I have recently been rethinking my content strategy and researching in general since I haven't been ranking as well as I'd like plus Google cut my traffic in half. I have just really learnt how important it actually is to build relationships within your niche - actually get out there and interact loads; comment on forums, blogs etc. I originally only had the idea that you really only gained a following by writing good content that ranked high in Google i.e. lots of traffic = lots of followers. But, Google is making their rankings more "personal" and the way they are going with their algorithms who knows what will happen next. Bluntly - I don't want to risk it all with rankings any more. Instead I think social marketing and your followers/email lists are far more powerful and stable than Google rankings. You don't really need good rankings either to generate fans. Comments/interaction gets you fans - your good content gets shared = more fans and so on. If say you have a following of 10,000 and you are trying to rank for a keyword with 10,000 exact searches a month you can be sure that it will take some work to get to first place which will only get 33% of that traffic BTW. Now you send an email out to your fans and you will get almost a full 10,000 eyeballs on your page! Another example you are going for a keyword that only gets 3000 exact searches a month which will be easier, at least you expect. You send that page out to your list of 10k and you get more than 3 times more than you would have got. Now, in some circumstances it will not be as targeted traffic since it would be an exact keyword you are ranking for BUT its still in your niche so will be highly relevant and stable. I think rankings are third to relationships and content.
The idea is never to rely on one source of traffic, but organic traffic will always have higher conversion that any other. SMM is a great way to drive traffic and engage existing customers, but chaotic strategy wont work. Good content without proper SEO wont bring results either and for sure can't expect high rankings just relying on content.
I hate email, I hate list building - I've never ventured this path, probably because it annoys me when I get the spam in my email, who uses email these days anyway? You simply have to engage your visitors, give them a reason to come back... quality is the key & always has been. I hate people that block their content & make you A) share via Facebook or B) Subscribe to their email/mailing list - before you can get to their content. Never force these things upon your visitors - as the majority like me will block, ignore or leave the site. Just do what you enjoy & let things happen naturally. I've never been a fan of getting out there & communicating, dropping links, commenting on forums or blogs either - I feel that's a waste of time, unless you or the community is valuable to you/ie. you both have something to offer.
Google rankings is good for the website but don't rely on it make other sources like engaging in different platforms to introduce your product and services then interact with them and build reputation for the site.
In my opinion, businesses in general, google ranking is just a bonus. Traffic that leads to conversion are the most important thing.
I agree. Quality traffic and conversions are the most important thing. It doesn't matter where those conversions come from.
Thanks everyone. I have really only been focusing on getting high in the SERPs for traffic. Although my traffic is very low it is very targeted and it converts well I just don't have enough of it. I now plan to extend my traffic source out to social media, forums, posting etc
Do you blog about your site/products or services? Because if yes, and you already have an existing page in social media (like facebook fan page) then sharing and posting insightful articles on your page will give you a good amount of traffic especially when you update regularly.
That depends on the quality of the site & article, I mean 99% of FB users are not interested in webmasters, seo, traffic, tips or advice - so FB may not be a good platform to use if this was the case. The way he's talking about list building (I do laugh at the 10k eyes will read, 10k eyes will come, that's bollocks... even the 33% traffic from being on front page is bollocks) I'm thinking he may be into web related blog posts - again I am generalizing, 99% of webmasters are bloggers... I guess because it's the easiest thing to start lol.
I'm definitely on board with those that believe that it should be a combination of things. Social media helped me get my website started, but Google has also helped increased revenue. Going to continue finding as many sources of traffic as possible.