Not a fan of Google? 5 alternative ways to drive traffic to your website

By Amy @BubbleJobs

Following the introduction of the infamous Panda and Penguin updates (and an equally devastating more recent algorithm change which we won’t even go into!) it’s easy to see why webmasters and SEOs are becoming slightly disillusioned with the search engine beast that goes by the name of Google.

Just when you think you’ve got a handle on what Matt Cutts and co want, they go and change the rules again and you’re left desperately scrambling around for alternative sources of traffic and wondering if and when search engines like Bing will ever truly make their mark.

While it’s hard not to rely on Google for the majority of your traffic, if you want to be really successful online you need to find other alternative traffic sources to keep you going as and when Google decides to next introduce another of its game-changing animal-themed updates.

If you’re not driving traffic to your website via social media channels by now then you’re definitely doing something wrong. From encouraging fans to visit your website by enticing them with the latest offers to sharing great blog content with your Twitter followers, it should be easy to garner visitors to your site through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and Pinterest – and if you use the # tag effectively on Twitter, you may even be able to attract new visitors who have never even heard of your brand before.

Just because the world and his wife has gone online, it doesn’t mean that old-school forms of offline marketing are dead in the water. Think about it; how did you hear about comparethemarket.com? From an online source or from their undeniably successful TV campaign? Yep, offline marketing can still be extremely successful when it comes to driving traffic to your website and the good news is that there are platforms out there to suit every budget.

When it comes to attracting visitors to your website, email marketing is still a really effective strategy. From keeping your previous customers up to date with your latest news to showcasing your latest offers, email marketing lets you get your message straight to your visitors’ inboxes and because they had to sign up to it in the first place, there’s a good chance your emails will get read too! To test how effective your email campaign is, choose a few special offers to promote via email and see what the take-up is like.

When you’re developing your online marketing strategy you really need to take external network referrals like guest blogs and incoming links into account. When it comes to attracting new visitors, it’s all about getting your name out there in the right place. Why not think about offering guest blogs on a key news source in your industry or think about releasing press releases when you have some important company or industry news to share? When it comes to traffic, it’s like that well-known supermarket always says; ‘every little helps!’

Last but not least if you have the skills, ability and commitment to create an all-singing, all-dancing blog that features content that people actually want to read, you may be able to drive traffic to your site through your blog’s RSS feed. Yep, if your blog really is that good, people will sign up to your blog’s RSS feed to make sure they never miss out on one of your amazing posts. This should help to drive traffic and once visitors are on your blog, there’s a good chance they’ll take a look at other parts of your site to see what you have to offer.

So there you have it; five alternative ways to take Google out of the equation when it comes to driving traffic to your website. Now because Google obviously still dominates in the search engines, there’s no way you can ever take it out of the running completely when it comes to driving traffic (nor would you ever want to!) but hopefully by investing in these other alternative methods, there’s a strong possibility you’ll stand a fighting chance next time Google releases its next Puffin, Puma or Pygmy update!

Tags: drive traffic to your website, how to improve your website's visitor numbers, offline marketing, Online Marketing, traffic sources for your website

About the Author

Amy Edwards Amy Edwards is the SEO Manager for Bubble Jobs. With a strong background in online content and copywriting, Amy is responsible all the on-site and off-site SEO of Bubble Jobs and the Bubble Jobs blog. You can follow her on Twitter here or add her to your circles on Google+ here.