 I bet traffic generation is the most interesting subject you want to listen. Indeed, it's the most sensitive topic, too.
Traffic is always in dynamic status. It's the flow of human beings. It's not just a mouse click.
Different business models need different traffic generation strategies. There is no sure-fire strategy for all businesses.
To find people to visit your website, it can be a free or paid action. Good traffic generation method is a cost-effective way to bring visitors to your website. Instead of using Pay-Per-Click or search engine optimization strategies, the return (net result) is more important than the nature of strategies.
Definitely I use many strategies. I never rely on ONE strategies because I have several business models in my hand.
I try not to use the term "generation" for the whole picture of traffic. "Generation" is a good term to describe the process of "external" traffic management process, but it is not the whole picture of the internet business.
The mechanism of traffic management is:
New Visitor > Website > Return to the Website
Traffic generation is an accumulation process. We have external and internal traffic strategies to manage the traffic. We cannot rely on either one to sustain our business.
Philosophy of Traffic:
It's my experience after managing over billions of unique visitors across my website in these 7 years. I cannot say my approach is an answer. In fact, the philosophy is based on experience.
1. Direct Access
2. Referral Traffic
Referral Traffic
I want to talk about "Referral Traffic" first. It's because most webmasters believe "referral traffic" is almost equal to "everything".
Referral traffic means the other websites (or another online media) refer visitors to the one of yours. Your referral can be search engine, blog, directories, forum..etc.
You can generate referral traffic by free or paid methods.
1. Search Engines: you can generate free traffic by using SEO methods or paid traffic by joining the advertising programs like Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture.
2. Blog & Forum: These websites are more community style. It's like friend visiting the other friends' website. E.g. Mybloglog. People see your pic and are interested to visit your website. People visit your site because of "YOU" instead of your website.
3. Others: It's as simple as a webmaster puts your website URL on his site with or without introduction.
The common characteristic of referral traffic is: the visitors go to your website from another by clicking the "hyperlink".
We also classify referral traffic generation as the external traffic management. It can bring new and old visitors to a website. "New" blood is focused.
Direct Access
It's what we talk about "internal traffic management".
For the process of traffic management, you know it is a process of accumulation.
From the 100 to 10000 unique visitors, how many of them repeat to come to your website?
Direct access is the most stable and reliable traffic source. For a new website, it is quite impossible to have a good direct traffic. You need to bring people by using referral traffic strategies, then provide the content, tools to keep people returning to your website.
To keep people come back, we have many strategies like:
1. Direct bookmark
2. Easy to remember domain name (it's your brand, the most valuable asset of a website)
3. More valuable contents and web tools (it's why people come to your website), and think about their updated frequency.
4. Email
....etc.
It's the general picture you should know as a webmaster.
You can learn more ideas about traffic generation strategies by:
1. Check the tag of this site "traffic generation"
2. To download the detailed guideline and action plan.
Move to another topic: Revenue OptimizationLabels: path to excellence, traffic generation |
