SEO alternative methods to drive website traffic

Introduction

The website lives in traffic as humans breathe oxygen. Without traffic, a website is as deathlike as it can get. Today we will talk about SEO alternative methods to drive more website traffic to your website.

Readers are the part and parcel of a blog site. A website without readers otherwise traffic is more bland and useless than a leafless tree without chirping birds. That is why the first thing a content creator or in this case a blog writer must keep in mind for opening a blog site; How can he or she attract visitors otherwise known as traffic into his/her website. And then comes the other factors like:

• What kind of readers should be targeted
• Which demography should be considered as key audiences
• The range of topics for the blog site
• Are there any unfulfilled goals the blog owner want to achieve
• How long should the readers stay on the site
• How can the blog site be made more engaging with the readers?

When it comes to gaining organic as well as natural traffic, Search Engine Optimization, abbreviated as SEO is one of the handiest as well as most well-admired approaches in recent times. There are a lot of SEO experts nowadays and they are teaching SEO as well as providing SEO services. SEO has its own advantages which makes it more effective. But there are also other proven methods, tools, and techniques that can do as much favor as SEO in terms of bringing the only desirable as well as continuous website traffic.

SEO as A Hidden Pitfall

Although SEO is considered as the one great path that leads to stable traffic, it can unleash hell upon your blog site if done wrong. The pitfalls are:

1. Comparatively lower return on invested money and man-hour
2. Doesn’t always act strongly against stiffer competition
3. Doesn’t always provide reader satisfaction
4. In many cases, creates doubt amongst the audience
5. If done wrong can impact negatively onto the blogsite
6. A foreign and impracticable term to newbies in the world of blogging

And most importantly, All SEO practices don’t sit well with ever-changing Google updates.

Some Noteworthy Updates of Google Algorithm

Google’s algorithms are a sophisticated system that scholars have studied from its search engine as well as deliver better possible outcomes for a request in real-time. The search engine’s search results pages comprise not just a collection of algorithms, but also a slew of quality requirements for conveying webpages rated by relevance. Some influential Google algorithm upgrades that shook the SEO strategies are below.

1. Panda

Google Panda was originally introduced as part of Google’s efforts to combat black hat SEO practices and webspam. At the time, user complaints about the growing power of “content farms” were widespread. The Panda algorithm was developed to assign pages a quality categorization, which was utilized internally and was modeled after human quality assessments, and it was added as a ranking material.

2. Penguin

As Google targeted webspam and manipulative link-building practices, the Penguin algorithm upgrade drastically altered SEO. Google implemented the “webspam algorithm upgrade”, which primarily targeted link spam and manipulative link-building tactics. The webspam algorithm was eventually dubbed (officially) the Penguin algorithm update after a tweet from Matt Cutts, the leader of Google’s webspam team at the time. While Google officially termed the algorithm Penguin, there is no word on where this moniker originated.

3. Hummingbird

The Google Hummingbird algorithm has left its imprint on billions of search results, providing end consumers with another little step toward a more intimate, personal search engine results page. It’s easy to overlook that the current era of micro-moments and having Google answer contextual queries is a significant shift from the first 20 years of search when specific keywords governed the results rather than having the full query taken into account.

4. Pigeon

The Google Pigeon Update, one of the most significant local search algorithm upgrades in history, altered how local companies ranked in organic search. One of Google’s most significant algorithm adjustments was made to improve local search results, and local businesses often experienced the consequences of the change in their website’s analytics data. Google users undoubtedly felt the impact, which often meant a different, and eventually better, search experience in terms of local companies and the content related to those businesses. It provided search results by rewarding local businesses with a strong organic presence; with better visibility, in traditional search, similar to the visibility a business may have previously seen in Google Maps.

5. Fred

Google’s Fred upgrade saw some sites lose up to 90% of their traffic while attempting to cleanse the SERPs of thin, ad-heavy content. As the publication “A Complete Guide to the Google Fred Algorithm.” was released, you went to your preferred rank-checking tool. “Please, God almighty, just let my sites, as well as my clients’ sites, be OK,” you pleaded gently. The impact was almost definitely significant, depending on your techniques and sites. The losers suffered significant losses, and the winners stepped in to take their place.

The following table illustrates the date of introduction of certain Google updates.

Serial	Name of the Update	Introduction Date
1	Panda	23rd February 2011
2	Penguin	24th April 2012
3	Hummingbird	26th September 2013
4	Pigeon	24th July 2014
5	Fred	8th March 2017

All these updates of the Google algorithm put a line on your forehead. And so you might think of implementing other more natural and conventional approaches to get more traffic. SEO alternative methods are including tools that do not necessarily optimize search engines but rather take conventional approaches to get the targeted traffic.

SEO alternative methods to drive website traffic

I. Increasing forum traffic

A forum is a gathering or venue through which ideas and points of view on a specific topic can be discussed.

• You should be present and write something at least a couple of times every week to receive traffic from discussion forums. The more active you are, the more visitors you will receive. Every day, you should publish something three times.
• Always include a link to a blog article about the topic of the discussion forum.
• It’s crucial to interact with others and participate in debates, but it’s even more important to initiate new threads. Every time you start a new thread, you may get comments, and get even more traffic because a new popular thread makes you more visible.
• Integrate blog feed to your profile, so that directly below your username and on all of the messages you’ve published on the discussion forum, there’s always a link (and the title) to the most recent blog post.
• Try not to write more than a few phrases in each remark you post. However, always make an effort to include high-quality stuff.

II. Integrate Medium

Medium is an open forum where readers can discover dynamic thinking and professional and undiscovered writers may publish creative writing on just about any topic. To begin syndicating your material on Medium, create an account. Click on your biography photo to go to “Stories.” The “Import a Story” page has a button that says “Import a Story.” Click that button. Remember that you can only syndicate content because you own it. 

Make it a point not to use other people’s content. Also, choose stuff that may be easily shared. Simply enter the URL of the post or blog post you would like to syndicate. Medium uploads and arranges your content like a magician. Take a quick read over the new Medium piece to verify everything is properly formatted. 

You’ll also notice “Originally published at” and your website name at the end of this post. Keep in mind that Google encourages you to take action in order for your high-quality content to remain the “master copy” of the work. Besides, people who read your Medium post may choose to follow the link to your site.

III. Execute Content Marketing

Anything an individual or brand develops for consumption is considered content. Content includes blog articles, infographics, pictures, tweets, videos, and SlideShares. Content marketing is what ties together all those consumable pieces of information to benefit you or your brand.

The three separate components comprise the definition:

•         Data
•         The target audience
•         Objective

Getting the most out of every aspect of communication is the key to being able to communicate effectively. This post examines the information components and how they might be “operationalized.”

1. Data

What concepts are you disseminating? This is typically consistent across formats due to the fact that it is rooted in messaging. As defined above, information is the collection of the most critical ideas that an audience must understand and the supporting elements (facts, explanations, and examples) that support those ideas.

2. The target audience

Who is the target audience for this content? Too frequently, we develop material without taking our audience into account. Clearly define the audience you’re attempting to reach, their worries, and their queries. This is the point at which relevance and resonance intersect.

3. Objective

Why are we taking this action? What are we hoping our audience will think, do, or feel? Content is most effective when it is created with a specific objective in mind. Declaring your objective explicitly facilitates the creation of content that resonates with your audience.

• Make use of your own voice. Just as your website’s colors, fonts, and design should be consistent, your writing should be consistent in tone and style. The simplest approach to accomplish this is to create in your own distinct voice.
• Stories are more engaging and lasting than dry statistics and facts. Write as a human being, not as a sales/marketing robot.
• Summarize any significant points or conclusions at the beginning of each page. If readers quit reading there, they will still understand the gist of it.

Here are where Content marketing is different from SEO

Content Marketing	Search Engine Optimization
Focuses on the readers	Focuses on the search engines
Is broad and covers a lot of fields	Is thin and works on particular subjects
Applies keywords	Fixes keywords
Creates backlinks	Uses backlinks
Is informational in nature	Is technical in nature

IV. Run a Paid Advertisement Campaign

Paid advertising is a type of online advertising in which marketers bid in real-time auctions to have their adverts appear in certain slots on a platform or network. For example, in this inquiry for patio furniture, you can see both purchasing commercials and text ads. Algorithms are used to operate real-time auctions on the majority of websites that provide targeted marketing services. The algorithms pick which ad to display in an open online slot. The criteria are frequently a combination of the bid amount and the quality of the advertising, but they might differ according to the platform employed. Platforms, on the other hand, do not always make the criteria clear, and there are a number of other aspects to consider.

When employing paid marketing, keep the following in mind:

• Make advantage of a variety of targeting methods, including granular attributes (interests, geography, and demography) as well as behavior-based targeting (search history, purchase history, frequently visited websites).
• Start with modest campaigns when employing paid marketing for the first time to see what types of messages and adverts resonate the most with potential buyers.
• Use remarketing when a user connects organically with your blog site. You may utilize paid marketing to show targeted messaging based on the products and services they looked at.
• Analytical tools can be used to track results for future paid marketing campaigns. Google Analytics, Branch, Crazy Egg, and SEMrush are all popular analytics tools.

Ads can be generated in minutes, and there are numerous tools available to assist you in creating the essential images for very little or no expense. 

Google Responsive Ads, for example, adapt in size, style, and format to match any available ad space on the Google Display Network. Google then uses machine learning to serve you the ads that are most effective for you. You can also manage your spending and set daily and total budgets for campaigns on all paid ad platforms, including Google, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn advertising, to ensure that you never overspend. 

While content marketing is important, it may be costly, particularly if you employ renowned writers to write unique, well-researched articles for you. Additionally, the majority of these initiatives take weeks or even months to complete, which is not a feasible schedule for many organizations.

V. Implement Keywords That Sticks 

An indexing word, abbreviation, abbreviation, taxonomic structure, or other expressions that are related to the entire structure is referred to as a “keyword” (such as an article). It is possible to utilize keywords to identify and search for content, as well as to index it.

You need to come up with the most effective keywords to acquire the most traffic. There is a wide range of options available:

1. Keywords With A Long And Descriptive Phrase

Long-tail keywords are those that have at least four words in their title. Short-tail keywords, on the other hand, tend to be less particular than long-tail keywords. Comparatively speaking, their search volume is substantially smaller than that of a short-tail term. 

Their lack of competition, however, compensates for the deficit when it comes to long-tail keywords, you need to know that you can readily identify the searcher’s purpose.

Here, let’s use “8×12 inch Waterproof Colored Tea Coaster” as an example.

There’s no doubt about it: the searcher is trying to find a place where they can get this particular Tea coaster. In order to reach them, you must have the price, delivery cost, and store location listed on your website.

2. Keywords with a Long Tail

Phrases like “sneakers,” “papers,” and “tea” are examples of this type of general phrasing. A user’s intent is obscured when they use short-tail keywords in a search engine. Are they interested in purchasing shoes? Are those sneakers or flats? They could also be seeking a shoemaker.

It’s nearly hard to rank at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for a generic keyword. Many individuals will visit your website if it appears on the first page of Search engines. Are these visitors actually going to turn out to be customers? Even though short-tail keywords generate more traffic than long-tail keywords, their conversion rates are lower.

3. Keyword According To Geolocation

Using a geo-targeting keyword, you can target a certain neighborhood, city, state, or even country. Customers from your immediate neighborhood will be more likely to patronize a small, locally owned business. Your geo-targeting keywords are simply a description of the geographic region served by your company. Inserting your address into the content itself can make a tremendous difference, even if you already have it on the sidebar. Local businesses need geo-targeting keywords if they wish to improve their local search engine optimization. For more information on local SEO, see this guide.

4. Incorrectly Spelling Words

When typing a phrase into a search engine, many users produce errors or misspellings. For example, in the United States, “color” would be written “While “13,680,000,000results in Google,” Canadians would use “color” “(with 2,600,000,000 results). Spelling mistakes such as “accommodation” and “favorite” are common as well “for example, “jewelry”

It is no longer necessary to target keywords that contain typographical errors in order to rank well in search engine results.

VI. Write Long-Form Contents

If you look at fundamental genetic code, long-form content is somewhere between a short story (less than 7,500 words) and a novelette (less than 17,500 words). In the world of content marketing for your blog, that’s any content that is much more than 2,000 words long, like blog posts or videos. People who write longer articles get more out of it.

Writing good long-form material has the following advantages: If you employ this tactic, you’ll have a better chance of winning.

• If you use this strategy, you’ll be seen as an expert in the field, which will be interesting to your clients and prospects. It’s good for you if people turn to you when they have a question about a subject.
• According to the research cited above, lengthier postings are more likely to succeed highly on search engines. If you want your long content to be more likely to show up in Google’s “in-depth content” feature, here is some help with schema and other things you can do.
• You can use this piece of high-quality, in-depth subject matter to reach out to people who have a lot of power and ask them for their help. The hope is that some people will like it so much that they’ll start sharing it with their friends.
• This content can be used to start an email marketing campaign. People who sign up for emails will get even more information on the subject.
• This will give you things to post on social media for a long time.

VII. Host and Execute Giveaway Contests

Giveaways are limited-time contests in which brands pledge to offer up a product and service to fateful contestant/s. He/they are to win the contest on the basis of a set of rules which are established in advance. 

Instead, firms must generate online foot traffic and entice visitors to visit their website, whether through SEO best practices, paid advertisements, social media seo, or giveaway contests.

Organizing a giveaway competition follows the steps outlined above.

• Recognize and understand the target audience.
• Establish clear objectives for your contest.
• Select the content type you want to host.
• Make a decision on your contest rules.
• Choose one contest prize that your target audience will like.
• Fix a date for the event and put it on the calendar.
• Create a contest and declare the prize on the internet.
• Boost your online contest to a wider audience.
• Make adjustments based on the input received from the participants.
• Decide who will be the lucky winner of your giveaway.

VIII. Do Email Marketing

Email marketing is a type of direct marketing in which you send out emails to customers to advertise your company’s products or services. It might assist you in informing your consumers about new products or special offers. 

It can also play a critical role in educating people about your business and keeping them engaged between transactions, among other things. Almost every email sent to a potential or present customer might be considered email marketing in the broadest sense.

A newsletter is a written or electronic report that contains information about the activities of a company or organization that is distributed to its customers, visitors, personnel, or other subscribers. 

A newsletter can be issued to members, customers, employees, or other subscribers. Newsletters are often confined to a single central issue of interest to their readers. In some circles, newsletters are regarded as “gray literature.”

Here are some pointers for effective email marketing to drive more visitors to your website:

• Be honest with yourself: Stories can be shared, behind-the-scenes content can be posted, and fresh user-generated content can be solicited.
• Offer’s monetary worth: The same way that high-value content marketing is required to convert readers, emails and newsletters must deliver value before making an ask.
• Provide all of your links, for example: Make it easy for visitors to read as well as share your content. In every email you send, include links to your social media profiles, most recent blog entries, and sales page as attachments.

IX. Dive into the Sea Full of Social Media       

Social media are interactive technologies that allow people to create and share information, ideas, hobbies, and other kinds of expression via virtual communities and networks. Sharing your website within these social media sites is a great way to get more traffic.

1. Websites for social networking

Most of us have heard of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The mentioned platforms help us to exchange thoughts with our family, friends, and brands. They promote knowledge sharing as well as emphasize personal, human-to-human engagement.

2. Websites that host videos

Vimeo changed the way we watch, make, and think about video. It changed the medium into something more approachable. Recent advancements in technology and connection have aided video in its final stages. Creators can use video hosting sites like YouTube and Vimeo to put together material and publish it on a platform that is suited for streaming. Because of this, video has become a very essential medium.

3. Discussion forums

While about all of us have been part of many debates ranging light to heavy on Facebook, conversation websites like Quora as well as Reddit work to generate a conversation or exchange of thoughts. Anyone can pose a question or make a statement, which draws people with similar interests and curiosities. 

Users on Twitter, on the other hand, tend to give out less identifiable information than on Facebook and Instagram. So, how can these platforms benefit your company?

• Research: Reddit is divided into sub-communities. You may find and engage people in your sector, learn what they’re asking, and use this as a starting point for your content marketing approach with a little investigation.
• Answer the following questions: Quora users ask a wide range of questions. Responding to them can help you establish yourself as a thought leader and increase traffic to your website.

4. Review sites on social media

What’s the first thing you do when you’re planning a trip or purchasing a new product? If you’re like us, you’ll skip right to the reviews.

Yelp and TripAdvisor, for example, present evaluations from community members for a wide range of destinations and activities. This takes a lot of the guesswork out of reserving a restaurant or hotel. Are you unsure if it’s the correct thing for you? Check out the reviews to find out. Businesses can greatly benefit from researching their reviews, both positive and negative.

5. Local community blogging

Sometimes an image or post isn’t sophisticated enough to convey the message you’re trying to convey, but not everyone on the internet wants to maintain a blog from their own website. That is a significant amount of labor. Shared blogging services such as Medium and Tumblr allow people to express themselves and connect with readers. These community blog platforms provide an audience while also allowing users plenty of customization and self-expression. You can use them to:

Create your own voice: Starting a blog might be intimidating. Use services such as Medium and Tumblr to find your voice, gain readers, and clarify your goal. Syndicate material: If you already have a blog, you can use community blogging platforms to share, repurpose, and repost existing content to reach a new audience.

X. Include “Share Inducers” Within Your Contents

Share inducers or triggers are parts of content that give the reader satisfaction to such an extent that the readers share the contents. In this way, the reader or the visitor makes the site owner’s job easier by fetching more and more organic traffic. Here are some of the share triggers or share inducers.

1. Excellent content design

Good design is one of the most underappreciated factors that influence people to share content. People have a succession of subconscious micro-impressions of your content when they first land on it. 

2. Usefulness of content

The goal of content utility is to provide readers with useful information. Free internet materials such as worksheets, recipe step-by-steps, and checklists also come to mind.
Why does utility have such a significant correlation with shareable content? It elevates your material from another educational blog post to something extremely useful for the reader. 
The trick is to ensure that your readers can follow the procedures (think cooking instructions) to obtain the desired result.

3. Information gaps to pique the reader’s interest

According to Carnegie Mellon University research, people like to consume and share knowledge that provides clarification on an obscure topic. The study also brings up the concept of knowledge gaps, which can be potent motivators for people to seek clarification on an issue. 

In other words, including information gaps in your content encourages people to not only continue reading but also to share it. When readers see this, they think to themselves, “Wait! Is there a catch to Facebook targeting? I’ll continue reading to find out.” See how information gaps are simple to create yet extremely effective in arousing curiosity?

When you make individuals aware of a potential knowledge gap, they will want to fill it with material that will satisfy their curiosity. If you want to get rewarded with many social shares, you must supply a solution that fills their knowledge needs.

4. Write memorable pieces that stick.

It’s mind-boggling to consider that nearly 2.4 million blog entries are written every day. How can you make your content stand out and receive a high number of social shares? There is an easy method to accomplish that, and I’ll show you how right now. 

The zig-zag approach is what I call it. It is based on the basic premise that when everyone else zigs, you zag. You publish stuff that contradicts popular opinion or examines a popular concept from a new perspective. According to widespread opinion in the SEO industry, guest posting (publishing content on third-party blogs) is a terrific strategy to drive traffic to your site, promote your brand, and gain some useful backlinks.

5. Social money

Social currency, arguably the most powerful share trigger, is based on the notion that people enjoy spreading the good news, notably news that makes them appear good or validates their values. 

When you make influencers in your sector appear good, you unlock the true value of the social currency. Here’s a quick three-step process for incorporating social currency into your content:

• Reach out to influencers in your industry via email and ask them a basic topic-related inquiry. Don’t forget to mention that you’ll be linking to their website.
• Incorporate replies from influencers into your material.
• After you’ve published your content, send an email to the influencers informing them that it’s now live and asking them to share it. It is possible that a tweet or post will be seen by thousands of their followers as a result.

Even better, because your content sources are industry heavyweights, others will pay attention to it and be willing to alter it as well.

Conclusion

The aim of this article is to put emphasis on ways to boost website traffic other than search engine optimization. While the methods are especially helpful to new website owners as well as bloggers who are new to the world of blogging. 

It is in no way discouraging SEO techniques as SEO has been a great way to achieve the top position of search inquiries. And it will be too in the foreseeable future as long as Google doesn’t bring about any crazy updates.