Generating Traffic to Your Website
Word of mouth. It’s a powerful medium... and generally not too expensive. When people see something they like, they generally spread the word. Of course, when they see something they dislike, they will often talk about that too.
Your website is a public view into your business. If designed and managed properly, word will get around and ultimately drive more traffic to your website. So how can you get people referring others to your website?
Keep technology current: Whether you like it or not, many people are wowed by technology they haven’t seen before. Plotting listings on interactive Google Maps with Amenities and Street View (think of it as a “virtual tour of the neighbourhood”) is a great way to engage your visitors and create some buzz by giving them current and useful technologies. Other technologies may include Land Transfer Tax calculators with current rates and variables up to date, Mortgage and CMHC calculators, News Feeds and YouTube videos. For insight about using YouTube effectively, click here.
Blog: Run a blog on your website. Remember to think not about what you want to write but what your audience may want to read. People generally don’t want to go to your website to read about your cat or your latest road trip. Read the latest market reports and write about it. You can even make it somewhat controversial... and be sure to invite comments. This is a great way to engage people and have them tell others about your site. Encourage them to subscribe to your blog via RSS so they are alerted when a new blog entry has been added. Read more on this topic here.
Integrate Social Media: People like Facebook... and Twitter... and LinkedIn... and many other social media venues. If you have set up a Facebook Page (see blog post here), put your “Like” button on the home page, maybe in the right or left column to keep it clean. If someone is visiting your site and clicks the “Like” button, it will show on his or her Facebook Wall, which is generally visible to everyone he or she is connected to. If one of those people looks at your site as a result of this and “Likes” your site as well, everyone they are connected to can learn of your site as well. This creates exponential traffic to your website without a single paid ad. If you are tweeting (a term referring to posting a public message on Twitter), put your Twitter feed right on your website. This catches the eye of your visitor and will often get them to “Follow” you. Once following, your visitor will be kept up to date on your thoughts (keeping you top of mind regularly) and those who are following your guest can also see your Twitter profile, which can again drive more traffic to your website. LinkedIn? Just have an icon on your site somewhere linked to your LinkedIn profile and people who are also on LinkedIn will know what to do.
Regular Newsletters: Anyone can get on a mass email list. In many cases, however, people receive the same information from several senders, none of it personalized. So, when we commence unsubscribing from email lists to reduce our inbox clutter, we start with the impersonal or uninformative ones. If you are to get people to read your email dispatch, it must be relevant. Don’t send the same home buying tips to your contacts who are looking for commercial properties, and avoid sending first-home buyer information to seasoned investors. Make sure you use a relevant and captivating subject line to get their attention and then write the story in your own words, or at least tweak your stock article (but please... be careful with spelling and punctuation). As some people may receive text-only emails or can’t read the email properly, make a copy of the newsletter on your website and give it a search engine friendly name like /january-investor-news. Then you are able to put a link to that page at the top of your email saying something like, “If you have trouble reading this email, click here to see it online.” This will not only look professional but will accommodate those who prefer this method, drive traffic to your website and possibly even claim some search engine traffic. Once you design your email templates and decide what will go into these emails and at what frequency (doesn’t have to be every month, but should be regularly), it shouldn’t take long to put the rest together and will be well worth it. More on writing newsletters can be found by clicking here.
Authored By: Bryan Coughlin, Client Relations