I am busy researching for a new product and was wondering what the biggest problems with free traffic are? Obviously not everyone is using free traffic generation techiniques. Why is this? I can give a few examples, but I want to hear the digital point members' opinions.
It isn't stable. I'm not sure what source you're talking about, but lets take Yahoo Answers for example. There's so much clutter in the answers with bogus websites that the good ones don't get the exposure they need. The best free traffic would be organic, search engine traffic. It lasts longer and is extremely good for conversions.
Well, free can mean a lot of things. Personally I love my organic traffic. It is targeted and steady. But if I for example used a free banner rotation it wouldn't exactly be targeted. Most free traffic methods that only drive up your numbers are mostly junk traffic for most types of sites although a few good hits may come from them. I guess it's really a matter of the type of free traffic you are using and what your website is about.
Focusing on getting traffic for the sake of getting traffic is not worth it - you need targeted visitors who are going to convert into sales, leads of actions. No-one is interested in getting increases in traffic unless it results in sales
You get what you pay for.... Free traffic is that... free, you shouldn't expect great things from something that is free.
its often untargetted OR the users are unmotivated in perfroming the actions you want them to do like buy something, download or complete a form etc. So low or no conversions and only inflate your stats or create short term buzz which is often not sustainable and turn into returning visitors.
there is so much spam on the net for traffic competition but eventually content and ingenuity will get you to it. Good luck mate
Some times people just don't like free traffic, because some methods take too much time. And time = money.
I don't think that free advertising is bad. I like free advertising. You have to be consistent with it though. You might want to read this article: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/149941_what-about-free-advertising
The problem is tht many guys can't afford the expensive ads fee.So they choose a free way to get traffic.I think a paid way such as ppc will be quicker and more efficient.Sure,free way such posting in forums or SEO should also used as an addition.
The best is probably both. You can get really super targeted traffic with free methods if you know which ones to use and how to use them effectively. PPC is nice for extra traffic if you an afford it.