Do you know how to reliably get traffic? 

It’s not enough to rely solely on digital promotion, such as online advertising. To increase traffic, a promotional plan must combine both online and offline methods -- digital advertising, SEO, and traditional advertising forms, such as radio. Each one amplifies the other, and together they provide a powerful traffic-generating force.

Here are the 9 methods you can use and combine to increase traffic:

Search Engine Marketing

When you have a specific audience in mind, use Google display ads that run on websites targeted to the people you want to reach. By honing in directly on people who have your desired traits or interests, you can attract your ideal customers.

Retargeting

Only 2% of website visitors convert the first time they visit a site. Retargeting can increase conversion rate by as much as 14% with display ads that remind these users of their interest and send them back to your site to complete their purchases or perform other desired actions.

Social Media Marketing

Advertising on popular social media platforms lets you reach qualified candidates and raise awareness of what you offer. Flexible ad options can be tailored to your needs. With all the time that people are spending on social media these days, this is an audience that you don't want to miss.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) brings visitors to your site based on the terms they use in search engines. Once your site is properly set up to attract the viewers that you want, you receive traffic from Google and other search engines for free, unlike pay-per-click advertising. This is highly targeted traffic because people turn to your site to get answers to specific questions, find certain information, or buy the products or services that you offer.

Mobile Conquesting

Mobile conquesting uses display ads on phones and tablets to reach people based on their real-time locations and conditions such as the weather. It’s a great way to drive certain populations of consumers to your website, such as people who are passing by your store, people who are attending a special event that relates to your business, or people with certain needs based on current conditions.

Affiliate Links

You can tap into the reach of many websites by offering webmasters the chance to become affiliates. They will send you targeted traffic through links on their sites in exchange for commissions. Affiliates can be paid by cost-per-lead (CPL), cost-per-impression (CPM) or cost-per-action (CPA). The downside is that it can take a lot of work to manage an affiliate program.

Influencer Marketing

Influencers are people with passionate and committed networks of followers on social media. They are powerful promoters of consumer products because their audiences respect them, trust them, and look to them for advice on what to buy. Build relationships with influencers so they will promote your site. Influencers often have audiences with niche interests. When you find the right influencers whose interests match what your business offers, you can drive a lot of traffic to your site from people who are ready to buy.

Contests

Contests can be used in several ways to drive traffic to your website. Run contests that can only be entered on your site, or that require people to visit your site and complete some specified action, or by requiring people to go to your site to claim their prizes. The announcement of winners can also take place on the website to drive even more traffic.

Radio

Radio reaches more than 91% of adults in the U.S. Use this powerful reach to amplify your social-media efforts. Radio ads can publicize your special social media promotions or simply tell people how to connect with you on social media. The combination of radio and digital promotion creates a powerful synergistic effect, where radio ads multiply the effectiveness of your online presence.

All of these methods will increase traffic to your site, especially when you use more than one method at a time. Ultimately, though, none of this will matter much if you don’t have a great website. You need both compelling content and an effective website design to create a user experience that makes people want to stay on your site long enough to convert.