21 FREE Ways To Drive More Traffic To Your Website
So you already have a beautiful a website for your business but you have no idea how to drive more traffic, without paying for ads? This blog post is going to walk you through 21 free ways to traffic to your website so get more eyes on your business. We don’t all have the budget to run paid ads, but that shouldn’t stop us from getting more eyes on our websites and business.
A website can be an extremely powerful tool for converting visitors into paying clients for our business, but it doesn’t have much use if there is no one actually visiting our website. Hopefully the suggestions below will give you some creative ideas and inspiration on how to drive more traffic to your site.
Don’t have a website just yet? Take a look at my web design services to see how we can help with that.
What is website “traffic”?
Website traffic is the number of users that visit your website. It is usually tracked using website analytics tools like Google Analytics and can be a tool used to measure how effective you are attracting people to your business.
Your website is probably the most common place where customers go to buy from you, hence it is extremely important to drive as much relevant traffic as possible to your website. Your website is also one of the only places on the internet where you aren’t fighting for attention, vs social media for example. So the more visitors you have to your website, the more likely you are to make sales and build brand awareness.
Why should you focus on free traffic, rather than paid?
Ads are becoming more accessible than ever, however not all businesses have the budget to invest in ads.
However money is not the only reason we should focus on free traffic sources rather than paid ads.
Firstly, free traffic is a great way to capitalise on our already established audiences by encouraging them to visit our website, rather than just follow us on social media for example. We can then use our website to convert these visitors into paying clients, resulting in a cheaper cost per acquisition.
Paid traffic also has its flaws in that as soon as you stop paying for ads, your traffic stops. Therefore if your circumstances change and you can no longer afford ads, all your website traffic will stop too. Organic traffic on the other hand suggests that your brand and business exists outside of ads and you have good brand awareness.
Relying on paid ads also means that your business is in the hands of the advertising company. For example, if Facebook decided to disable your ad account, or if the cost of ads increase dramatically, your business is at the risk of being severely effected by this.
Therefore, I HIGHLY recommend using some of the methods below to start building up your organic website traffic and brand awareness, without relying on ads.
21 FREE ways to drive more traffic to your website
1. SEO optimised blog posts
You have probably heard of SEO or ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ before, but what does it actually mean?
SEO is the act of optimising your website or blog posts so they are more likely to appear in Google. By creating SEO optimised blog posts, you can create content which can start ranking in search engines and driving traffic to your website for years to come.
The trick is to understand what your ideal clients are searching for, what questions they have, and what they are struggling with and typing into google. You can then create content that not only resonates with your audience, but reaches them right as they are searching for the problems you solve.
If you’re a coach then you might find this blog post helpful, with 17 blog post ideas for coaches.
If you’d like to find our more about SEO, you might be interested in this blog post: A simple introduction to SEO.
2. Do a blog post swap with someone in your network
Another way of driving traffic to your blog and website is to do a blog post “swap” with someone in your network.
This involves writing a unique blog post for their blog and they can write a unique post for your blog.
The best thing about this strategy? It can drive you traffic in THREE different ways:
You can include a link to your blog/website/services in the blog post you write, encouraging readers to head over to your blog.
The person who has written a post on your blog will likely share it with their audience, encouraging readers to check out the blog post they have written.
You have a new blog post to promote and encourage readers to check out!
3. Join an industry directory
Another great way of driving traffic to your website is to sign up to an industry directory. Directories are websites which list business’ names, websites, contact info to help users find the business / service provider they are looking for.
Some directories could include your local chamber of commerce, industry directories, or local business directories.
The whole point of a directory is to create a list of businesses to make it easy for users to find the person they’re looking for. Hence, directories are a great way of getting in front of people who are actively looking for your services and inviting them to visit your website.
4. Create Pinterest pins for each of your blog posts
If you already have a blog on your website then you NEED to be using Pinterest to drive traffic to your blog.
Pinterest is search engine which means you can get your blog posts in front of people who are actively looking for your articles and the topics they’re interested in. You can create multiple pins per blog post and add them to multiple boards, to really drive as much traffic as possible.
If you’re interested in getting started with Pinterest, you might want to check out Pinterest Perfect by Natalie Bardo. This is NOT an affiliate link, I have just heard amazing things about this course.
Take a look at the pins I have created below for inspo and consider saving them to Pinterest if you found it useful to help other people benefit from this post.
ENJOYING THIS POST? SAVE IT TO PINTEREST
5. Add a link in your social media bio
If you have any social media platform you NEED to have your website linked in your bio. Whether that is Instagram, X, Facebook, LinkedIn…. ALWAYS include a link directly to your website.
You need to make it as easy as possible for people to get to your website as this is where the sales happen!
6. Create a custom link-in-bio / Linktree on your website
If you have already have a link in your bio that links to a Linktree page, then you should swap this for a custom linktree page on your website. That way, you are driving traffic directly to your website instead of to Linktree.
You can build a super simple one with a picture and buttons, simply by creating a “hidden” page on your website - aka, don’t include it in your navigation menu.
Here is an example of my own personalised linktree page.
7. Send an email to your list with a link to your website
I know it sounds simple, but you would be surprised how many emails I receive that don’t include a link to the sender’s website. You can include a link to your website within the email itself, or just in the footer/signature of the email.
If you never invite your audience to check out your website, they won’t!
So make sure you are always including CTAs back to your website as this is where the sales happen.
8. Have call booking pages instead of sending a Calendly link
This is one of my favourite “sneaky” ways of driving extra traffic to my website. Instead of sending people a calendly link to book a call with me, I have my call scheduler embedded into a page on my website. Here is an example to show you what I mean.
By doing this, I have full control over the look and feel of the page, making it look really professional and on brand.
Most importantly though, I am sending people to my website. That way, when they book a call with me, they can also snoop around my website and check out my services, my blog and free resources.
9. Do a freebie swap with a fellow business owner who has the same audience as you
This is another great idea for a collaboration with another business owner in order to get in front of their audience and drive more traffic to their website.
A freebie swap involves promoting each other’s freebies to your audience in order to encourage sign ups to the other person’s mailing list.
This is a win-win situation for you and the other business owner as you have a valuable resource to share with your audience, and they get more eyes on their business, and vice versa.
But of course, if you want to drive more traffic to your website, make sure to create a freebie landing page on YOUR website, instead of using a landing page built in your email marketing software.
Don’t have a freebie yet? Check out this blog post which will give you 11 creative lead magnet ideas for coaches.
10. Have your freebie landing page on your website, instead of a funnel platform
One of the classic mistakes I see business owners making is having landing pages on their email marketing platform or course platform etc… instead of on their own websites. The problem with this? You are actively driving traffic AWAY from your website.
Instead, you want to create your landing page on your website by simply embedding an email opt-in form on your website.
When someone signs up to your freebie, you can then redirect them to a custom thank you page also on your website. This is the perfect opportunity to invite people to explore your website, for example by suggesting blog posts they may be interested in, or using CTAs to direct them to check out your services.
Want to check out my own freebie landing page? Take a look at the website project planner below.
11. Be a guest on a podcast
Another fantastic way of driving traffic to your website is by getting in front of other people’s audiences. Podcasting in particular is a great way of positioning yourself as an expert and getting in front of new eyes (or ears!).
When you are featured on the podcast, you could reference your lead magnet, encouraging people to head to your website to download it (see point 10).
It’s also common practice for the podcast host to include links to your website in the show notes and podcast description, encouraging those listeners to head to your website to find out more about what you do.
12. Start creating YouTube videos
If you’re confident showing up on camera then YouTube could be the perfect platform for you. YouTube is definitely a beast of a platform which requires practice to get good at, but you need just a couple of popular videos to end up driving lots of traffic to your website.
Just make sure your are always including links in the description and adding CTAs to your video to check out the links.
You can also repurpose the YouTube videos into blog posts which you can SEO optimise to drive even more traffic to your site.
13. Add your website as a feature on your LinkedIn Profile
Lots of small business owners are sleeping on LinkedIn, especially the ‘Featured’ section of your profile. You can include really easy to click links in your LinkedIn profile which make it a no-brainer for people checking you out to head to your website.
Take a look at this amazing video by LinkedIn with Louise who goes really in to depth about how to optimise your LinkedIn profile for business.
14. Set up your Google My Business Profile
If you’re a local business owner then you NEED to set up a Google Business Profile - this is the Google maps feature that pops up when you search for a business and highlights recent reviews for that business.
They are completely free to set up and are the perfect way of getting in front of people who are searching for your services locally.
My top tip for a Google My Business Profile is to send it to your past clients and ask them to leave you a review. This is one the top ranking features that will encourage Google to show your business at the top of the search results, because the more reviews you have - the more trusted you likely are.
And of course, make sure you add a link to your website on your profile that links directly to your website, NOT something like a linktree or landing page.
15. Share your freebie/website link on your IG stories
The classic mistake I see business owners making is creating a freebie / lead magnet and never promoting it - leaving it on your website to die.
Instagram stories are the perfect place to promote your freebie because you can add links directly to your stories, sending people to your website. It then becomes a case of literally pressing a button and they are whisked away to your website.
Of course, don’t be afraid to do this multiple times a week. The more you promote it, the more eyes will see it and the more likely someone will be to go ahead and download it!
Don’t have a freebie yet? Check out this blog post which will give you 11 creative lead magnet ideas for coaches.
16. Share a helpful blog post in a Facebook group
Maybe Facebook is your platform of choice - if so Facebook groups are a great please to ADD VALUE and BE HELPFUL. Facebook groups are not all about promoting yourself and your services, in fact I don’t recommend it.
Instead, I recommend sharing helpful articles you may have written or some of your top tips.
Only add a link directly to your blog post if the group rules say its okay to share external links, as some groups do not allow this.
The more value you give and the more helpful you are, the more likely you are to see success on Facebook.
17. Host an interview or guest blog post on your blog
I genuinely think this is one of the best marketing ideas EVER but barely anyone uses it! You could create an interview series on your blog, similar to a podcast but in blog post format. This has all the benefits of an interview, but without the need to record and/or get on camera. The pros include:
You have content to share on your blog and something to promote across your other marketing channels.
You can really get to know another business owner and build a personal connection with someone you’d like to get to know better.
The person you interview will likely share it with their audience and hopefully direct them to check out your website.
The interviewee will also get exposure to your audience, so it’s a win-win all round!
18. Add a QR code to your business card
Some people think that good old networking at in-person events has gone out of style, but it is actually more powerful than ever. With social media and AI, people are craving that real life connection with other business owners, however the challenge is then getting those people to remember you and interact with your business outside of the event.
My recommendation for this is to include a QR code on your business card AS WELL as the url/link to your website if someone wants to type it in. That way, you are making it as accessible and easy as possible for people to go to your website and find out more about what you do.
Similarly, make sure you get their business card or connect online so you can follow up with them personally, rather than relying on the power of memory and the internet to do all the heavy lifting.
19. Submit articles to online publications
This is similar to guest posting on other business owners’ blogs, but it is instead about guest posting for online publications as a form of PR. This could include industry websites, online magazines or any kind of digital publication/blog that your ideal client may be reading.
Some online publications will make it easy to submit an article via a contact form on their website, but others may need a bit of extra digging. For example, you could reach out the previous authors on the blog to find out who you should contact, or find out the name of the editor of the publication via LinkedIn.
Just make sure you are pitching different articles to different publications, as they are likely looking for fresh content that won’t be copies elsewhere.
And of course, make sure to include a link to your website either in the article itself, or in your “author bio” so people can find out more about you.
20. Encourage readers to share your blog posts / freebie
Ever heard the phrase ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get’. The same thing goes for marketing. If you never ask your readers to share your blog posts or a free resource that they found helpful, they’re less likely to do it!
So make sure to add a CTA at the end of your blog posts, encouraging readers to share it if they sound it useful. You could even include social media share buttons to make it even easier for them.
Similarly with any lead magnets / freebies you have in your business, include a call to action in your welcome sequence that encourages readers to share it with a friend who might find it useful.
Sure, most people probably won’t share it, but just one or two shares could help drive the right eyes to check out your website.
Don’t have a freebie yet? Check out this blog post which will give you 11 creative lead magnet ideas for coaches.
21. Repurpose old content
Oftentimes we think we have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to marketing, but don’t be afraid to repurpose old content.
That could look like updating an old blog post and giving it a refresh. Creating a “2024” version of a previous blog post. Or even creating social media content encouraging people to check out a post you had written years ago.
Just because an article is a few months old doesn’t mean you can’t promote it anymore. So don’t let it go to the corner of your website to die, actively send people to old blog content and repurpose the posts you shared months ago, to get people to engage with old content again.
How to make the most of this increased traffic?
Now you have plenty of ideas on how to drive more traffic to your website, but how can you actually make the most of this new traffic? Here are three articles you might find helpful to make sure your website is actually bringing you results in your business:
10 Easy ways to maximise your coaching website to generate more leads
11 Creative lead magnet ideas for coaches to land more clients
8 Website pages you can use throughout the customer journey
Conclusion
Getting traffic to your website is one the biggest struggles of many business owners. The more eyes we get on our website, the more people are likely to buy from us. However, without a beautiful website that is rooted in strategy, that traffic will not likely lead to much.
If you currently have a website that you know could be working harder for you, you may want to consider my Power Hour service where you can get a personal audit of your website, from a professional website designer. We will identify the leaks and create a plan to help your website bring in more leads. Take a look here to find out more about my Power Hour Website Audit.
