Are you still struggling to grow your email list? The reason you aren’t seeing a lot of optins could be because you simply aren’t driving enough traffic to them. In this post, we’ll share 22 traffic hacks that you can use to drive your email list signups through the roof.
So you’ve optimized your optin forms for conversions, and you’ve placed your optin forms on all the high-converting areas of your website, but you still aren’t getting many email subscribers. What’s going on?
Most likely, you have a traffic problem.
You see, although there are tons of different tactics for driving traffic, unfortunately most marketers only focus on one or two. A narrow focus can work, however, if you aren’t happy with your results then it is probably time to test out a new strategy or two.
And if you are already getting results, just think how much more effective your lead generation campaigns could be with multiple sources of traffic!
Here are 22 ways that you can drive traffic to your optin forms and exponentially speed up your list growth…
1. Target Long-Tail Keywords
Gone are the days of focusing on short keywords. Most of these search terms are so overly saturated that it’s nearly impossible to compete. Instead, you should spend your time researching and targeting long-tail keywords (keyword phrases with 3-4 words) that are important to your audience.
Here’s a simple way to find long-tail keywords to target. First, enter in your short-tail keyword into Google (e.g. “best recipes”):
Then, scroll down to the bottom of the page where is says, “Searches related to…”. Those are your long-tail keywords! (e.g. “best dinner recipes”, “best easy recipes”, “best chicken recipes”, “best recipes ever”, etc.)
2. Trade Ads
Here’s an unconventional tip that you’ve probably never tried. Many bloggers and websites are willing to trade ad space with related, non-competing websites in order to gain access to a new audience.
Are you in the health food industry? Team up with someone in the fitness industry. Are you in the fashion niche? Team up with someone in the beauty niche.
3. Develop a Website Forum
Have you ever considered starting a forum or message board on your website? Once these get off the ground, they become automated SEO tools that attract visitors by answering questions that are relevant to your audience.
As an added benefit, they also allow you to increase site metrics, like average time on site and click through rate.
4. Post More Frequently
Most websites simply don’t post enough to attract the volume of traffic they need to grow email opt-ins.
Add one more blog post to your content calendar per week for a month. Then add another the next month. Track the results and find your sweet spot. So long as your posts are ranking in Google (see our on-page SEO checklist), you could see double or even triple the traffic!
5. Invest in Guest Blogging
Guest blogging is by far one of the top traffic acquisition methods currently available, especially if you are in a hurry. Not only can you use these guest posts to directly link to articles and resources on your own site, but you may also be permitted to include an email signup call-to-action (CTA) in your byline.
Just make sure that you avoid these 6 mistakes when writing your guest posts.
6. Create In-Depth Articles
Shallow articles no longer work. The internet is oversaturated with them, and Google favors long-form content.
Develop in-depth articles that are 2,000, or even 4,000-plus words in length. A simple way to do this is by compiling several related articles that you’ve already written into one mega guide. Here’s an example from Envira Gallery:
7. Start a YouTube Channel
You may know that YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world next to Google. But are you taking advantage of all that traffic?
If you don’t have an active YouTube channel, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. Launch a channel and drive more traffic to your website by including a compelling call to action overlay in your videos.
Plus, since YouTube is owned by Google, your videos could even rank in Google as well for double the exposure!
8. Consider PPC Ads
If you have a budget, give PPC (pay per click, or pay per conversion) ads a try. You’ll need to target a very specific demographic and use a compelling call to action, but this strategy can work under certain circumstances.
We recommend giving Facebook ads a try. To learn more, read our guide on 7 steps to optimize your Facebook ads for conversions.
9. Use Social Media Tactfully
Social media can be used to drive traffic and increase signups – just make sure you’re being strategic. Don’t be overly promotional.
As a rule of thumb, only 10% the links you share should be self promotional.
10. Invest in Visual Content
Thanks to the evolution of social media, visual content is more valuable than ever before. Invest in branded visual content to establish your brand as engaging and progressive.
Visual content can include:
Infographics
Videos
Eye-catching photos
Graphics with a shareable quote on them
Branded, “pinnable” images
Screenshots
Make sure you link this content back to an email optin page on your website.
11. Incentivize Visitors Based on Traffic Source
If you’re driving visitors to your site via an email opt-in request, you’ll need to incentivize them to take action. Discounts, giveaways, and premium content are all good options. But of course, you already knew that.
However, are you customizing the incentive based on the traffic source?
Think about what someone might want if they are being referred to you by Twitter, versus Facebook or Pinterest. What do you know about that lead, and how can you entice them specifically?
(For example, someone coming from Facebook might like to have access to your private Facebook group, versus someone coming from LinkedIn who may want an in-depth report.)
With OptinMonster, you can easily target your optins based on traffic source using referrer detection technology:
12. Write Evergreen Content
There’s a time and place for newsworthy content, but it’s a much better long-term strategy to invest in evergreen content that continually delivers value over time.
Try to write at least one “evergreen” post per month.
13. Host a Webinar
Live webinars are a great way to attract traffic and encourage email signups. Try to host at least one or two of these per year.
You can also archive the old ones on your website and gate them with an optin form so you get even more email signups after the live webinar is over!
14. Interview Industry Experts
Google is focusing on rewarding websites that post “authoritative” content. Enhance the power of your content by interviewing and citing industry experts.
Plus, you’ll get a huge social boost when the influencers you featured share your content!
15. Interlink Your Posts
One quick way to boost your SEO rankings is to try internal linking between your own posts. Whenever you publish a new article, look for ways to plug in previous posts.
Always try to have at least 3-4 internal links to old articles in every new post that you write.
16. Write an eBook
eBooks are a great tool for pushing highly engaged traffic to your website. Not only can you encourage people to visit your site in order to download your eBook, but you can also require them to input their email address in order to receive a copy (naturally!).
To drive even more traffic, try publishing on Amazon. Yes, you’ll have to forgo the initial email optin, however you can always include an incentive to optin to your email list inside the eBook itself.
17. Invite Guest Bloggers
Just as you should be guest blogging on other sites, invite other people to write guest blog entries on your site. If you choose the right people to accept, you will pull in some of their traffic and readership.
18. Create a LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn is by far one of the most underrated traffic tools. When you publish content under your profile, you should be able to pick up a considerable amount of targeted traffic.
To really make the most of LinkedIn, however, start your own group on your niche topic. Once you’ve built a community there, you will have no problem driving traffic to anything you want on your website.
19. Own the Comment Sections
Most marketers don’t realize that blog commenting sections are valuable. This is something Neil Patel has done to generate $25,000 as a result of 249 comments. Who’s to say you couldn’t use the same strategy to drive email signups?
Just make sure that your homepage is optimized for conversions, because when someone clicks on your name in the comments section that’s usually where they’ll be directed to. Neil uses an “upside down” homepage (with the navigation bar at the bottom of the page), so it’s essentially an optin landing page:
20. Submit Content to Aggregator Sites
While you shouldn’t expect your results to be overwhelming from submitting your content to aggregator sites, it’s certainly not going to hurt you. Every little bit helps – and this increases your exposure.
21. Study the Competition
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. In terms of business, this means you need to keep your competition firmly within sight. Study what they’re doing to get traffic and mimic when appropriate.
One great way to do this is using SEMrush to discover what keywords your competitors are getting the most traffic from.
22. Move Offline
Although you may not realize it, there are actually plenty of ways to generate website traffic and email signups offline. For example, if you find yourself speaking at events or attending industry conferences, ask people if you can sign them up on the spot.
Not only will you collect new leads, but your newsletter will serve to keep yourself at top-of-mind, which will help you to grow those valuable relationships with other influencers in your industry.
That’s it! We hope this post has helped you to find some new ways of driving traffic and email list signups. If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy 34 Quick & Dirty Tricks for Online Lead Generation.
Which was your favorite traffic hack, and how will you use it to grow your list? let us know in the comments below!
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