When running a website or online business, a major thing of concern is traffic.
Without traffic on your site or page, it’s impossible to convert people into customers or clients.
With a simple search on “ways to build an audience”, you’ll see tons of information on the subject.
Some methods require you to invest some money while you can achieve others for free.
If you’re just starting your website, it may be hard for you to invest in paid traffic sources.
Let’s face it, Google Ads can be expensive.
With Facebook Ads, if you truly want results, you need to invest a good sum.
For the reason above, we’re sharing some free traffic sources in this article.
These sources will help you build and, eventually, convert your audience to customers.
Although these methods require no setup costs, you need to put in the effort to see results.
When you do it right, you’re on your way to building a loyal audience.
List of Free Traffic Sources
The rest of this article will look at a variety of the best free traffic sources to employ as part of your content marketing strategy.
Some platforms will be niche dependent.
Some will be more affiliate friendly than others.
But all of them, if used as intended, can help you gain more traffic and long term help you to make money.
Social Media Platforms
You might have seen this coming, but social media platforms can be incredibly useful in building organic traffic.
If you’re not utilizing the power of social media, you need to hop on the wagon.
There are a ton of social media sites out there that anyone can sign up on for free.
In this digital era, billions of people are using social media for various reasons.
This makes them excellent tools for directing traffic to your site.
Let’s Look At The Numbers
Statistics show that 3.78 billion people use social media worldwide [1].
There’s no doubt that this number will only keep increasing.
Whether you’re a marketer, blogger or business owner, you should include social media into your marketing strategy.
Use the sites as a hub for your ideal audience.
Then, create a strategy to keep them engaged and interested in what you’re saying or selling.
Many people also use social media to redirect people to their websites.
Once you’ve identified your ideal customers and you properly engage them, it becomes easier to redirect them.
Keep in mind that you don’t need to utilize all the social media platforms available.
Identify where your target audience congregates and channel your energy into building your presence on those platforms.
Facebook – The Biggest One Of All
Of all social media, Facebook is one of the best free traffic sources around, despite being despised by a large number of people.
You can get traffic back to your website on Facebook in many ways.
Either joining or creating your own facebook group (closed vs public) is one of the best ways to build an audience in your niche.
If you decide to post in a Facebook group you do now own, then check the rules first.
Most group owners will be ok for you to share quality content so long as it is not a direct affiliate link.
These are great places to create relationships with like-minded people and then, suggest your website if rules allow.
Twitter – Great Sources For Some Niches
To capitalize on social media’s power to reach a large audience, you can build your own Twitter page and create a huge following that will then allow for marketing of products or services.
Make sure to take advantage of your profile by adding a cover and links where possible.
We also advocate having a pinned Tweet so that you can get traffic to one of your landing pages.
Instagram – Image Traffic
Instagram’s a valuable marketing platform, but it also acts as an amazing source of traffic.
Anyone can turn their regular user account into a business one which allows you to track analytics and see your target audience while getting ideas on what works best for them too.
You’re able to place a link in the bio section directly, so that when followers click on those they’ll be directed towards whichever website or page you want.
This is great since visual content like photos and videos are more engaging than text-based ones therefore allowing posts with this type of media do better by themselves.
How to use Instagram Effectively
To grow your Instagram account and get more engaged followers, use tools like hashtags to reach a wider audience.
For example, if you’re a blogger then make posts that are relevant to the latest blog post on your website.
And use a hashtag to boost it.
Pinterest – More Imagery
Pinterest is an extremely valuable platform for driving consistent website traffic and should be used in all evergreen content strategies.
Who knows what people will search on Pinterest, but anything you pin can potentially appear as a result of this type of query.
You’re missing out by not putting your content on Pinterest.
It’s important to remember that it acts like a search engine rather than another social media platform because the intent behind searches are different.
They act more ‘actively’ towards finding information instead just sharing posts between friends or family members.
Pinterest Tips
You can add videos and images.
There were 2 billion monthly searches on Pinterest last year alone (and there might have been even more since then).
You can add meta data to your pins, schedule them up to tow weeks in advance and link out to your website pages.
All that said, it can take a long time to get results and if you’d like a lesser know Pinterest Alternative, then check out wehearit.
TikTok – Only For Teens?
In just a few short years, TikTok has grown to be one of the most popular social media apps.
One reason for its success is that videos are only 60 seconds long and it’s easier to gain a following than on other sites.
However, creating content can take creativity since you have little time in which to build an audience or make your mark.
The first thing you need to ask yourself is if your target audience even uses TikTok.
This social media site is mainly used by teenagers and younger adults so it’s important that they are the ones following, liking, and engaging with your posts on this app.
Tik Tok Tips For Traffic
Since trends change very quickly so don’t get discouraged when a trend dies off or doesn’t go viral like expected because there will always be another one coming around soon enough.
If gaining followers in an instant sounds enticing then joining a popular challenge can help grow awareness of who you are as well as gain new fans at lightning speed!
Affiliate marketing can also deliver results on this platform.
Learn more about Tik Tok marketing here.
YouTube – The Video Boss
Youtube videos one of the hottest forms of content marketing when it comes to driving traffic to your blog or website.
You can upload your videos for free to your Youtube channel, and take advantage of the massive audience base.
You will have to use video as a “medium” which means creating engaging, educational or entertaining ones that people are willing to share.
YouTube Traffic Tips
You can drive traffic and gain subscribers on YouTube by getting good at one or all of the three algorithms.
- Search
- Suggested
- Browse
While getting good will take time and practice, the more popular your videos become, the more YouTube will reward you.
Start off by not only focusing on the actual video, but also on the thumbnails and titles.
These are what makes a person click on your video in the first place.
Another direct method is introducing products or services in your videos.
This way there’s also an additional money making benefit to you.
YouTube Reviews and Video Upgrades
Record your video and use it to promote your website or an affiliate offer..
In the description area of videos, write a brief summary about what that specific video is about as well as provide an URL or link back to your site or affiliate link.
If your video is more informational, ‘How To’, then we suggest the Video Upgrades method.
Make sure you fully understand YouTube keyword intent and then direct traffic to a place of your choosing that is congruent with the intent of the viewer.
That might be a blog post or a landing page; but ideally a place where you can get the opt-in and build your list.
Email Marketing
Apart from using social media sites, email is another great way to grow an audience.
In fact, email marketing is one of the best ways to get repeat visitors to your website.
According to HubSpot, email marketing can generate a 4,200% return on investment [2].
Ignoring email marketing is like deliberately hindering your progress.
Email helps you build a loyal audience who are always ready to listen to what you have to share.
Social media platforms can fade away at any time. However, your email audience list is yours.
One of the best things about email is that once you’ve built an audience, it can be highly converting.
Email Marketing Tips
You can easily send out weekly newsletters to your audience, prompting them to visit the links you share.
A piece of advice is to build a blog on your site so you can regularly direct people to the site. In doing so, you’ll be giving people fresh and engaging information constantly.
To get a great conversion rate with email marketing, you are going to need to stand out from the crowd.
Writing fun and interesting stories that segue into a call to action will help you gain better results.
Try our Conversion Point course for this.
Google Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
An SEO strategy is crucial to directing search traffic to your website.
The best part about it is that this free traffic source can grow your audience beyond your imagination.
Ensure you have google analytics set up right to monitor your organic traffic levels.
Google has dominated the search engine market.
And if you can dominate the search engines, your life could change.
As of June 2021, the search engine had a 92.47% market share [3].
When Google ranks your website high, it gives millions of people easy access to your site.
SEO requires hard work, strategy, and patience. It generally takes a longer time, compared to some other traffic sources, to see results.
Google uses various ranking factors to rank websites.
So, the sites that have the most relevant and valuable information to a user’s search will rank higher than others.
Of course, there’s a little more to it than that.
Extra SEO Tips For Beginners
You will need to invest in relevant link building as well so as to strengthen your domain authority.
Go easy on affiliate links as well.
Once you’ve hacked SEO, you can rest assured that the people visiting your site are already interested in what you’re doing.
For instance, if someone is looking for bedsheets online and they come across your page after a Google search, you’re certain they’re already interested.
You need to follow SEO best practices to rank high in the search engines.
Pay attention to using relevant keywords in your posts, using internal and external links and sharing high-quality content.
Using tools like Google Trends, Ubersuggest and BuzzSumo will guide your content strategy.
Check your traffic via the Google search console.
Hijack SEO With Quora
Have you ever noticed that Quora usually comes up at the top of the search results when you do a Google search?
Now, consider the millions of eyes that visit the site.
Quora has a question and answer model. As a result, many people are always on the site looking for answers to various questions.
Quora is a community where people are always looking for value.
By joining Quora, you can begin providing valuable answers to people’s questions.
Where possible, you can also include links to your website as a way to build traffic.
Quora has over 300 million monthly visitors with over 190 million active users [4].
You can position yourself as an expert and use these numbers to your advantage.
As much as you can add links to your blog posts, avoid including links to comments or answers if it’s not relevant.
For free website traffic, and to indirectly take advantage of search traffic, we recommend this Quora method as you can bypass the search engines and piggyback off Quora’s authority.
Guest Posts
Guest blogging or guest posting simply means writing posts for another website or blog.
The idea is to write content for another blog that’s in the same niche as you.
Guest posting is an underrated yet effective way to get free traffic a boost in the search results.
Also, writing guest posts for relevant blogs in your niche puts you in front of people who are already interested in your offering.
There are several ways to approach this but the best way is to look up blogs in your niche and reach out.
Most sites that receive guest posts will have a form or section on their site that addresses it.
Don’t just write for any site.
Make sure that the site that you are guest posting on is in the same or similar niche as you are.
Also, pay attention to the quality of the site’s content and the traffic reports.
Many blogs that allow guest posts will give you the go-ahead to include your site link in a post.
Through this link, people can be redirected to your website or relevant blog post.
Once you’ve grown your blog, you can also invite people to submit guest posts.
This method can also help build traffic because people will most likely share the posts they write on your blog.
So go ahead and get cracking on your first guest post.
Post on Medium
Medium is a popular blog hosting platform that allows individuals to write and publish articles for free.
With over 170 million readers, this website provides an interesting way of gaining exposure as well as new audiences who may be interested in your work or services.
Medium allows users to share articles for free.
However, Medium has some guidelines regarding blatant attempts at directing traffic away from the site toward another one.
To get around this rule, ensure any external links you provide are highly relevant and helpful in nature so that they’re genuinely useful to readers of your article on Medium .
In addition , make sure you link out only when necessary because it can also be a violation of their terms if done too often or not pertinent enough .
You should try sharing instead relevant blog posts or even Youtube videos as an alternative way gain more views/readership without breaking rules set by Medium .
Forums
These are great free traffic sources.
Online forums might seem a bit dated to some, but many of them get a lot of website visitors from organic search.
Plus they provide an opportunity to escape the hooks of Facebook.
In fact, some forums rank very well for certain keywords.
Rather than having to learn search engine optimization, you can build out a reputation on a niche related form that gets a lot of traffic.
Some forums will allow you to put links in your profile back to your website or blog.
If you have a new blog, then this can be a cool way to begin to get free traffic.
Speaking of forums, this ties in nicely with the next free traffic source.
Reddit works in the same way as forums.
You’ll need to become known as a person who offers value.
All Reddit users are subject to Karma.
If you post a content and other redditors like it, you will receive karma that is your ‘authority’ or status on the site.
This authority can make others treat what you say more seriously than they would otherwise have if your posts did not carry so much weight because of all their upvotes from fellow Redditor’s likes (.
You should only post in Sub-reddits related to topics about which you know enough information for constructive discussion.
Do not over promote yourself by posting links constantly as this may upset some Redditors who could downvote them giving negative effects on your Karma.
Referral Traffic
Referral traffic is beneficial to marketers because it sends targeted visitors to your website from well trusted sites.
This gives your content the opportunity of converting that visitor.
It’s also helpful with SEO benefits since Google or other search engines consider these links great when someone visits one site after another.
Let us expand a little more below.
Lesser Known Free Traffic Sources
Digg is one of the most powerful traffic sources out there if used correctly.
If you have a news related site, then perhaps consider Fark.
If you are someone who is a graphic designer or created professional images, then consider Imgur or Dribble for traffic.
Other options that might (or might not) be a fit for you include:
The sites above are a great way to drive free referral traffic to your blog or website.
And done well, you might get some of those people to click on your affiliate or sales page link.
Conclusion
Building an audience doesn’t have to be a financially expensive process.
Although free traffic sources require effort, the result will be worth it if you keep at it.
Digital marketing without traffic is doomed to failure.
From this article, you can find various free website traffic sources that’ll help you drive traffic.
Whatever sources you choose to utilize, be sure to stay consistent with them.
Choose your free traffic sources, build an effective strategy, stay consistent and measure results.
What is your preferred method for getting traffic to your website?
Do you get traffic in other ways?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Hey Adam. Nice list of free traffic sources here. I’m always on the lookout for new traffic sources. Thanks for sharing. I knew about Medium but didn’t know how to use it so I watched your video you embedded here. I just created an account and am excited to try it. Cheers,
Stuart
Hi Stuart. How are things? Medium is great. You can import an article in one click sometimes, but if your hosting does not allow it, you’ll need to copy, paste and format.
Cheers mate