Traffic, or the number of visitors to your online store, is the lifeblood of your business. The more people visit your site, the higher your chance of making a sale.

In a world teeming with online stores, how do you differentiate yours and attract more traffic? The digital age offers endless opportunities for businesses of all sizes to thrive—if you know how to seize them.

Check out proven strategies to drive relevant traffic to your website and turn visitors into customers.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO—Search Engine Optimization—the unsung hero of the digital realm. It refers to the process of optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search engine results. When someone types a keyword related to your business, your website will appear at the top of the search results.

Search engine optimization is a must for online stores attempting to increase traffic. To rank higher in search results, focus on keyword research, on-page SEO, and quality content–more on that below.

By the way, if you use Ecwid by Lightspeed for your online store, there are many ways to improve your Ecwid store’s SEO, including customizing product page URLs, setting up a custom domain, and more.

Optimize Keywords

To drive traffic to your online store, you need to rank highly for terms related to your business. You can either handle SEO on your own or hire a skilled analyst to assist you.

There are tools that help you find out where your online store ranks on specific terms, for example, Moz, SemRush, and Ahrefs. Do thorough keyword research and determine which keywords are most relevant to your brand and products.

Once you have a list of keywords, incorporate them into your website content, including titles, descriptions, headers, and body text. Use meta tags and descriptions to help search engines understand what your site is about.

However, be careful not to overuse these keywords, which can lead to keyword stuffing and negatively impact your SEO.

In addition to on-page optimization, off-page optimization is also crucial for improving search engine rankings. This includes building backlinks from reputable websites and using social media platforms to increase visibility and drive traffic to your website.

Remember that SEO is an ongoing process and requires constant monitoring and adjustments.

Enure Your Online Store Is Mobile-Friendly

A website’s mobile friendliness is one of the top-ranking factors, as more and more people are using their phones to browse the internet.

Make sure your online store is optimized for mobile devices. Online stores that only work on desktops will not have as much traffic as mobile-friendly ones.

Making your online store mobile-friendly is easy when you pick the right ecommerce platform. For example, if you use Ecwid by Lightspeed, your online store is automatically mobile-friendly, so you don’t have to lift a finger.

Use Local SEO

If your business has a physical location, using local SEO can significantly improve your search engine rankings. This includes optimizing for local keywords, creating a Google My Business listing, and getting reviews from customers in your area.

Establish a Referral System

Customer referrals are key to increasing traffic for your site. This is a relatively simple way to use your current customers to create traffic. Encourage your customers to refer their friends and family to your website by offering incentives such as discounts, freebies, or exclusive content.

You can also create a referral system that rewards both the referrer and the person being referred. This not only encourages current customers to spread the word about your brand but also entices new visitors to check out your website.

You could also set up rewards for customers with a certain number of referrals.

Make sure to track referrals using unique codes or links so you can accurately attribute traffic and conversions.

Promote your referral program to ensure all customers are aware of it, for example, by adding a banner on your website or mentioning it in order confirmation emails.

If you run an Ecwid store, you can set up a referral program using the Gratisfaction app.

Social Media Marketing

Social media platforms offer opportunities to engage with your target audience, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your online store.

To drive shoppers to your online store, your content should be high-quality, valuable, and aligned with your brand.

Let’s take a look at some key strategies that work well for driving traffic:

• Use a link-in-bio tool: Use tools like Linkup to make it easier for users to access your website or product pages from your social media bio.
• Include a call-to-action in your posts: Encourage followers to click the link in your bio or swipe up on Instagram stories to visit your product pages.
• Make your content shoppable: If you sell physical products, consider setting up an Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok Shop. This allows users to purchase directly from your posts without leaving the app.

Remember, the key to driving traffic through social media is consistency. Regularly posting quality content and engaging with your audience will help build a loyal following and ultimately lead to increased website traffic. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different strategies and see what works best for your brand.

Set Up Notifications for Return Visitors

Push notifications are a popular way to get people to return to your online store.

Notifications reminding customers of products, deals, discounts, and more pop up on mobile and desktop devices. Customers can click on these notifications to go directly to your website.

This strategy helps keep your brand at the forefront of your customers’ minds and makes them want to return for more.

Notifications for return visitors can be tailored to their browsing and purchasing history, providing personalized recommendations or discounts based on their interests. This way, you are more likely to entice them back to your store and increase sales.

Another tip is to limit the number of push notifications sent in a certain period. Bombarding customers with too many notifications can lead to annoyance and potential opt-outs. Instead, carefully select the most essential updates or promotions to send out through push notifications.

Email Marketing

Email marketing allows you to engage directly with an audience already interested in your content, products, or services, making them more likely to take action.

However, this approach works best for businesses that already have some visitors to their websites. To get people to sign up for your email list via popups or forms, they first need to visit your site.

To get started with email marketing:

• Create an email list: Use a lead magnet, such as an e-book, a discount code, a free course, or an exclusive resource, to encourage visitors to sign up for your emails.
• Segment your list: Tailor your messaging to different segments based on demographics, past behavior, or interests. This helps increase the relevancy of your emails, boosting engagement and traffic.

If you’re using Ecwid for your online store, you’re in luck! It comes with built-in email marketing tools, such as automated emails, and a handy integration with Mailchimp.

Influencer Partnerships

Influencer marketing allows you to reach new audiences and build trust with potential customers.

Smaller influencers with highly engaged niche audiences can pack a bigger punch than their larger counterparts. Their followers are loyal, connected, and more likely to act—proving that sometimes, less is more.

Select influencers who align with your brand values, target audience, and content style. Consider factors like:

• Niche relevance: Choose influencers who operate in your industry or niche
• Audience demographics: Look at age, location, interests, and purchasing habits
• Engagement rate: High engagement (likes, comments, shares) is more valuable than a large following
• Content style: Ensure their style resonates with your brand (e.g., informative, entertaining, or educational).

Consider offering influencers an affiliate partnership where they earn a commission for each sale or action driven by their audience. If you own an Ecwid store, there are several ways to set up an affiliate program for your business.

Measure the effectiveness of the influencer campaign through unique, trackable links or promo codes that allow you to monitor website traffic coming from their content, conversion rates, and critical engagement metrics like clicks and shares.

Blogging

A well-crafted blog not only informs and engages readers but also enhances your website’s visibility in search engines, driving organic traffic.

Blogging is considered a cornerstone of inbound marketing, offering multiple benefits that directly impact your website’s traffic:

• Each blog post allows you to target different keywords
• A blog is a great way to connect with your audience and increase engagement.

As part of your blog strategy to increase traffic to your store:

• Offer fresh content: Google loves fresh content. Regularly updated blogs indicate that your website is active, which can improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.
• Focus on SEO: Use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner to find keywords related to your niche. Incorporate these keywords naturally into your post.

Focus on crafting completing headlines along with quality meta descriptions, and make use of linking to other relevant pages on your site (internal linking) and authoritative external sources to help you improve your SEO ranking and help readers discover more content on your site.

Don’t forget to post about your new blog on all your social media channels, using relevant hashtags to increase its reach.

Reach out to influencers or other bloggers in your industry. You can collaborate on guest posts, mention each other’s work, and get backlinks, which can help with SEO.

Digital Ads

You’ve likely seen them online: ads promoting everything from online courses to sunglasses and beyond. These are digital or banner ads, and their primary goal is to drive traffic to a website or a campaign-specific landing page.

Digital ads can drive traffic to a website quickly by targeting specific audiences through platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok. These ads can be tailored to reach users based on their interests, demographics, search behaviors, and online activity.

You can do this yourself or work with a more experienced professional to help you determine the best budget, channels, and ad duration for your needs.

By the way, Ecwid stores have built-in tools to help you run ads on Google, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest, and Snapchat.

Create Targeted Landing Pages for Ads

Getting visitors to your website with ads is one thing, but turning those visitors into customers is the real goal. That’s where targeted pages can help.

Targeted marketing pages, often called landing pages or destination pages, are designed to focus on a specific audience segment or marketing campaign.

When you direct ad viewers to a specific page, you can tailor the content to their interests and needs, increasing the likelihood of them purchasing or taking an action.

For example:

• When someone clicks on an ad for “summer running shoes,” they’re taken straight to a page featuring precisely what they’re looking for—summer running shoes. No distractions, no scrolling through unrelated products.
• A visitor interested in “digital marketing services” will land on a page focused on that, with tailored copy, testimonials, and case studies.

Podcasts Tailored to Your Niche

A podcast can be an effective tool for driving traffic to your website. It engages listeners meaningfully and leverages audio content’s unique strengths.

If your podcast provides valuable insights, tips, or expert knowledge relevant to your products or services, listeners will naturally seek out your website or store to learn more or make purchases.

Podcasts are also shareable across social media platforms, helping to increase brand visibility. Promoting these episodes via social media and linking to your website drives direct traffic.

Plus, when you feature guests on your podcast, they often share the episode with their followers, expanding your reach and bringing new visitors to your site.

Alternatively, you can guest on other podcasts, exposing your brand to a new audience. This will establish you as an industry leader and attract potential customers interested in your expertise.

Promote Your Content on Quuu

Quuu Promote is a content promotion platform that helps increase engagement and reach. It is designed to help businesses, creators, and brands leverage social sharing.

The platform focuses on creating a network of trusted content promoters who share and amplify content across their social media channels.

The platform helps ensure that the content reaches the right audience by sharing it with a network of users interested in similar topics.

The more engagement your content receives, the more likely it is to appear in social feeds and attract organic traffic.

Promote Your Business and Grow Your Traffic

Increasing store traffic is an ongoing journey that requires creativity, strategy, and steady effort. Have fun with it—think of yourself as a detective! Stay on top of things, track your progress, and keep fine-tuning your approach to ensure your store stays the go-to spot for both new visitors and loyal customers.

 

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