Increase Organic traffic to your website. 12 Best ways you need to know (Step by step).

The term "organic traffic" refers to website visitors who arrive from a search engine's "natural" or "organic" results without clicking on any sponsored advertisements. Organic traffic is one of the most valuable kinds of traffic for any website, which shows that the website provides pertinent and helpful material that corresponds with users' search intentions. Organic traffic also helps increase the website’s trust, authority, and visibility in the online space.

To get organic traffic, a website needs to optimize its content and structure for search engines, using various techniques known as search engine optimization (SEO). SEO involves researching and targeting the keywords that users type into search engines, creating high-quality and engaging content that answers their questions or solves their problems, and building links from other reputable websites that point to the website’s content. SEO also requires fixing any technical issues that may prevent search engines from crawling, indexing, or ranking the website properly.

Organic traffic is distinct from other types of traffic, including paid, direct, referral, and social media traffic. Visitors who view a website straight from their browser or through a bookmark are referred to as direct traffic. Referral traffic describes users who access a website via a link from another website. The term "social media traffic" describes website visitors who arrive via social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Visitors who access a website through the clicking of sponsored advertisements, such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads, are referred to as paid traffic.

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 For a website to reach its objectives, such as boosting sales, leads, conversions, subscribers, or followers, organic traffic is crucial. Because organic traffic does not cost money for each click or impression, it is also more economical than paid traffic. However, organic traffic is difficult to obtain because it takes time, energy, and perseverance to rank well in search results and draw in loyal and qualified users.

In this article, we will share 15 ways to increase organic traffic to your website, based on proven SEO tactics and best practices.

1. Fix technical Search Engine Optimization (SEO) issues

Technical SEO refers to the optimization of the technical aspects of your website that affect its performance and usability, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, security, indexing, crawling, etc. Technical SEO issues are the problems that prevent search engines from crawling, indexing, or ranking your website properly. Some common technical SEO issues are:

  • Broken links
  • Duplicate content
  • Slow loading speed
  • Mobile-unfriendly design
  • Missing or poorly written meta tags

To fix these issues, you can use tools like Google Search Console and Ahrefs’ Site Audit to find and resolve them. Improving your SEO will make your website more accessible and user-friendly for both search engines and visitors.

2. Resolve keyword cannibalization

When two or more pages on your website that target the same term compete with one another for rankings, it is known as keyword cannibalization. By making search engines confused, you risk losing credibility and relevance for that keyword. To stop keyword cannibalization, you must:

  •        Identify the pages that target the same keyword.
  •        Analyse the search intent and performance of each page.
  •        Consolidate or differentiate the pages based on their purpose and value.

·    You can use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to find and fix keyword cannibalization issues on your website.




3. Rewrite and optimize low-performing pages

Low-performing pages are those that receive little to no organic traffic and are listed on the second page of Google or lower. If you rebuild and optimize these pages for better keywords, content quality, and user experience, they may have the potential to rank higher.

·        You can use Google Analytics or Ahrefs' Rank Tracker to identify underperforming pages, and you can use Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer to find relevant, low-competition keywords.

4. Improve existing rankings with on-page SEO

On-page SEO is the practice of tailoring a web page's components and content to a particular keyword or subject. It aids search engines in determining the topic of your page and how pertinent it is to the user's inquiry. It also facilitates users discovering and interacting with your content. To improve existing rankings with on-page SEO, you can:

  • Use your target keyword in the title, URL, meta description, headings, and body of your content.
  • Use synonyms, variants, and related keywords.
  • Add a FAQ section with questions from Google's People Also Ask box. Use on-page SEO to boost your content's current ranks.
  • Use short paragraphs, bullet points, photos, videos, and other simple formatting to make your information simple to read, scan, and comprehend.
  • Finish your article with a clear call to action.

5. Build more backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites

Backlinks are connections to your website made by other websites5. They are one of Google's most significant ranking indicators since they show that your website is reliable, well-liked, and worthwhile. But not every backlink is made equal. You must create backlinks from trustworthy websites that are highly trafficked, have a good domain rating, and are relevant to your field. To build more backlinks from such websites, you can:

  • Create linkable assets such as guides, infographics, case studies, etc.
  • Promote your content to relevant influencers, bloggers, journalists, etc.
  • Guest post on reputable websites in your industry or niche

6. Create topic clusters around your core topics

Backlinks are external websites linking to your website. They are one of Google's most important ranking factors since they demonstrate your website's dependability, popularity, and value. However, not all backlinks are created equal. You must build backlinks from popular and reliable websites, have a high domain rating, and are pertinent to your industry. Identify your core topics based on your niche, audience, and goals.

7. Add schema markup to your pages to get rich snippets.

To make it easier for search engines to comprehend the organization and intent of your material, you can add code known as schema markup to your pages. It may also make your pages suitable for rich snippets, which are enhanced results that provide extra details like ratings, reviews, photographs, prices, etc. By making your sites stand out in the search results, rich snippets can enhance your click-through rate and traffic. You can do the following when adding schema markup to your pages. You can;

  •         Check the available properties for your type of content in Google’s documentation.
  •          Use a schema markup generator to create the code.
  •          Add the code to your pages using a plugin or manually.
  •          Test and validate your code using Google’s Rich Results Test tool.

8. Do keyword research to find new content ideas

Finding and evaluating the words and phrases that people enter into search engines is the process involved in keyword research. It aids in finding new concepts for content that are in line with the audience's needs and search intentions. Furthermore, it helps in content optimization for higher search engine rank and visitors. 

To do keyword research to find new content ideas, you can:

  • Use a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to generate keyword ideas based on a seed keyword, a topic, or a competitor’s website.
  • Filter and sort the keyword ideas by metrics such as volume, difficulty, clicks, CPC, etc.
  • Evaluate the keyword ideas based on their traffic potential, search intent, business value, and ranking difficulty
  • Choose the best keyword ideas for your content and create a content plan

9. Spy on your competitors’ organic keywords and best content

Competitor analysis is the process of researching and analyzing the strategies and performance of your competitors. It helps you learn from their strengths and weaknesses and find opportunities to outrank them. One of the most important aspects of competitor analysis is spying on their organic keywords and best content. This can help you find:

  • Keywords that they rank for but you don’t
  • Content that attracts the most traffic and backlinks
  • Content gaps that you can fill with better content
  • Content ideas that resonate with your audience

To spy on your competitors’ organic keywords and best content, you can use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to access various reports such as:

  • Organic keywords report shows all the keywords that a website ranks for in Google
  • Best by links report shows the most linked-to pages on a website
  • Content gap report shows the keywords that one or more competitors rank for but you don’t
  • Top pages report shows the most visited pages on a website

10. Invite guest authors to write for your blog

Guest blogging is a strategy where you invite other experts or influencers to write for your blog. It has many benefits for both you and the guest author. For example:

  • You get exposure from the guest author’s promotion, organic traffic, and backlinks from websites pointing to the article.
  • The guest author gets exposure on your channels, referral traffic, and a backlink from your website
  • Your audience gets valuable content from different perspectives and voices

To invite guest authors to write for your blog, you can:

  • Have a landing page where you clearly explain all the details and requirements for guest blogging.
  • Make it attractive by offering some incentives such as swag, social media promotion, email newsletter mention, etc.
  • Have a system for collecting content pitches such as an email address or an online form.
  • Aim to find authors with expertise and authority in their fields.

11. Target long-tail keywords with dedicated content

Long-tail keywords are search queries that have low search volume but high specificity and intent. They are usually longer and more descriptive than short-tail keywords or head terms. For example:

  • Short-tail keyword: headphones
  • Long-tail keyword: best headphones for skiing.

Targeting long-tail keywords can help you rank higher and get more organic traffic because:

  • They have less competition than short-tail keywords
  • They have higher conversion rates than short-tail keywords
  • They can help you rank for related short-tail keywords

To target long-tail keywords with dedicated content, you can:

  • Find long-tail keywords that you already rank for using Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or Google Search Console
  • Analyze the search intent and SERP features of each long-tail keyword
  • Create dedicated content that matches the search intent and provides value to the users
  • Optimize the content with on-page SEO and internal links

12. Update old content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant

Updating old content is a strategy where you revisit and improve your existing content to keep it fresh and relevant for both search engines and users. It can help you boost your rankings and traffic by:

  • Improving the quality and accuracy of your content
  • Adding new information or removing outdated information
  • Targeting new or better keywords
  • Increasing user engagement and retention

To update old content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant, you need to find old content that needs to be updated using tools like Google Analytics, and Google Search Console. You can look for content that has lost traffic, rankings, or conversions over time or content that is outdated, inaccurate, or irrelevant.

Examine the SERP characteristics and search intent of the keywords you wish to use in your updated content. Find relevant, low-competition keywords using tools like Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer or Content Harmony, then research the kind of content Google favors for those searches.

To more accurately reflect the demands of the reader and the searchers' objectives, rewrite and optimize the language. Use tools like Grammarly, Hemingway, or ProWritingAid to improve the clarity and readability of your writing. Using tools like Surfer SEO or Clearscope, you may optimize your content for SEO factors like keyword density, word count, headers, etc. Your content's headings, graphics, URL, and internal links should all be updated. To create intriguing and SEO-friendly headlines, you can utilize programs like Portent's Title Maker or CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer. To produce or find appealing and pertinent photos, you can also use applications like Canva or Unsplash.

Add new information or remove outdated information from your content. You can use tools like BuzzSumo or Feedly to find the latest trends and news in your niche. You can also use tools like Statista or Pew Research Center to find updated and reliable data and statistics.

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