What advice would you give to someone looking to drive traffic to their website?

[Shortie]

We have all been there, we started a new website and we want to get the word out there and start driving traffic to our websites but it's not always as easy as it seems and in the beginning, especially if we are new to building websites and marketing them, we can make mistakes and do things that could instead hurt us.

What advice would you give to someone looking to drive traffic to their website? Anything they should avoid at all costs?

 

[fdk]

Absolutely avoid spamming your link or breaking the rules/guidelines of a site by posting your website link there if it's not allowed. You absolutely do not want to get a reputation as a website owner for being a spammer. It's fine to advertise - but when you're doing it, do it as humanly as possible, don't advertise like a robot, and try to engage people in your advertising. Make sure you issue a call to action or a task to be completed!

Social media is great for driving some initial traffic to a new website and also for getting feedback from friends/family or whoever you may have on your social media who'll be willing to help. It's amazing sometimes how you can overlook something you think seems quite simple, but to an outsider is rather confusing... Always assume anyone using the internet or your website(s) has a vastly reduced knowledge about technology and the internet than you. Of course, this won't always be true, but by adopting this position at the beginning, you're much more likely to keep considering new features and designs that are more user-friendly when adding updates/changes to your site in the future.

Finally, don't spend so much time advertising that you lose focus on the basics like ensuring there is enough up-to-date and relevant content on your website. The most important thing is having content for members to engage with when they finally do land on your website - if a visitor arrives and there's little or nothing for them to engage with, your whole efforts in advertising will likely be wasted anyway as they'll navigate away quickly after realising what they came for isn't available.

 

[Arantor]

When we say “maximising traffic” what is the desired outcome? More people who will potentially see the content or more people who will interact with the content?

These two are not the same.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Establish communities and your brand in marketing channels where your audience is.

What to avoid at all costs? Spam, of course, AND marketing on channels where your audience is not.

You should know your target audience before you start marketing. If you don't, pause marketing, determine your target audience, and resume marketing.

Marketing without a target audience doesn't make any sense. It's like peeing in the wind!

Great marketing channels include blogs (running one and commenting on them), email lists (direct line between you and your subscribers that algorithms can't touch), social media (you have to build your brand and a community before it works,s and it takes work), social media advertising (fine tune it to match your target audience and have a budget), forum ads (if it's for a forum, find forums with direct and similar niches that offer paid ads and advertise on them, especially those that use the same software as you), and word-of-mouth (which is still pretty powerful).

SEO, of course, where possible. Easy to do on a blog. Not so easy on a forum.

 

[Cpvr]

We have all been there, we started a new website and we want to get the word out there and start driving traffic to our websites but it's not always as easy as it seems and in the beginning, especially if we are new to building websites and marketing them, we can make mistakes and do things that could instead hurt us.

What advice would you give to someone looking to drive traffic to their website? Anything they should avoid at all costs?

The main thing is to See where your audience is and start interacting with them. If they’re on social media, begin building relationships with them and introduce them to your site. Promote your site on social media, and make sure to use relevant hashtags to reach a broader audience.

Also, check question-and-answer sites, and if your site contains content that addresses those questions, advertise your forum or website and promote it there. Find directories relevant to your niche and add your website to them. This will help boost your SEO and attract new members.


You can also promote your website on Reddit in specific subreddits. However, be sure to carefully read and follow the rules of each subreddit to avoid any issues. Consider creating a Tumblr page to promote your website, forum, and topics. This can help drive more traffic and attract new members. Be sure to use relevant hashtags so users can find your content more easily.


Launch a press release if you’d like—it’s a great way to generate traffic. However, only pursue this method if you have enough content and are confident that the press release will make an impact.


Lastly, reach out to others in your niche to explore potential collaborations. For example, you could conduct interviews or write reviews to gain more publicity and expand your audience.

 

[CTS]

Most new forums really have no revenue sources and so marketing and advertising budgets are terms not commonly used by the admins. Your best investment into marketing for a new website is investing time into relevent content creation with a focus on targeting placement on the SERPs with attractive relevent titles. When you get a decent organic user base that can support marketing is when you could be buying ads etc.

 

[Bawse]

Patience, and don't over spend on advertisements.