I know how it is — your content is awesome, it’s the best thing ever …
… But no one is reading it.
We all want more traffic — but we don’t all want to pay a small fortune for it.
Moreover, there’s every chance that we’ve already exhausted all the “tried and trusted” methods and just not got the results we wanted.
Then there are our competitors who are doing what we’re already doing — and beating us.
So what do we do next?
The good news is that there are some unusual ways you can bring more traffic to your website for free that your competitors don’t know about. The even better news is that I’m going to give you the lowdown on what these are right here in this article. Let’s make a start.
… But no one is reading it.
We all want more traffic — but we don’t all want to pay a small fortune for it.
Moreover, there’s every chance that we’ve already exhausted all the “tried and trusted” methods and just not got the results we wanted.
Then there are our competitors who are doing what we’re already doing — and beating us.
So what do we do next?
The good news is that there are some unusual ways you can bring more traffic to your website for free that your competitors don’t know about. The even better news is that I’m going to give you the lowdown on what these are right here in this article. Let’s make a start.
#1 Put together a resource page
I’ve found that one of the best ways to drive more traffic to your site is to flatter influencers in your niche. If you flatter people and make them look good, they will link out to you. They have no reason not to!
Here’s what I mean:
Create a resources page on your website. This can include a thank you section to all the brands who have inspired you over the years, as well as links to various websites that your customers will find helpful.
“But wait a minute — why would I want to send traffic elsewhere?”
Two reasons:
1) By including a handy list of resources for further reading for your audience, you’re giving your audience a chance to learn even more. In other words, you’re providing lots of value and making yourself look good.
2) When you link to other websites that have inspired you, you should then let them know that you’ve done this. They’ll be so flattered, surprised, and grateful that they will link out to you on their own website — perhaps in the form of a testimonial. It’s simple stuff; you’re making them look good, so why wouldn’t they link out to you?
The best way to let a website know that you’ve included them in your resources page is to send them an email, a DM, or even a tweet if they’re active on Twitter. Take the time to personalize each message and write something like, “Hey! I figured that my own audience would find your content valuable, so I included you in my ‘Resources’ page. Hope you don’t mind!”
Here’s what I mean:
Create a resources page on your website. This can include a thank you section to all the brands who have inspired you over the years, as well as links to various websites that your customers will find helpful.
“But wait a minute — why would I want to send traffic elsewhere?”
Two reasons:
1) By including a handy list of resources for further reading for your audience, you’re giving your audience a chance to learn even more. In other words, you’re providing lots of value and making yourself look good.
2) When you link to other websites that have inspired you, you should then let them know that you’ve done this. They’ll be so flattered, surprised, and grateful that they will link out to you on their own website — perhaps in the form of a testimonial. It’s simple stuff; you’re making them look good, so why wouldn’t they link out to you?
The best way to let a website know that you’ve included them in your resources page is to send them an email, a DM, or even a tweet if they’re active on Twitter. Take the time to personalize each message and write something like, “Hey! I figured that my own audience would find your content valuable, so I included you in my ‘Resources’ page. Hope you don’t mind!”
#2 Exploit Mix
According to Google, Mix (previously StumbleUpon) is a “discovery and advertisement engine that pushes recommends of web content to its users.”
Basically, Mix makes your content more visible to more people. All you have to do is sign up and submit your awesome articles.
The best thing about the site is that, while it helps articles to go viral and thus attract more traffic, the articles there don’t tend to spike. Instead, they stick around for years.
Mix was StumbleUpon until recently and has been around for a long time — since 2001. It isn’t as popular as it once was, but it’s still a thing, and it can still help you to get a lot more traffic for free.
To get the best out of it, you need to be active and you need to share frequent, valuable content. Develop your profile too, and more than anything — have patience. It can take a while for content on Mix to catch fire and gain traction, but if you keep on pumping out the content, there’s no reason why you can’t grab traffic that your competitors aren’t.
Basically, Mix makes your content more visible to more people. All you have to do is sign up and submit your awesome articles.
The best thing about the site is that, while it helps articles to go viral and thus attract more traffic, the articles there don’t tend to spike. Instead, they stick around for years.
Mix was StumbleUpon until recently and has been around for a long time — since 2001. It isn’t as popular as it once was, but it’s still a thing, and it can still help you to get a lot more traffic for free.
To get the best out of it, you need to be active and you need to share frequent, valuable content. Develop your profile too, and more than anything — have patience. It can take a while for content on Mix to catch fire and gain traction, but if you keep on pumping out the content, there’s no reason why you can’t grab traffic that your competitors aren’t.
#3 Post on Quora
Quora is a cool Q&A platform that lets people post questions and experts post answers. I really like it, and I use it a lot to learn and educate.
It’s really simple, right? Even Ashton Kutcher uses it!
The question you might have is this:
“I don’t get why people spend so much time answering questions on Quora. It’s not like they’re getting paid for it!”
They’re probably doing it to drive more traffic to their website. But how does this work?
What you need to remember is that, if you want people to come visit you and buy from you online, they need to trust you. And for them to trust you, they need to see you as an expert in your particular field.
Quora is an excellent chance for you to do that. Sign up, answer questions relevant to your niche with informed, valuable answers, and include a link to your site. Pretty soon, you could start building a whole community around your name.
Moreover, Quora helps you build long-term traffic because once you’ve answered a question it doesn’t get buried like it would on Twitter. Instead, it pops up each time someone searches that question again.
Then there’s the fact that Quora sends out regular emails to subscribers packed with lots of questions and answers, as well as the fact that Quora is now an authoritative site that ranks highly.
So get yourself on Quora. Establish yourself as an expert by providing valuable answers to questions and link out to your website. If people like your content, they will come and visit you. Here's a case study on how you can turn Quora into your #1 lead source. Enjoy!
It’s really simple, right? Even Ashton Kutcher uses it!
The question you might have is this:
“I don’t get why people spend so much time answering questions on Quora. It’s not like they’re getting paid for it!”
They’re probably doing it to drive more traffic to their website. But how does this work?
What you need to remember is that, if you want people to come visit you and buy from you online, they need to trust you. And for them to trust you, they need to see you as an expert in your particular field.
Quora is an excellent chance for you to do that. Sign up, answer questions relevant to your niche with informed, valuable answers, and include a link to your site. Pretty soon, you could start building a whole community around your name.
Moreover, Quora helps you build long-term traffic because once you’ve answered a question it doesn’t get buried like it would on Twitter. Instead, it pops up each time someone searches that question again.
Then there’s the fact that Quora sends out regular emails to subscribers packed with lots of questions and answers, as well as the fact that Quora is now an authoritative site that ranks highly.
So get yourself on Quora. Establish yourself as an expert by providing valuable answers to questions and link out to your website. If people like your content, they will come and visit you. Here's a case study on how you can turn Quora into your #1 lead source. Enjoy!
#4 Invite experts to contribute on a roundup post
This hack is similar to #1 but it’s a bit of a new one. The steps are simple:
1) Come up with an idea for a roundup post
2) Get in touch with a pile of influencers in your niche who you think would have something cool and relevant to contribute to your post
3) Ask them to each write a short paragraph and to send you a pic along with their bio
4) Compile the post
5) Share it everywhere, tag the contributors, and email the article to each contributor
6) Most — probably 90% — of the contributors will then share it with their audiences. All of a sudden, you’re driving more traffic to your site.
“But will people really do this for free?”
More than likely they will because they’re getting something in return — increased exposure and the chance to be included in a bumper article with fellow experts that further cements their own position as an expert. There’s always a major buzz around this kind of article and your contributors will thrive on it.
1) Come up with an idea for a roundup post
2) Get in touch with a pile of influencers in your niche who you think would have something cool and relevant to contribute to your post
3) Ask them to each write a short paragraph and to send you a pic along with their bio
4) Compile the post
5) Share it everywhere, tag the contributors, and email the article to each contributor
6) Most — probably 90% — of the contributors will then share it with their audiences. All of a sudden, you’re driving more traffic to your site.
“But will people really do this for free?”
More than likely they will because they’re getting something in return — increased exposure and the chance to be included in a bumper article with fellow experts that further cements their own position as an expert. There’s always a major buzz around this kind of article and your contributors will thrive on it.
#5 Guest blog
Guest blogging is a proven strategy to increase your website traffic. The thing with guest blogging is that it’s nothing new… but still so many people are doing it wrong. They include a link to their website in the “About the Blogger” section at the bottom of the page, which is fine in theory.
The problem is that it’s at the bottom of the page. Are folk really going to make it all the way down there and check you out? Some will — most won’t.
Instead, you need to start including links to your website throughout the article itself. These links can drive invaluable traffic while keeping bounce rate down. This is key because if you include an appropriate link to your site in the right place, your bounce rate will be low because whoever clicks the link is already clearly interested.
Most sites that you guest blog on will let you include at least one link to your own website, but there’s every chance they’ll let you include two. Just use them wisely and forget about trying to drive traffic via the “About the Blogger” section. If you're looking for link building opportunities and blogs that accept guest contributors, I invite you to check this list of guest posting sites to improve your digital marketing campaigns. Enjoy!
The problem is that it’s at the bottom of the page. Are folk really going to make it all the way down there and check you out? Some will — most won’t.
Instead, you need to start including links to your website throughout the article itself. These links can drive invaluable traffic while keeping bounce rate down. This is key because if you include an appropriate link to your site in the right place, your bounce rate will be low because whoever clicks the link is already clearly interested.
Most sites that you guest blog on will let you include at least one link to your own website, but there’s every chance they’ll let you include two. Just use them wisely and forget about trying to drive traffic via the “About the Blogger” section. If you're looking for link building opportunities and blogs that accept guest contributors, I invite you to check this list of guest posting sites to improve your digital marketing campaigns. Enjoy!
#6 Revise old posts
Got some old performing posts that you know could provide lots of value but that aren’t getting massive traffic? Don’t write them off and waste time on brand new articles. Go back to your old posts and update them.
Firstly, if you revize an old post, Google will index it again. This can give your post a massive shot in the arm and it might wake up from its slumber and climb the SERPs.
Secondly, if you revise an old post by improving its SEO and content (for example, by bringing it up to date), Google will revise its ranking and it might rocket it up the SERPs.
Google loves fresh content, but it also likes it when you revise old content to provide more value.
Firstly, if you revize an old post, Google will index it again. This can give your post a massive shot in the arm and it might wake up from its slumber and climb the SERPs.
Secondly, if you revise an old post by improving its SEO and content (for example, by bringing it up to date), Google will revise its ranking and it might rocket it up the SERPs.
Google loves fresh content, but it also likes it when you revise old content to provide more value.
#7 Perform content transformation
Lastly, content transformation is one of the easiest but most powerful hacks you can execute for more free website traffic.
All it means is that you take a blog post that’s performing well and recycle the content in a different format, such as video.
It’s all about squeezing as much as you can out of a post and reaching new audiences via different platforms. Remember, not everyone wants to read a 1,500-word blog post. Some people prefer video. Others, meanwhile, would love to digest your posts via a podcast.
All it means is that you take a blog post that’s performing well and recycle the content in a different format, such as video.
It’s all about squeezing as much as you can out of a post and reaching new audiences via different platforms. Remember, not everyone wants to read a 1,500-word blog post. Some people prefer video. Others, meanwhile, would love to digest your posts via a podcast.
So, how to use these 7 unusual ways to bring traffic to your website for free?
These are 7 unusual ways to bring traffic to your website for free. As long as you take the time to execute, you can bag yourself more traffic and — provided your website is in order — land more sales. By applying our traffic generation traffic tactics, you won't be dependent on advertising. Not only the strategies I showed you work but thanks to them you won't only drive traffic, you will also build your brand's authority and generate leads.If you want to get people's attention with your content, I also recommend you to check these unusual ways to share your content online. It's a great complement to the article you just read.
Growth Hackers is a digital marketing and growth hacking agency. We help businesses drive traffic (With the tactics mentioned above and many more) to their websites and apps, generate leads, improve conversions and increase revenue. If you're looking to grow your business, make sales and get a positive ROI, it's time to contact Growth Hackers so we can start showing you our cutting-edge inbound marketing and growth hacking methodologies.
Aljaz Fajmut
I am a digital marketer, internet entrepreneur, and the founder of RankTrackr and Nightwatch - search visibility tools of the next generation. Check out Nightwatch blog and follow me on Twitter: @aljazfajmut
5 Comments
Thanks for the great tips. I always love to discover more tips on how to increase traffic, especially when they are free. Will definitely try to implement those ones.
Guest blogging is a fab way to drive traffic Aljaz. All the methods discussed rock bro. Well done.
Great Insights! Thank you for all these tips. Expert roundup is one of the best techniques and also my favorite one.
Great tips. Another way to take advantage of a guest blogging opportunity is to mention a free resource in your post. For example, “Get the template for this step, by clicking here.” Once the person visits your site you can collect their email address in exchange for the resource.
Guest blogging is the best way to bring more quality traffic. All the methods are valuable as well. Well done.
Thank you !