How to Get Targeted Traffic to Your Site

If you really want to know how to get targeted traffic to your website on an ongoing basis with SEO (search engine optimization), read on. When done correctly, SEO can bring in organic traffic so that you don’t have to pay for advertising every month.

You can easily drive more targeted traffic to your website with quality, relevant content. The luxury of SEO is that content that has been optimized correctly continues to work for you well after you have published it… and, for a long time afterwards.

It has been said that SEO offers the best ROI (return on investment) out of all other digital marketing techniques.

There really is no need for anyone to feel intimidated by SEO anymore. You can learn to generate SEO for your website by following the tips I will be sharing with you right here.

Writing four posts a month on a well established website that is already ranking for keywords and has several backlinks too will definitely work faster for you than say, a brand new website with no backlinks and where you are still struggling to figure out how to rank.

Understand that you do not need to create a massive amount of content on your website… but rather quality, relevant, long form content that gets shared often will work wonders.

Then there are quality backlinks to give serious consideration to.

So, the sooner you start focusing on backlinks and adding quality content that is related to your niche, the sooner you will stand out from your competition.

So that you remain competitive online and that you are able to maintain your website being found in search results at all… which is how a lot of people find local businesses to deal with nowadays… you need to work all of these techniques, or suffer being left behind.

In order to find keywords to rank for, there are 5 questions you need to ask yourself when researching them.

  1. ) Does the keyword make sense for your business?

  2. ) Can you actually rank for this keyword? You will need to search Google incognito when researching for keywords. If you don’t use an incognito window, Google will serve you links it feels most relevant to you and that is not what you want. What content ranks number one for the keyword and can you beat that content in order to outrank that site for your chosen keyword(s)?



    When using Firefox, go to the same spot on the browser and locate “New Private Window” for the same privacy.

  3. ) Will this keyword convert for you? It will do you no good to rank for a keyword if you are not selling to the keyword.

  4. ) Is this keyword something that you can write 2,000 words about? The longer form you can go with your content the better because it has a better chance of being shared more, and it makes sense because you will be able to incorporate more keywords, and more contextual keywords. This makes it easier to not only rank for more keywords but also rank higher as well … when you go long and deep with your chosen topic that is.

  5. ) Does the keyword drive enough volume; are enough people searching for the keyword? Because if only 10 people are looking for the keyword you are targeting, then you will not be getting much “juice” for the “squeeze” when it comes to writing a lot of content. If that were the case, you would be spending a lot of hours writing lots of content for only 10 people who are searching for it. Thus you would not be doing yourself any favours.

How to Check Keyword Competition – PPC Value of Keyword Traffic Explained

For brand new websites, there are a few factors you should be focusing on first and foremost: unique, relevant content, content length, keywords and quality backlinks to different pages on your website (not all only to your website home or loading page).

In terms of content, you need to seriously consider using at least 2,000 words… or more. The more the content your posts contain, the more information you are able to provide, and the more keywords your site can then rank for, especially when using subtitles.

Never add fluff to your content when trying to gain 2,000 words or more!

attribution to OkDork.com with this graphic
Source: web.archive.org

It has been tested and proven by okdork.com that overall, long content averages more social media shares! So, don’t believe me… take a look at their charted test results to the right for yourself.

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How Do You Know What to Write to Drive Traffic to Your Site

Try searching Google for your niche or business. See what people are talking about and/or asking questions about. Then be sure you can offer great content by answering those questions, for a start.

How Do You Find Keywords to Gain Targeted Traffic

Finding great keywords really is an art that you can master over time. You need to find keywords that have great search volume as well as intent.

The volume a keyword displays is simply the number of people searching using that keyword over a specific period of time. Intent is more subtle… meaning what is someone really looking for when they are searching for something?

How to Use Google Keyword Planner

Ask yourself:

  1. ) What does a specific keyword mean?
  2. ) What information is it asking for?
  3. ) What is the best outcome from that keyword?
  4. ) Is someone looking for your information?
  5. ) Are they looking to buy something?
  6. ) Do they just want a quick answer?

There are 3 types of search queries; navigational, informational, and transactional. Navigational queries are intent on finding a specific page. Example: “youtube” or “amazon”.

screen print of Youtube.com showing a navigational query

Informational queries are intent on finding information on a subject. Example might be “the population of Toronto, Ontario” or “what is the weather forecast for this weekend”. While, transactional queries are intent on completing a purchase, be it for a product or service. An example might be “website designer, Oshawa”.

If you are creating your website for a business, then the first two types of queries, you do NOT want your site to rank for… but the third one you most certainly DO want to rank for. Transactional queries are the best ROI (return on investment) you can target your content to respond to. This is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic that actually converts to your website… this is how to get targeted traffic!

The keywords you can avoid are those that are not specific enough or too highly competitive. If you Google search incognito for a specific keyword and the sites you see on the search results page 1 are all highly optimized and branded (like Walmart, Amazon, etc.), then as a brand new website, simply avoid that keyword.

Or… is the volume too low, meaning, is anyone even searching for the keyword? If there are people searching for that keyword then… can YOU write a compelling post better than any of the sites now ranking for that keyword?

Good keywords to use are those that are specific and relevant to your industry and that they are NOT hyper-competitive. Your keywords also need to hint at a desire to convert (be transactional in nature), as these will make you more money because they will deliver the most ROI.

Here is an easy “cheat”… any keyword with a high cost per click (CPC), it shows that multiple businesses are bidding on that keyword and thus… but… not always… is a really good indication that this particular keyword is likely to convert.

The high CPC value is simply displaying a high demand for advertising using that keyword. Using such a keyword you could gain organic traffic, literally outsmarting your competition… even if they have a bigger ad budget than you do.

SEO literally levels the playing field for all businesses big and small alike! Many large companies with an online presence do NOT spend any money or time on SEO, making it even easier for small businesses to compete, once you decide to put SEO to work for your business online.

Okay, now that you know you have to write long content using keywords properly in order to rank, what other SEO methods can make a difference for your website?

Easy!

Format your content correctly. Be sure to use H2 header tags with your targeted keywords, use lists, and be sure to use Metadata properly.

The Effect of Metadata on Search Optimization (SEO)

Use shorter paragraphs too! Shorter paragraphs makes it soooo much easier for your readers to follow along with your content.

So… this is all basic stuff, right?

Now you want to know what will REALLY make your content stand out from your competition.

Google Answer Box – Now Known as Featured Snippet

The more search results your site can dominate… the better… and remember… the Google Answer Box (GAB) is ALWAYS at the top of the search results page one! You can strategically use your H2 tags to rank for the GAB. The following screen print of a GAB could have been your roofing business.

a screen print of a Featured Snippet in a Google search result

NOTE: avoid trying to answer questions that have one word answers. Your goal in appearing in a GAB, is to get someone to take action… to contact you or buy from you. If your site visitors gain their answer straight away, they most likely will go no further.

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Also, avoid focusing on keywords that already have simple GAB answers!

If you come off as an expert, using the GAB your website will see an increase in organic traffic. Open-ended or variable questions are the best type to target. Example: Say I want to know how much does social media marketing cost, so I Google search that… and receive the following…

screen print of a Google Featured Snippet for cost of social media marketing

I can see the overall cost of social media marketing in this GAB, but what if I want to know what it might cost me for, let us say, Facebook for a month. Then, I would obviously click through to this website to find out what the cost might be if my budget was to be more focused on Facebook. This is a great example of an open-ended answer.

Leaving a knowledge gap like this example offers you, will serve to encourage searchers to click through to your website to find out more about their specific needs.

The latest crazy… or rather… replacement for “keyword density” is now known as “latent semantic indexing” or LSI. A good example of LSI keywords is those that appear at the very bottom of Google’s search results page as “searches related to ____”. See screen print below.

screen print showing LSI keywords

This type of list can offer you ideas as to what you might want to seriously consider including in any of your given posts in order to gain a better ranking for your content.

To discover your website content’s LSI you would simply calculate the percentage of times you use a keyword. Then you would take the number of times that keyword appears on your web page and divide it by the total word count of your web page. The higher the percentage, the better your chances are for ranking well in Google for that particular keyword.

Now, you do NOT want to be Google slapped for stuffing your content with keywords, so do understand this… Google’s script also takes into account similar or related keywords (synonyms) as being the same. Example: “web copywriting” and “content writing”. So, if your keyword is copywriting you do not want to continually mention copywriting. Instead, you can use content writing as a variation. In so doing, you are NOT keyword stuffing your content.

You will also find your readers will not tire so easily from reading the same phrases over and over again too… making this another good reason to consider using variations of your chosen keyword.

Therefore, when you are looking to target a keyword in your content, you do not want to target just one keyword, you want to target keyword clusters. So, you need to figure out what related searches that your post might also help by providing value to. Then simply incorporate those keywords into your content… and, be sure to use H2 titles.

Remember: Google scripts are smart! Their scripts understand what a synonym is and understands when you use variations of your keywords in order to provide clarity for your readers.

What Else Can You Do?

Position yourself as an expert in your field. You do NOT want to look like a simple blogger, so be sure to show off your knowledge.

You are providing knowledge to your customers, so you should have an in depth knowledge of your industry… knowledge that might bore your family members around the Christmas dinner table, but there are people out there who want that information and if you can give it to them through your blog content you could rank well for your chosen keywords.

Again, demonstrate value to your potential customers early on.

This will help you with the conversion process a lot, simply because if a potential customer has read your blog and they are fully sold on the fact that you know what you are talking about… and maybe you have even been in business for awhile and that you have established yourself as an expert in your chosen industry… when they pick up the phone to call you (or email you) they are going to be much more likely to convert into a paying customer then if they just found you in the phone book or in a Google search result.

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Keep in mind too that you are trying to sell something, so be sure to add a strong Call To Action (CTA) on all of your pages… not just at the very bottom. Your posts need to be created to convert, even if you are only writing about something creatively related to your business.

Offer a downloadable freebie that is related to your business… one where your visitor has to offer up their verified email address in order to obtain this “must have” digital download. Always offer value when you are signing people up for email marketing. NEVER waste their time.

The best way to signal to Google (or any other search engine!) that your site’s content is great and should be climbing in rank is that your site has loads of quality backlinks. So, how do you get those backlinks?

There are a variety of ways to create backlinks to your content.

This is where social media accounts (Facebook fan page, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) can come in as great initial sources for backlinks, simply because you can add your website URL in your profile page for each of these accounts. And, don’t forget to add your website to the online directories or lists of businesses like yours.

Here is another great way to get backlinks.

Perhaps you have mentioned non-competing, complimentary businesses in your blog post, then whenever you post the content on Twitter, you can say something like “featuring [business name here]” and then when they see those tweets, they will more than likely re-tweet them.

This is a great way of “baking in” social media engagement into your content whenever you mention other experts or companies. You need to let them know when you content mentioning them goes live so they can help you promote your content.

Another idea is, say you have just written and published a post on several great new AddOns for Firefox entrepreneurs. Then you receive an email from someone saying that you did not include theirs and that they think their AddOn would be a great fit.

They ask you if you would consider updating your post to include theirs, and then they will be sure to share your post on social media if you do so. You check out their AddOn and it does warrant being included on your list… so you add it. Then be sure to let that person know that you have now added theirs on to your list so they can tweet your post. What a great way for your website to gain yet another backlink.

Don’t be shy to reach out to related websites. You can even find places that your knowledge fits in to establish yourself as an expert in your field of expertise. Your posts shared on those sites can be your sources.

Another method of gaining quality relevant backlinks would be to hire a brand ambassador. In many cases this is absolutely worth it but they do NOT come cheap. You would be spending at the very least, $1,000 a month.

When seeking a brand ambassador you should be looking for one who already has their own social media profiles and has a decent following so that when they share content that they are quoted in or brand content it is heading out to a wider audience.

Know that brand ambassadors can be a really useful option for generating backlinks and media coverage in general.

Also, don’t forget about social shares. Social shares are considered as big signals for SEO.

So, be sure to leverage your SEO following by sharing your content. And, don’t simply share an article after you write it. Whenever necessary, you can alter your content and share it again. Your content should be relevant well into the future, so share it within reason… say, about once a month.

If you have found this post helpful, please be sure to share it with your friends. And all comments are greatly appreciated!

Trish

Website Designer for Parr's Publishing. As a full certified Internet Specialist, I help business owners and organizations increase their profits by providing them with a fully managed, custom designed website as well as basic Search Engine Optimization.

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