When companies and brands try to tackle the problem of growing blog traffic most overlook one of the simplest and most efficient methods available. Most brands are still stuck trying to promote themselves and talk about how they are better/cheaper/nicer/whatever. But, by stepping back and realizing how people use the internet now, a site can grow their traffic, and therefore customers, relatively quickly.
Answer Your Customers Questions to Grow Blog Traffic
Everyday, people in your business talk to customers who have concerns about all types or products and services that you offer. The same thing is happening online simultaneously. If your brand is willing to take on these questions and put answers out there for the world to see, your business will be in a position to grow its websites traffic and turn those visitors into qualified leads.
There are many ways to do this, and Marcus Sheridan aka “The Sales Lion“, has done an amazing job showing businesses how to pull this off. I highly recommend you visit his site and read his e-book.
How do you know what to write about?
In short, there are two very basic sources for fueling your blog/website with content. They are complimentary methods however and if you put in the work you will see results.
Ask Your Staff to Record Questions
As I mentioned already, every day the people in your business speak with customers who have all types of questions. By keeping a record of these questions or doing periodic brainstorming, you can come up with loads up titles for articles (the questions) very quickly.
These questions will most likely fall into these categories:
- Comparisons
- Best/Worst
- Price
- Reviews
Customers love to ask questions like this when they are making buying decisions. The best part is, these are usually very specific questions, which are closer to the bottom of the funnel of the buying cycle.
Use Analytics for Article Inspiration
This is inspired by an article I came across on SEOMoz. By digging into your site analytics, you can see what visitors to your site are already looking for. When you analyze this info you will see many more keyword opportunities than you thought you had. It takes less than 5 mins to set up the analytics to report to you what questions are already being asked.
Setting up this particular report will filter out common words used in questions: what/why/where/best/worst/is etc. You can then work with this list to see what’s already being asked and provide quality answers for these questions. You might also find that there are questions NOT being asked, which would mean you can apply your resources to other keywords.
Why Would I do This?
The ultimate goal here is not just increasing visitors to your site. That’s not how you measure success. But, getting visitors to your site is the very beginning of increasing conversions and ultimately sales. This is just step 1 of a plan that will bring you more traffic to your site. I plan to write more about the rest of the plan soon.
What do you think?
If you have any questions about all this I would love to hear it! Leave a note in the comments.
