Building an attractive website is one thing, but promoting it in a way that drives maximum traffic is a completely different task. There is no doubt that good content, SEO and advertising do generate great traffic, but these techniques are being used by every website owner. So, for a moment, let’s go beyond and think of different methods! Here are 10 unusual, yet effective, ways of driving traffic to your website.
1. Link to other Websites
One thing that the majority of website owners forget to do is linking to other blog posts in their articles.
If outbound links are relevant, those bloggers will immediately notice you and your website (usually, they get instant notification, or otherwise they might notice a new traffic “source” in Google Analytics).
And the least they can do is tweeting about you, your business or the post that has linked out to them. They might even link back to you and generate good traffic to your website!
This is a proven strategy to boost traffic to your site: don’t wait for backlinks, start the process yourself by linking to others!
2. Place Stickers
Stickers are extremely cheap and can be used to attract large audiences.
All you need to do is to get cool stickers with your website address printed on them, and then… place them anywhere when nobody’s watching (please, respect the environment)!
You can do that “safely” on your car, on notice boards, on water bottles, your laptop, your diary and so on (here are 50+ ideas for places to put stickers).
No matter how odd or common a place is – just do like ReddIt (35 million unique visitors and over 2.8 billion pageviews per month in 2012) and get started with a $500 advertising budget spent on stickers (read this blog: How Reddit Built Its Empire On 500 Bucks, Stickers, And Giving People What They Want!).
3. Interview Authorities
Publishing interviews on your website can help you generate extra traffic by making the most out of the interviewee’s list of contacts.
Given for granted that the interview topic is relevant to both ends, your interviewee will be more then happy to link to the interview and share it with her followers.
Whether it’s a written, audio or video interview, just do it. I successfully interviewed a copywriter, a Google AdWords specialist, a photographer and an online business owner to help my audience get better insight about ecommerce – and at the same time leverage the interviewees’ audiences to get to know me.
Planning and organising interviews is not rocket science, you just need to do it!
4. Sign Banknotes…
It might not sound wise and legal, but it really works.
But don’t exaggerate, or you might get in trouble!
Stamp your domain name or sign it on every banknote you have in your wallet.
The more hands the bill touches, the more chances you can generate website traffic!
5. …and Sign your Emails
Many professionals forget the basics.
Including the link to your website in your email signature can help you get a lot of website traffic. And don’t forget to use a CTA (Call To Action) to explain shortly why they should check your website out.
For example, I recommend something like: “Get Free Website Tips @ http://EcommerceAndBeyond.com”
Whether it is a formal email or a casual one, just insert the website link in the signature so that every receiver sees the link to your website.
6. Open a new Forum Thread
Go to any of the forums that you use regularly and start a new thread, mentioning your latest blog post.
If the title is catchy, it will definitely grab attention and will help you generate relevant traffic to your website. All you need to do is to make the thread interesting enough for viewers so that they are tempted to visit your website!
7. Go to a Sport Event…
One way of advertising your website and gaining attention is by making a large poster or banner with your website link… and taking it to a live sport event 🙂
You will not only stand out in the crowd but you might also be recognized on the television…
You seriously might end up advertising your website for free to a huge audience!
8. Join a Blog Community
There are several blog communities online where bloggers meet and discuss various topics. Just Google something appropriate to your industry and you will find out several ways you can make your voice heard!
If you become an active participant and share your website, a large number of bloggers will end up visiting your website and multiplicate website hits.
If you give, help and collaborate – chances are your website is going to gain a lot of interest!
9. Wear your Logo
Another simple way of generating traffic to your website is by getting T-shirts printed with your logo and/or website address.
You can then wear your logoed T-shirt at every networking event you go to, and also give T-shirts to friends, family and colleagues!
Wherever they go, whether it is a cinema, restaurant, sports complex or even for a walk, they will be advertising your website.
Success guaranteed!
10. Sell your website…
I could not finish this blog without mentioning… eBay.
Yes, go on, and sell your website on eBay, for a ridiculous amount of money!
Upload a listing with a reserve price of €150.000 (should you end up finding a buyer, getting a new website will probably cost you less than that!) and get the auction started 🙂
And make sure you find a great, catchy excuse to sell it, such as “my website is haunted” (ain’t no joke! People managed to sell ghosts in a jar…) so that you can grab attention and make eBayers visit your website!