11 Creative Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Small business owners are known for being creative and personal with their customers and prospects; however, often they desire more traffic to their website and want to know how to get more of it. I’ll share a 11 tactics that work to drive more traffic to their site, increase conversions and be able to have fun in the process.
Traffic is not the only thing that matters. Heck, if it was, you’d just buy a full-page ad in New York Times and expect millions of people to go to your site and buy your product and service. The difference here is making your website known in relevant circles – communities – that are interested in what you do as an entrepreneur and as a business. Traffic helps, but it’s relevance and trustworthiness that moves the needle.
With that said, here are eleven creative ways to drive traffic to your business. Be sure to add your own if it’s not already mentioned in the comments, too!

1. Offline Guerilla Marketing (Stickers, Leaflets, Community Boards)
   This takes a little more insight and planning than others, but is worth it. People are interested in messages that they have to research and maybe even share strange and “weird” ads. Construct a witty message that describes your business for a larger campaign. Have it printed with your website address on it on paper, stickers and distribute them in clever places. You know, like University Student Unions, light poles, sidewalks, etc. Ambiguity will likely translate into traffic; so the key is doing it in places that interested people naturally meet and greet. The bottom line is if your stuff is legit, people will spread the word naturally; otherwise, it goes into the garbage can.
2. Participate in Discussion Forums
   Online communities are rich with very thoughtful people who methodically discuss, vet and spread ideas to each other and across the web. Communities are a great way to drive traffic because the more you find your niche and share your expertise, the more people gain trust and go to you for questions. It’s no overnight task, either, so it will take a little bit of time to survey and find a community that fits for you. Many forums on the web allow you to have a “signature” where you can plug your sites and drive traffic and SEO-juice towards your site. The key is to actually participate and earn the respect from others. Ideally, one would dedicate themselves to just a few meaningful commun