Are you losing traffic to your website?
Maybe your SEO has been suffering. Maybe you haven’t been able to keep up with your blogging.
One of the best ways, and most controllable ways, to get more traffic is Direct Traffic.
Direct Traffic is when people type a URL directly into their browser or if they have bookmarked a URL in their browser. And obviously these lead directly to a page on your website.
How do you get more of this traffic?
Here are some ideas…
1. Simplify Your URL
Perhaps the biggest way to get more direct traffic is by having people type in your URL to their browser address bar. Making your URL as simple as possible is the best way to encourage this behavior.
Here’s an old example… It’s easy to type in aol.com, but more difficult to type in americaonline.com.
People are hesitant to type in URLs for a few reasons. Some of which we’ll get to later, but one is that the URL is difficult to remember and to type. One mistake and they could go to a NSFW site.
Make it easy. One word if possible.
2. Add Fresh Content
One reason someone would come directly to your site is because they want new content. A blog is a good example of fresh content.
If someone is coming to your site once they don’t need to bookmark it. They don’t need their browser to remember the URL when they start typing it into the address bar.
Fresh content gives people a reason to come back. Add fresh content to your site (daily if possible) and you’ll likely get more direct traffic.
3. Publish Big Resources
That people want to bookmark.
Big resources are things like guides, white papers, checklists, etc. Something that people will want to reference again and again. Make sure you have some great statistics and some actionable tips. Think of it as something that might have 10 tips. The person can work on the first one and when they’re done with that they’ll want to come back for he next one and so on.
With big resources, you want them to be regularly updated. Maybe every 6 to 12 months. New stats. New tips. Updated existing tips.
Here is one great example of a commonly bookmarked resource page.
4. Make Your URL Easy To Pronounce
For the coming voice search.
Voice search is coming on fast. People are asking their phones and smart devices for information and they’re often getting taken directly to a website or page.
The first thing you’ll want to do is to make sure your URLs and brand names are easy to pronounce.
This way when people tell Alexa to take them to your site they actually get taken to your site and not to a site that sounds like yours.
“Alexa, take me to Big Eight…no, Alexa, not Big Ate…”
5. Make Your Site Trustworthy
So people feel comfortable going directly to it and not via a search engine.
This is another reason people are leery of directly typing in URLs. They read or hear the URL, but they often type the brand name into Google first. This way they know the URL will work.
But if your site is trustworthy, secure and all that people are more comfortable typing in your URL. They might google it the first time, but after that they know they can trust going directly to your site.
6. Practice Regular Brand Building
The more people mention your brand (and URL) the more likely people will just type it into their browser.
Speaking of people reading and hearing your brand name, practice regular branding. Work to get mentions on other websites and in other media. Podcasts, videos, etc.
When people hear your brand they’ll often google it first, but then if they’re comfortable they’ll just type it in directly.
HARO is a great way to build your branding across the web.
7. Ask
Ask them to bookmark.
You never get anything in life unless you ask. So ask people too bookmark your blog page or your podcast page. If your homepage offers fresh content then ask people to bookmark that.
Usually it’s really easy to bookmark a page. Tell people that it’ll make getting to your content easier and faster.
Conclusion
Some people get upset about direct traffic. That’s because direct traffic can seem to high on Google Analytics for a few reasons. But I don’t worry about that. I like direct traffic. These tips are some great ways to get more direct traffic. No more worrying about organic search or social media referrals or things like that. Get people directly to your site.