and adding visuals such as videos and pictures to hold the readers’ attention.
What’s more, check if your content is easy to scan by breaking it down to short paragraphs and dividing it with subheadings, bulleted and numbered lists, and so on. Lastly, keep your sentences short to make your content more readable.
- You aren’t optimizing your site for mobile
Studies confirm that the number of mobile users has officially surpassed the number of desktop users. This leaves a loud and clear message for you – optimize your site for mobile users. Considering a large number of people who use smartphones to access your site, you’ll be losing a sizeable chunk of your audience if your website is not mobile-optimized.
Your organic traffic and conversion are bound to take a hit if you fail in attracting and retaining this audience. Your chief aim should be to ensure that your website works as smoothly on a mobile device as it does on a desktop.
It should also allow site visitors to operate your website smoothly. For instance, if you have a business webpage that sells products, you need to ensure that your customers can place an order via the phones as well as they can from the desktop version of your web app. Additionally, make sure that your website loads quickly.
Bottom line
39% of the traffic comes from search. Of this, 35% is organic by nature, and 4% is paid. This stresses the need to make substantial efforts to attract, engage, and retain your audience. Start with producing quality content consistently.
It’s always good to generate readable content with a personalized touch. Site visitors are not robots. They are humans and can sense when a website owner is creating content just for the sake of it. Center this content around keywords and boost your rankings with the help of link building. Don’t forget to work on your dwell time and site’s mobile optimization.
