Search Traffic Vs. Social Traffic

Ken's Blog

I used to say...

"People use the Web for one thing... they search for information.  So build a site that delivers what they want... valuable info."

Now I say...

"People use the Web for two things... they search for information and they play/socialize.  Social surfers are not searching for your information, so they are not worth much in the eyes of advertisers/Google."

-----SIDEBAR-----
There may be certain exceptions, like niche-twittering.
But your BIG reason for niche-twittering is to develop a
following and then get them to contribute C2 articles.
If you can achieve that, you're leveraging your time.
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But the big bottom line?...

Stumpleupon traffic is not worth chasing.  They stumble off to the next site.  And that's true for most social sites.  There may be certain business/monetization models where specific use of social media in certain ways fits.  So I'm not saying it's all useless.

However, the classic high-value visitor is your search visitor.  And remains so.

Yes, Google tracks the buzz about your site at the major social sites, all part of their "off-page" criteria that they track to measure your overall site reputation.  That's why, like link-building itself, SBI!'s Socialize It! is not so much about any direct traffic it might bring you, it's about increasing your site's reputation.

Just like links, you don't want the links for the traffic they'll bring (although if you get one from a monster site that loves you, that's great, as we've seen recently!).  It's really all about building your site's reputation so that...

You get found at the engines for more and more words.  And that takes us all the way back to The Tao of SBI! that was written years ago.  Nothing has changed, only that social media are now a component of how Google measures your site's quality.

Don't chase its traffic.  Let Socialize It! spread the word (and "Twit It!" is under development as the 8th button for Socialize It!).

Your site's reputation is the tide that raises the boat of being found for more and more words, keywords that also are more and more competitive.

Bottom line?  All you really need to know is still what I "used" to say...

"People use the Web for one thing... they search for information. Build what they want... valuable info."

Do that, build a good inbound links program...

And you'll have the most valuable visitors of all... targeted search traffic. Free.

All the best,

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Comments

[Erwin]

As "the classic high-value visitor is your search visitor" (and I agree it is, at least my stats are underpinning this), then the social networks could be employed to increase search results/visitors.

Engaging people and seducing them to provide visitor created content (ie. SBI's Content 2.0) is a good example. After all, more pages = more long tail traffic = more search visitors. But in what other ways could we improve search results by utilizing the social networks? Here are a few I could come up with...

• Ask your social network what they would like to learn more about on your website's subject? After all, if you provide info your visitors want, they're more likely to stick around, and the Search Engines measure that and give an edge to websites that keep visitors engaged.


• If your site is really, really good, than the mere fact that you get more eyeballs on your site increases the likelihood of more links in, and viral traffic. But your site has to be valuable


• Maybe we should ask for a link? (this I don't know)


• People get to know you more on the social networks (if you let them that is), and I'm convinced that a site with a face is more likeable. If you're a likeable person of course! ;-)

That's what I could come up with from the top of my head... Any other things we could use the 'socials' to get to the holy grail, our MVV (Most Valuable Visitors)?

Kind regards,

Erwin.

[Gina Bisaillon]

I find that really reassuring because with all the buzz I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't be paying a virtual assistant to get me visibility on the social sites.

I certainly don't have time to fool around with those - I'd rather be writing content and creating more sites.