How to: drive traffic to your site

So you have a great website that's a fully-functional showcase of your products, services, contact information and company story – all in a beautiful, user-friendly interface. But no one's stopping by to visit and you're not sure why... the answer lies in the quantity and quality of your website traffic.

That's right, traffic. The good kind – the kind you want. I'm not talking bumper-to-bumper on the Long Island Expressway holiday rush hour traffic. I'm talking about the number of people who visit your website.

There are two main ways to help drive traffic to your website:

SEO – Search Engine Optimization – boosting your rank in Google and other search engines

SMM – Social Media Marketing – marketing your website through social media channels, like Facebook and Twitter

Here's a checklist of different ways you can drive traffic to your website. Are you tackling the challenge head-on?

SEO - Getting Found by the Search Engines

Are you posting valuable content on your site? When it comes to the on-page content on your website, make sure you've implemented a healthy amount of relevant keywords in a way that sounds informative yet natural. This will help search engines index you for proper search terms, which in turn will help drive traffic to your website.

Are you creating custom URLs? A URL such as http://mysite.com/238767 doesn't tell site visitors or search engines a darn thing as to what the page is about. Putting keywords in the URLs can drive traffic to your website by helping search engines understand the significance of the page. An informative URL such as http://mysite.com/Internet-Marketing also gives site visitors an extra heads up.

Are you optimizing your title tags? Title tags are extremely important elements of your webpages – they're not only the physical title of your page at the top of the browser window, they're the text users click on in search engines to access your site. Create unique title tags for each page that give meaning to what each page is about- it's a surefire way to enlighten search engines and site visitors.

SMM – Getting Found by Real People

Are you providing original, interesting, quality content on your website? You can't expect people to want to visit your site unless you are able to provide a valuable, enjoyable experience. One of the simplest ways to drive traffic to your site is to offer site visitors something unique and appealing. Make sure the content on your site is fresh, relevant and topical. If you've got bigger things on your plate, remember: you don't have to be the one providing all this content. Consider bringing in a freelance blogger or professional copywriter to craft unique, attractive content for your site on a regular basis.

Are you contributing to a variety of content channels? Consider sharing your content on article aggregator websites, such as EzineArticles.com and ArticleMarketer.com. These are great channels to help your quality content get noticed by a wider audience – every ezine you post links back to your website, instantly driving traffic to your website.

Are you leveraging the power of Twitter? Twitter is a social media platform that has completely swept the world by storm. Arguably, the target audience of any company in any industry – retail, food services, hospitality, universities, finances, entertainment, technology, media, animal care, child care and everything in between – is accessible on Twitter. Millions of conversations take place every second of every day – you can use this free service to tap into these conversations, connect with your potential site visitors, and help drive traffic to your website. Because Twitter messages cap off at 140 characters, I recommend using a URL shortener, such as bit.ly, su.pr, or ow.ly to craft a tiny URL for your site. That way you can use the rest of the characters for your actual message.

Are you advertising on a variety of Internet channels? Scope out industry-related forums and message boards – pose questions and provide answers; establish yourself as someone who's interested and knowledgeable. Most signatures on forums allow you to add a link to your website... bingo!

Are you operating paid ad campaigns? If your budget allows for it, consider paid advertisements such as PPC campaigns. PPC ad campaigns, like those created with Google's AdWords, allow you to create ads for your website that are displayed on search engine results pages when users enter a search query relating to your keywords.

Are you advertising with traditional print? Never underestimate the power of print medium; after all, it was around for hundreds of years before anyone ever heard of Twitter. If you're a local business, consider placing an advertisement in your local newspaper. Circulate your company brochures, flyers, business cards, and more throughout local venues, such as message boards, restaurants, libraries, clubs and cafés.

Are you doing all of these things but still not seeing results? Allow me to answer this question with another question...

Are you being patient? If you don't see results right away, it doesn't mean you're doing a crummy job. These tips can help you drive traffic to your website, but as with many marketing campaigns, they take time. Search engines need time to recrawl the billions of web pages out there and index them appropriately; people need time to catch wind of who you are and what you do. A general rule of thumb is to wait three months before expecting to see an increase in traffic, page rank, or sales.