How To Increase Google Traffic by 90% in 10 Days

It seems like Tim Tebow can do everything. He can work late NFL game miracles for the Denver Broncos, but can he help increase your search engine traffic? If you want him to, sure!

I am in no way a web programmer. I started a personal blog this past June and had no idea what I was doing. In July, I purchased a domain name and moved from WordPress to my own site hosted by Host Gator. I noticed a significant decrease in search engine generated traffic when I moved my blog to my own site, even though the content was very similar. It took a few months to figure it out, but I finally found some search engine success. Here are a few steps to try if you aren’t getting the Google love you deserve:

Identify your keywords and maximize them.

UnderScoopFire.com is advertised as a site for “children of the 80s”. The term “children of the 80s” is not a highly searched term, so we depend on the keywords in individual articles and posts to generate search engine traffic. Pay attention to what terms you use in your posts and always keep in mind what potential readers might be searching for. If you are writing about Aquaman and you want people who search ‘Aquaman‘ be led to your site, then make sure to use the word ‘Aquaman‘ as much as possible in your content. Sounds silly, but it works. Keep using the keyword instead of referring to Aquaman as ‘him’ or ‘Arthur’ or any other name. If you include a picture, make sure to display one that people are going to want to click on if they do an image search for your keyword.

Take advantage of free trials.

Use services such as SEOmoz PRO. This particular service and many like it will offer a free 30-day trial. During this trial period you can discover valuable information such as what keywords are popular, and if you have any 404 pages on your site (search engines scoff at your site the more of those you have) it will alert you to them. SEOmoz will also perform social media monitoring and give you a list of action items you can utilize to increase your traffic. Check out sites like Mango Matter Media- their list of the top Indian website hosts is comprehensive.

Use tags

If you run a site that has a WordPress theme installed, you can use post tags to tell the search engines what keywords are contained in your posts. Make sure if you specify “Three’s Company” as a tag, that you actually use that term in your post. Search engines don’t like it when you try to fool them.

Use Attracta.com

Attracta promises to increase your website traffic with free SEO building tools. They give you a site score which you can increase by performin such simplae tasks as submitting a site map (they will walk you through it), checking to make sure you aren’t on the Google Blacklist, link building tips, and linking your social networking efforts to your site. I saw an increase in traffic almost immediately after performing their 4 step process.

If you are using a WordPress theme, delete any SEO plugins you have

I’ve tried them all. I’m not going to make a sweeping statement condemning all SEO plugins, but as soon as I deactivated the two I was using, my traffic went up a TON. One of the things that WordPress does well is search engine optimization. Just installing and running a WordPress theme on your site will do wonders for your SEO. I’m convinced that the plugins I tried counteracted whatever good WordPress was doing for me behind the scenes. Again, just make sure to get your proper keywords in the post tags. When I deactivated and deleted “Simple SEO” and other plugins I was using (which required extra work every time I posted an article), our search engine traffic went up over 80% in less than two weeks.

Do research on Twitter

If you have a website or blog that you are trying to generate traffic to, you must be on Twitter. Make sure your Twitter profile relays your message clearly and states your purpose. Search for other users that are talking about the things you post about, and follow them. I know when I gain a follower I always check out their profile. If I see something I like or can relate to, I follow them back.

Log on daily and see what’s trending on Twitter. If something is trending that relates to your site, use #hashtags to join the trending conversation and gain exposure. Lets say “Tim Tebow” is trending, and you run a website about athletes who are dating or married to models. Now is the time to tweet a link to your site and use the #Tebow hashtag. Follow the people talking about it, they may follow you back.

Here is where this relates to search engine traffic: There is a good chance that the many of the same things that trend on Twitter are frequently used keywords in search engine searches. If you’re keeping an eye on what type of subjects trend daily, you can plan on what content to focus on creating.

Keep on plugging

When I started a site, I did weeks of research on how to increase traffic. Most of the helpful articles I read included the following advice: stay with it. Most sites don’t start to see real traffic until at least a year into their lives. They key is, not just to let a site live for a year, but consistently post new content for at least a year. Go for 5 days a week, and if you can’t hit that goal, at least get something new posted every other day. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts to achieving high volumes of search engine traffic, but there are some helpful tips to boost your efforts. I hope what I’ve shared can be helpful to someone, feel free to comment or contact me if you have any questions.