Want more visitors to your website?

Would you be interested in getting more visitors to your Web site? There are many different ways to get additional visitors. In this article I want to discuss what opportunities the Internet offers to attract new visitors.

Did you know that a study by the University of Twente revealed that the Netherlands is ahead of the curve when it comes to Internet use. More than 96% of Dutch households have been connected to the Internet since 2012. That's over 7.2 million households converted. All these households are searching the Internet for products or services which could therefore be potential customers.

Reason enough to read the handy tips below.

Advertising on Facebook and/or Google Adwords

Many businesses have now figured out that they can advertise in a targeted way to reach their perfect customer. Having a good Facebook or Google Adwords campaign set up will ensure that you get potential customers directly to your website.

Suppose you live in Amsterdam and you drop your smartphone in the middle of the city. Bummer ... screen glass cracked. Now what? You search on your broken phone in google on "iPhone repair". You see an ad from one of the repair stores in Amsterdam and click on it.

Immediately you land on the page where you see how much it costs. You are convinced and click on the make an appointment button and happen to see that there is a slot available in an hour.

This is a simple example of one of the ways to advertise with Google Adwords.

Facebook ads work a little differently. If you yourself are active on Facebook, you probably see ads on the right that appeal to you quite a bit because you happen to be looking for that product or service.

Suppose you've been looking at another energy supplier's Facebook business page the other day because you're curious to see if it can be cheaper. Coincidentally, after you've searched for another energy supplier, you see an ad on the right side about energy savings and they make you an offer that's quite interesting after all.

If you have your ad set up properly, you will pay a small amount compared to the results you manage to get with it.

Tip: Don't start creating ads yourself if you haven't done so before but get proper advice from a company that has proven experience with this.

Content marketing

Content marketing is very broad. Before getting started with it, it is advisable to first look at where your target audience is and what fits with your own business strategy.

The easiest (and in my opinion, the best) way to get more visitors to your website is to start a blog. At least four times a month, post an article on your website that your visitors will also find interesting to read (and perhaps share via social media). If you blog a lot you will find that you will also attract more and more visitors to your website and those visitors will actually start to see you as an expert in your field.

Another way to get extra attention on the Internet and get more visitors to your website is by writing articles and posting them on external blogs such as Frankwatching.com or nujij.nl. Keep in mind that your target audience must be on those blogs.

What's going to be totally hot in 2014 are so-called vlogs (video blogs). You don't type so much anymore but tell your message in a video message. You place that message on YouTube or Vimeo, for example, and post it on your blog. Isn't it much more relaxing to watch a video than to read a long article? In any case, the online advantage is that it's super search engine friendly!

Focus on added value

What you should pay close attention to when writing a blog article or recording a video weblog is delivering real value. Focus on delivering content that really matters and is worth spreading.

Social Media

Social media is hot! Nowadays you simply cannot escape joining this big craze. Before getting involved in social media, it is wise to find out where your target audience is. Business to business is mainly active on Linkedin and Twitter, consumers are mainly on Facebook.

It is helpful to claim your own company name wherever your target audience is (YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). Refer from your social media profiles to your website.

This is an immediate way to get more visitors to your website, and because these websites are already highly rated by Google, the search engine giant also sees this as an honest link pointing to your website.

Tip: Don't want to spend too much time daily/weekly on your social media profiles? Then automate it. With Hootsuite.com or Bufferapp.com, for example, you can set in advance when and what posts should be posted to your social media profiles.

Search engine optimization

Of search engine optimization you will no doubt have heard of it before. Having a website is one thing, but it has to be search engine friendly. By having your website comply with Google's wishes and requirements, you will achieve better positions in the search engines, which in the long run will lead to more visitors on your website.

Most entrepreneurs and companies spend little to no time on search engine optimization even though it should be an important part within the company. A shame because a lot of business owners miss opportunities here. It's absolutely worth setting aside a monthly budget and spending it on search engine optimization. Again, it is better to let an expert look at it than to try everything yourself which could have a negative effect on your website positions.

The great advantage of search engine optimization is that once it is well worked out you will get enough visitors to your website every month that you can turn into customers.

Start a mailing list

Setting up a newsletter mailing list is not so much a way to immediately get more visitors to your website but more a way to get people who have already been to your website to return. You build a bond with your returning visitors which in the long run can result in more sales of your products and services.

Once you have set up a mailing list, you need to actively maintain it. Get regular updates and provide valuable information (for example, refer to a recent article on your blog).

One way to make money from these visitors is to sell products in your newsletter or, on the contrary, ask your newsletter subscribers to sell your product to others. Hang a revenue model on that so that it benefits you and your newsletter members to sell your product.

What else would be possible?

In this article I showed you five ways to get more visitors to your website. Of course there are many more ways, which ways do you use? Share your experience with us by commenting on this article.