10 Sources of Free Website Traffic You Can Use to Grow Your Online Business

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Are you struggling to get website traffic? You’re not alone. Thousands of website owners are in the same boat. Traffic is essential for website growth. Whether you have an online store, a blog, or a business website, website traffic from real people is what you need to be able to grow and make money from your website. In this article, we will discuss the ten best sources of free website traffic that you can use to grow your online business.

depressed man in front of computer
Are you also totally burned out and don’t know how to generate more traffic for your website or blog? In this article, we give you a good overview of the possibilities you have to generate more website traffic!

Maybe you have already read many success stories from other website owners or watched YouTube videos in which the website owners publish their traffic figures.

It’s actually quite simple, with a lot of traffic it’s worth monetizing your website and making money. But the majority of websites get very little to no organic traffic from search engines such as Google or Bing.

It is therefore very important that you think about a strategy on how you can increase your traffic figures in order to be successful in online business.

In principle, it is not particularly difficult to become successful in online marketing. If you have a website that offers visitors added value, search engines should also take notice of your website after a certain amount of time.

You just have to make sure that you publish good and unique content on your website. Google and Co can only read and index written words, so you have to publish a lot and regularly good and unique content on your website.

Of course, marketing is also an important part, so in this post, I would like to show you a few tips and tricks on how you can give your website an extra boost.

Now I want to show you the ten most important traffic sources you can use to grow your audience online. We all know that website traffic is the most important thing if you own a website and want to make money with your content.

The best ten best ways to generate traffic to your website

  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): One of the most important things you can do to increase website traffic is to optimize your website for search engines. This means making sure your website is properly structured and contains relevant keyword-rich content.
  • Paid advertising: Paid advertising is a great way to get website traffic. You can use Google AdWords, Bing Ads, or Facebook Ads to get people to your website.
  • Content marketing: Content marketing is another great way to increase website traffic. You can create blog posts, infographics, videos, and other types of content to get people to your website.
  • Referral traffic: Referral traffic is when people click on a link from another website that leads to your website. This is a great way to get website traffic.
  • Email marketing: Email marketing is a great way to get website traffic. You can use email to send people to your website or to promote your website to your email list.
  • Social Media: Another great way to get free website traffic is from social media. If you have a strong social media presence, you can drive a significant amount of traffic to your website.
  • Forum Posting: Another great way to get free website traffic is from forums. If you participate in relevant forums and provide helpful information, you can generate a lot of website traffic.
  • Blog Commenting: Another effective way to get free website traffic is from blog commenting. If you leave helpful and relevant comments on blogs, you can generate a lot of website traffic.
  • Guest Posting: Another great way to get free website traffic is from guest posting. If you write guest posts for other websites, you can generate a lot of website traffic.
  • Directory Submissions: One final way to get free website traffic is from directory submissions. If you submit your website to relevant directories, you can generate a lot of website traffic.

There are many other ways to generate website traffic, but these are ten of the most effective ways to get started. If you use these six sources of free website traffic, you can start growing your online business today.

Now I want to explain in detail how you can use each method as effectively as I can.

There are a lot of different tactics you can use to get traffic to your website. There are free traffic sources but there are also paid traffic sources you can use to get traffic to your website, blog, or online shop. Make sure to focus on one or two sources at a time. Don’t try to do everything at once. Focus on one or two tactics at a time. Try to figure out which tactic works best for you.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is an important aspect to generate traffic to your website. You should optimize your keywords, title tags, and meta descriptions so that it is relevant for users that are searching on Google and also for the search engines so that Google and Co can understand what your pages are all about.

You can do keyword research on many different tools like AHrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner for example. You can find out what people are actually searching for and optimize your content for these keywords.

You can also see by using these tools how difficult it is to rank for these specific keywords. There are many keywords that are very hard to rank for. You should avoid these hard keywords and go for the easy to rank keywords.

ahrefs keyword difficulty
Try to find keywords that are easy to rank. Don’t focus on the hard keywords. They are very hard to rank for because mostly the bigger and very authoritative websites are dominating these keywords.

Also, try to find good long-tail keywords which people are searching on Google. By using long-tail keywords, the chances are higher that you will show up in the organic search results.

best Long Tail Keywords method
It’s way easier to rank for long-tail keyword phrases than to rank for single-word main keywords.

Paid advertising

Paid advertising is a great way to get website traffic. You can use Google AdWords, Bing Ads, Linkedin Ads, or Facebook Ads to get people to your website. Paid ads are a great way to get traffic early on or to show up for highly competitive keywords.

But the downfall of paid advertising is, that it can get really expensive. As a long-term strategy, I recommend, that you go with content marketing and SEO to show up for free in the organic search results.

google adwords paid ads
If you are in a very competitive market, it can sometimes be worth running paid ads.

If you get traffic by using paid ads, it also can be a good signal to the search engines. But make sure not to waste your money. Try to optimize your content and buttons (CTA’s) so the user will perform your desired action on your website.

But where you should display your ads? There are so many different platforms out there… Google, Bing, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, etc… ask yourself, where is your potential users/audience? Are they on Facebook? Are they watching content on YouTube or is your audience most active on Linkedin?

Once you figure that out, you can use this network to place your ads there. You should also check again and again how your advertising is received by the users and what your click-through rate is. Also, try different ads or texts from time to time. Sometimes it can also be worth hiring a professional copywriter to write your ad copy.

Content marketing

Content marketing is another great way to increase website traffic. You can create blog posts, infographics, videos, or other types of content to get people to your website.

Content is King… you’ve probably heard this saying before, haven’t you? And that’s absolutely true! Users on Google or other platforms are mostly looking for helpful information. Your job is to provide this information and help people.

You need to provide the most helpful content possible on your website. Google and the other search engines will quickly discover and index your content. This means that your content will also appear in the organic search results.

Also, try to create content that includes some keywords that have a high search volume. You can use tools like AHrefs, SEMrush, or Google Keyword Planner for this.

Try to make your content as interesting as possible. You should also create content that describes the individual topic in as much detail as possible.

Of course, I also know that writing content is not always easy. Not everyone enjoys writing content of 2000 to 3000 words. But you also have the option of outsourcing content and having the content written by professional content creators.

A very good platform for creating content is iWriter, for example. There you can easily have your content written. Here you pay, for example, 50 to 70 dollars for a 2000 word article.

But you also have the possibility to get support from AI technology. Jasper, for example, is an excellent AI content writing tool that helps you create high-quality content. If you produce a lot of content, it is definitely worth investing in AI content tools!

writing content with the help of ai
Speed up your content production with the help of AI technology

>> Here you can test the Jasper AI content writing tool for free <<

I also wrote a complete blog post about AI writing where I dive deeper into this topic of AI writing tools, you can check out this article HERE.

All in all, the main thing is that you publish high-quality content on your website regularly, at least 4 times a month, in order to produce the necessary momentum in the organic search results. Like I said… Content Is King…!

Referral traffic

Referral traffic is when people click on a link from another website that leads to your website. This is a great way to get website traffic. Try to get as many backlinks from other websites as possible. This way you can increase website traffic for free!

The best way to get backlinks is to create great content that other website owners want to link to. If you have a blog, you can also contact other website owners and ask if they would like to write a guest post on your blog. This way you can get a backlink from their website.

When you create great content, it will naturally get picked up by the search engines and the chance is high that you will get natural backlinks from other website owners to your content.

The more backlinks you get/have the higher your website authority will become. The more authoritative your website is, the more likely it is that Google and other search engines will show your content to the users in the organic search results.

You can use the following link building techniques to increase website traffic:

  • Creating great content that other website owners want to link to
  • Contacting other website owners and asking if they would like to write a guest post on your blog
  • Creating an infographic or video and sharing it on social media or with other website owners

To get traffic to your website, you have to be proactive!

Email marketing

Email marketing is a great way to get website traffic. You can use email to send people to your website or to promote your website to your email list. With Email marketing, you have the opportunity to reach a large audience with your website.

You can use an email marketing service like MailChimp or AWeber to create beautiful email newsletters and send them to your subscribers. You can also use these platforms to automate your email marketing so that you don’t have to do it manually every time.

aweber email marketing
Email software can help you reach out to your subscribers and inform them about new content you published on your website.

Another great way to increase website traffic is to use email marketing to promote your website to your list of email subscribers. You can use MailChimp or AWeber to create beautiful email newsletters and send them out to your subscribers on a regular basis.

You can also use these platforms to automate your email marketing so that you don’t have to do it manually every time. This will save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.

Social Media

Social media is another great way to get free website traffic. If you have a strong social media presence, you can drive a significant amount of traffic to your website. Try to find one social media platform that is the most interesting platform for you. If you like videos, you can use YouTube or TikTok. If you love shooting great and interesting pictures, you can use Instagram.

tiktok marketing
TikTok and other social media platforms can be a good platform to publish and talk about your website content!

Try to make videos or pictures about your website topic and then give a link to your website or post in the description or bio of your profile. This way people can click on it and land on your website and discover more information.

You can also use social media to promote your services or products. You can create ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads and target people who are interested in your products or services.

This is a great way to get website traffic to your website because you can target people who are already interested in what you have to offer.

Forum Posting

Forum posting is another great way to get free website traffic. If you participate in relevant forums and provide helpful information, you can generate a lot of website traffic.

You can join different forums in your niche and give helpful tips and tricks. You can also provide links to your website if it’s helpful to the readers. Make sure to not overdo linking out to your website or blog, otherwise, you could get banned from the forum.

Just participate in the discussion and be helpful to other members. This way you will gain trust and website traffic.

There are so many different forums out there in every niche or topic. You can also take a look at Reddit or Quora and find questions related to your niche which you can answer.

You can also use Google to find forums in your niche. Just type in “your niche + forum” and you will get a list of relevant forums.

Blog Commenting

Blog commenting is another effective way to get free website traffic. If you leave helpful and relevant comments on blogs, you can generate a lot of website traffic. Find already existing blogs in your niche and respond to the blog posts. This way you can build trust with the blog owner and after a few helpful answers or comments, you can start to reach out to the blog owner and ask him if you can leave a link to your website or your own blog in the comments.

This is a great way to get website traffic because you are already providing helpful information and you are building trust with the blog owner.

You can also use Google to find blogs in your niche by typing in “your niche + blog.” You will get a list of relevant blogs that you can start commenting on.

Guest Posting

Guest posting is another great way to get free website traffic. If you write guest posts for other websites, you can generate a lot of website traffic. Many blog owners are constantly searching for new content for their blogs.

This can be a win-win situation for both of you. The blog owner profits from a new high-quality piece of content. And you will get a backlink to your own website or blog. If you selling something on your website, you can mention your product in the content and give a link to this specific product.

But not all blog owners allow guest posting on their blogs. Try to email the blog owner and explain where you are and what your site is all about. Try to connect to the owner and show them that you are really interested in working with them.

You can use Google to find websites that allow guest posting in your niche. Just type in “your niche + submit a guest post” or “your niche + write for us.” You will get a list of relevant websites that you can start contacting.

Directory Submissions

Directory submissions are one final way to get free website traffic. If you submit your website to relevant directories, you can generate a lot of website traffic. Citations are a good way to submit your website to different relevant citation websites.

This way you can earn some high-quality backlinks to your website. But you should only submit your website to high-quality directories. There are a lot of low-quality directories out there that will not generate any website traffic.

local Directorys

You can use Google to find website directories in your niche by typing in “your niche + website directory.” You will get a list of relevant website directories that you can submit to your website.

These are just a few of the many sources of free website traffic that you can use to grow your online business. If you use these sources correctly, you will be able to generate a lot of website traffic and grow your business. Try out different tactics and see what works best for you and your website. Experiment and have fun! And don’t forget to track your progress so that you can see how well your website is doing.

Bonus Traffic Tip

I would like to give you a bonus tip that can help you to increase your website, blog, affiliate, or online shop traffic. There are of course many more details that you can incorporate into your content strategy. Therefore, it makes sense to learn from a professional and attend a course. If you take the course and incorporate the detailed lessons you learn into your marketing strategy, you will see great success very quickly. So you can quickly increase your sales and traffic figures.

This course has also brought me further and helped me to raise my website traffic to a new level. Make sure to take a look at the course!

traffic course

Conclusion

You see, in order to generate traffic for your website, blog, or online shop, you have to do a lot of work. It always takes some time before you can generate traffic. Especially new websites or blogs have a hard time getting traffic.

Google and Co first have to trust your website and correctly classify your website and content until you get traffic through organic search results.

For a brand new website, blog, or online shop, it takes at least six months before you can expect the first organic traffic to your content.

Google, the world’s largest search engine, has a specific feature called “Google Sandbox” that makes it impossible for new websites and blogs to rank high in organic search results. Websites come out of the sandbox after about three to six months and only then start to rank organically.

So if you depend on traffic right from the start, you should consider investing in paid ads at the beginning to get users to your website, online shop, or blog.

You must also not forget to regularly produce fresh and interesting content related to your niche. I recommend publishing a detailed blog post (at least 1000 words long) at least four times a month. If you can’t do that, try to publish at least two blog posts a month.

The more content you have on your website, the greater the chance that website visitors will find something interesting and stay longer on your website. This increases the chances that they will buy something from you or use your services.

If you follow these tips, you will be able to generate website traffic in no time and grow your online business.

I wish you all the best! Make sure to leave a positive comment if you like this article 😉