5 easy ways to acquire traffic with a zero budget
Image by Laura Chouette on Unsplash
Let’s be honest, driving traffic to an online store can be an expensive process for most.
As if that’s not enough, it’s just as difficult to encourage online users to buy from you, as opposed to established Brands with deep pockets.
It’s true. Even when you have the most impressive design, and the best products, generating traffic is still one of the most challenging aspects of owning and operating an online store.
Now that’s not to say that driving traffic needs to be so difficult or expensive.
There are many effective techniques for driving traffic to your online store without spending a fortune.
This article will explain how many eCommerce website owners, faced with the same challenges, are leveraging proven tactics to generate low-cost traffic to stay ahead of the competition.
5 Ways to drive traffic to your online store without money
Let’s take a deeper look at what you can do right now.
1) Improve your SEO expertise
Believe it or not, learning how to master search engine optimization (SEO) is completely free. As you know, this will enable you to drive traffic to your online store using organic results in search engines.
SEO is one of the most effective ways of generating traffic for your online store and this is certainly true over long periods. This is because people who come across organic search results are looking for your product or service.
Image by Webaroo.com.au on Unsplash
While many businesses hire SEO experts to take care of this function, you can easily take advantage of the best SEO strategies by:
- Performing your own keyword research
- Creating blog articles, or
- Publishing guest posts on other websites
The list is endless.
2) Make better use of your social media
Social media is a really big deal for online retailers, and traction is near impossible without a presence on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.
More than one-third of the world’s population is now using one platform or another on a daily basis. For this reason, posting regular updates on social is a great way to get more traffic.
At the same time, it’s not simply enough to gain this traffic but you should also be making better use of social media by taking time to appreciate this attention.
Image by Practical Ecommerce - "Google divides the customer purchase path into four segments."
Always make every effort to thank these viewers and respond to each and every comment.
Also, posting interesting content and images on a regular basis is just as important, while a call-to-action is probably the most powerful aspect that most people forget to include on social.
It’s worth considering an offline gift insert into each eCommerce order, your fulfilment service provider can add this before shipping.
A gift can influence customers to share good news through social channels.
Image by Practical Ecommerce - "Social media assists in the purchase process."
3) Ask your customers to leave reviews
Make it a priority to request reviews from your customers. Not only do you want to receive feedback on your customer service and product, but you also want these reviews to influence prospective customers.
Recent statistics show that at least 92% of consumers consider online reviews as part of their decision-making process.
It is also essential to remember that even if you get a bad review, you should acknowledge the feedback, propose a solution and even apologise if necessary.
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4) Reach out to influencers
Influencer marketing has become immensely popular these days and most professional marketers continue to focus on this are for good reason.
According to Wordstream.com, a study undertaken by Statista shows that "more than 45% of micro-influencer followers tried a recommended product, and 26.9% made a purchase after seeing a post."
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Research shows that most consumers are more likely to be influenced by an actual person than a brand or company name.
With this in mind, you should identify and connect with Instagrammers, bloggers or vloggers with an active following in your industry segment.
There are creative ways to connect with influencers that do not require a financial outlay, like sending free product samples, commenting/tagging on posts, or simply sharing audience exposure.
5) Pay more attention to free off-site channels
There's an abundance of high-ranking authority websites like NewsBreak where users can post articles on any topic.
Also, some websites offer question and answer forums for certain topics. So when you discover queries that relate to your business or industry, you can provide valuable answers.
Knowledge sharing is a fantastic way to drive free traffic to your online store.
In its most recent update, Google has shown a very strong preference for websites like NewsBreak, which makes sense, plus it's a great way to improve your SEO at the same time.
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Final thoughts
As you can see, each of these methods is entirely free, with the exception of your time. With the right approach, they can also drive just as much traffic as paid promotion.
To recap, here are the 5 takeaways:
- №1 — Improve your SEO expertise
- №2 — Make better use of your social media
- №3 — Ask your customers to leave reviews
- №4 — Reach out to influencers
- №5 — Pay more attention to free off-site channels
These steps can help you build authority and presence for your online store, while increased traffic and sales will most certainly follow soon after.