5 traffic generation tips to keep your brand on target

Many brand and marketing managers are under a lot of pressure to drive up numbers for digital marketing efforts, whether the KPIs are traffic, leads, engagement metrics or custom events. Here are a couple tips to keep the numbers moving in the right direction without being too wasteful with spend.

Don't buy links.
Even if you are desperate, don't resort to buying links. If Google catches you, your brand could suffer a dramatic loss in traffic. It's just not worth it. Google is intent on catching link sellers and punishing their networks. Recently Google took down Anglo Rank, which is now part of a long list of networks that Google has targeted. The end result could be a sudden and dramatic decrease in search ranking and, along with that, traffic. If your brand bought links in the past and is now suffering from a Google penalty, you can recover. Here is how to recover from a Google penalty.

Focus on search. 
Search referred traffic is yielding great results according to a study by Chitika, How CTR Varies by Referring Webpage. The Chitika study discovered that website traffic originating from search engines offer a higher CTR as a whole. Believe it or not, search traffic all provided better performing click through rates than internal website traffic or direct traffic.

Use social media for brand discovery.
A study by Forrester Consulting showed how paid social media ads are the top way that users are discovering and engaging with brands and products. About a third of all the study participants mentioned that they learn about new products and brands through social media websites.

Develop a mobile strategy.
Your brand needs to have a mobile strategy. For small brands with limited resources, consider building a mobile responsive website. In fact, a mobile responsive website could set your brand a part from the competition. A study by Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) stated that very few brand's websites are designed and coded to be mobile responsive.

Build trust.
Trust is vital for winning back prospects, leads and customers. Work on how your brand demonstrates trust through it's brand website. Trust is important for conversion rates, SEO and customer experience. Trust can be demonstrated through strong design, security badges and privacy policies. Consider upgrading and optimizing your website trust factors.