In this post, I’ll give you 7 unconventional website traffic sources that’ll give you a competitive edge over your competition.
The number of people on the internet trying to direct traffic to their website is absurd. You might be thinking of creating a website and attracting website visitors by making quality content but with the number of people already on the internet its easy for your content to get lost underneath all the content that’s already online.
This is why I advise next to making quality content also be willing to do what 99% of the people online aren’t willing to do. That extra amount of effort will go a long way if it’s truly beneficial for the audience you’re trying to target.
To give you some inspiration on how to do that I came up with…
7 Unconventional Website Traffic Sources
Source #1 Connecting content to context
In marketing, context is one of the most powerful tools you can use to get traffic. It can turn a semi-popular YouTube video into a viral phenomenon. This is why I thought it would be fitting to start with this.
There will always be a major event and trending topics that people will have their eyes on. You can direct a lot of those eyes to your platform by connecting these topics to your videos. The first time I thought about doing this was when I got VidIQ. VidIQ helped me find trending subjects in my niche. I noticed the videos I connected to trending topics almost got 5 times as many viewers as my normal videos.
Of course, this doesn’t only apply to YouTube you can do this also with all other forms of content creation.
Ask yourself how can your content provide an extra perspective on the trending topic.
An example could be that a new iPhone was announced at an Apple event.
If you have a marketing channel you can talk about the marketing strategies they used to raise anticipation.
If you have a channel dedicated to public speaking talk about the techniques they the speaker used on stage.
You have a design channel talk about the look of the new iPhone.
There is always some way to connect topics like this to your niche you just have to find them.
Source #2 Interviewing influencers
A lot of people are trying to create online platforms for themselves because they know attention is money. Many of them quit but there are a few that stuck with it and created online platforms with thousands and sometimes millions of people whose attention they have. We call these people influencers. If they’re willing to share their platform with you it’s possible to grow your website in a relatively short time.
An example of how to do this is by interviewing them. This way you get exposed to their platform and the platform gets to know more about the influencer if the interview is done correctly. This can be a win-win situation that can catapult your business to new heights.
Source #3Tracking niche specific mentions on forums
Forums are basically online communities based on a specific niche. Forums are a really good way to get more eyes on your website because you can communicate with people interested in content similar to what you create.
By becoming a part of the community you’ll hear their problems, questions and all kind of other things you might be able to help them with. Give enough value and they’ll trust you enough to take a look at your content.
An example of such a forum website is:
Reddit
A website you should definitely check out is Reddit. Reddit is what I like to call a forum website on steroids. Instead of the forum being based on one niche like most, you have all kinds of niches and sub-niches that gather there to talk about everything.
You can even use websites like trackreddit.com to monitor whenever someone mentions words that are relevant to your niche and/or content to save time. It’s a highly effective way to find leads to direct to your website.
Source #4 Challenging views of known people in your niche
In every niche, there is a small group of people that have more authority than all the other websites. They have the most eyes on their content. You can get a lot of eyes on your content by mentioning them or even challenge their views. Your kind of doing the same thing as source #1 where you connect your content to trending topics only now it’s trending individuals.
Very important* If you’re going to do this do it righteously. Don’t do it maliciously and don’t do it just to get more traffic. If you genuinely don’t agree and will add value then do it else wise it can hurt your image.
Source #5 Using AdWords keywords and making landing pages for them
When buying ads for search engines you have to bid on keywords to get ranked as high as possible. The more people bid on keywords the more popular they probably are. Nobody is going to spend a lot of money on keywords that don’t have the potential to bring in a lot of money.
Just like with the trending topics try to see if there’s some sort of connection between the adword ads and your offers that can be of benefit for the people searching that keyword.
Example:
Let’s say the keyword how to sell music online is used in a lot of paid ads and turns out to be a very profitable keyword. You might be trying to direct people to an affiliate marketing platform where people receive training in online marketing. At first sight, this doesn’t look like a great fit because affiliate marketing and music are two very different things but when you think about it with both you need to learn about marketing and sales.
If you make a landing page that explains those similarities and the benefits you might receive by becoming a member of the platform than its possible to direct those people to your platform.
Source #6 Networking offline
It’s so obvious but a lot of people online disregard it as a legit method to get website traffic. Networking or normal events that are niche specific can be a huge source when it comes to collecting leads. You can directly talk with people that might be interested in what you have to offer or you can go indirect and spread awareness by directing people to places where you have your free content and let your content do the job.
Source #7 Become active on Q&A websites
When I first heard about using Q&A websites as a traffic source I was skeptical. I personally never go to Q&A websites to get answers but when I visited one I saw that they were really active and where there is attention there is an opportunity. To successfully drive people from these websites to your platform I’d treat them the same way I’d treat people on forums and online communities. Start by giving a lot of value over a long period to earn their trust. You kind of got make a name for yourself so that when you suggest that people should visit your platform they won’t think you’re scamming them.
An example of such a website is:
Quora.com
You have your own account derived from your Facebook.
You can use it to do things as:
- Post and answer questions
- Follow and create a blog
- Manage content
- create ads with their ads account
- and much more.
It’s a very effective way to get the name of your website out there.
So these are my 7 sources of website traffic that deviate from what most people use. As I said in the beginning if you’re willing to do what most people aren’t you increase your chances of succeeding a lot.
That’s all for now.
Hope to see you at my next post!
