Web Traffic: Thanks To Web 2.0 It Has Gotten Easier To Get

Web 2.0 and the vast array of social media sites has made it much easier to get traffic to your site, but the gnawing question remains...how useful is that traffic really?
You've possibly heard the saying that without web traffic you're nobody online! Unfortunately that saying is true, because online traffic is a euphemism (translates) for visitors. Without visitors to your site you're never going to make the sale. It is clearly illustrated by this scenario; you may have the world's best invention or product that could literally turn the world upside down overnight but if nobody knows about it, nobody cares about it! Business folklore is peppered with tales of geniuses who died penniless and in squalor (all the while sitting on a goldmine of an invention) just because they couldn't get the public interested in their product.

As an online entrepreneur you are somewhat in the same dilemma, getting people to that great site of yours:

In a nutshell you need web traffic or your online business is as good as dead! Here's why:

Traffic = Visitors to your site or blog

Visitors = Potential Buyers

Active Buyers = Profit

Profit = Successful Business

The Various Types of Traffic

There's web traffic and then there's web traffic!

Social Media Web Traffic

Fortunately recent changes in internet trends have made it a lot easier to get internet traffic. These changes are due to the widely adopted transition to Web 2.0 and the explosion of social media sites. Web traffic from social media sites is far easier to get than internet traffic from the search engines but the downside is that this type of traffic is not as targeted as online traffic that originates from a typed query into a search engine.

So what exactly do I mean when I say that it is not as targeted?

Well if you're are to consider a prospect who arrives to your website via a particular keyword query typed into one of the search engines such as Google, that particular action means that such a person is actively seeking more information concerning that topic. Such a visitor to your site is in what I consider a proactive mindset related to that keyword! In other words they are prepared to act upon information associated with that keyword.

Curiosity Prospects

In comparison a visitor arriving from your site from a social media website was most likely drawn there by incidental curiosity. What that means is that that particular visitor probably noticed an intriguing article or post title of yours, with an equally intriguing summary which linked to your site. It was curiosity that led them to your site. Such visitors are what I term Curiosity Prospects! Curiosity Prospects land on your website by accident rather than through active query-word engagement on their part. Such a visitor is less likely to purchase whatever you're selling because they didn't arrive with that mindset. This explains the strange phenomenon of link bait pieces that draw hundreds of thousands of visitors with very little conversion rates (i.e., few become buyers).

The Numbers Game

The driving force powering social media websites is captivating information! Riveting articles that literally grab people's attention by the scruff of the neck! Thus getting any meaningful conversion rate from such Curiosity Prospects depends on a massive flow of traffic! The bottom line is that social media web traffic is a numbers game revolving around link bait; an art that some internet marketers have perfected to precision.

There's a definite science to writing great link bait pieces, however just like any other article, success of that aspiring link bait piece hinges on the title or headline! When one thinks of social media websites the word that immediately springs to mind (or at least it should) is BUZZ!

BUZZ

A great link bait article has to generate a lot of buzz. In order to do that, the article should:

Stir controversy;

Be Breaking News of significance in whatever field;

Be well written;

Be polarizing;

Captivate or educate the reader;

Be witty or funny;

Be shocking (not disgusting mind you, there is a difference):

Be well formatted;

And lastly, the body text of the article should follow through on the premise of its title in a logical easily graspable step-by-step fashion.

Buzz Transferring Positive SEO Influence

So what, if anything are you getting from that Web 2.0 traffic, if those vast numbers of social media Curiosity Prospects don't convert into purchasers? Well the plain fact is, the sheer volume of traffic flowing to your website is soon going to get noticed by the search engines which in turn will increase your ranking and positioning on those very same search engines. By its very nature that increased positive attention from the search engines is going to get your website much closer to the holy grail of any online business…tons of web traffic from the search engines!

Organic Search Traffic!

From experience and to my manner of thinking, this is hands down the best kind of web traffic but it is also by far the hardest to attain or get. When I say the best I mean as far as conversion rates go! So what exactly is organic internet traffic? This is that online traffic that originates from a search query conducted on the search engines. Say for example you're a prospect who is looking to start an online home business what online actions could you take to find out such info? Well it is highly likely that the first thing you would do is query the search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, MSN or Ask.com) with a keyword term that might be any of the following: internet business; internet marketing, home business or online marketing, etc. The returned results for that query are what we refer to as organic listings;which are the websites listed in the Google Index (and the various other search engines). Obviously the higher the website is listed on the Google Index or SERPs (search engine rank pages) the greater the chances of that website being picked by a searcher for the queried keyword they typed into the search engine.

In reality you'd want your website to be listed on Page 1 or Page 2 of Google (as the largest search engine Google shall be used as the default term for all the search engines). And why would you wish to be on Page 1 or 2 of Google? Well pause a moment and consider how often do you search deeper than the first two pages for any online query. I'm guessing rarely if ever do you go beyond Page 2,that's why you should aim to get your website listed no deeper than Page 2. Ideally however the best position to have your site listed for any particular keyword is the 1st listing on Google Page 1. However that is in a perfect world; but truth be told, once you are on Page 1 of Google you are made or at least your site/blog is!

Getting organic traffic is priceless because the person who typed in that keyword which ultimately led them to your site (via your listing on Google) is a deadly serious prospect. They are actively searching for whatever subject your website is about. Such a person is the most likely candidate to purchase. An added bonus is that such an individual is quite likely new to that subject matter which led them to your site and they obviously wish to increase their knowledge on that particular topic. This type of prospect is the best kind of visitor to get to your site because there is a very high probability they have not yet been tainted by the profusion of other sites out there covering the same subject matter as yours!

Traffic From Article Directories

Submitting well written articles to article directories is another fantastic way to get web traffic. The upshot to this method, as compared to social media (Web 2.0) website submissions, is that you can avoid the time-consuming hassle of aggregating votes in order to get your articles sufficient exposure on those Web 2.0 sites to draw significant amounts of internet traffic. Not only do consistent article directory submissions build your reputation (assuming your articles are indeed worthy) you can build up quite a following. In fact some online marketing businesses have found remarkable success based solely upon article submissions to article directories! And finally another way of getting online traffic is participating in online forums targeting your intended market.

Web Traffic