Traffic Generation and Visitor Retention Revisited
June 2nd, 2008 | 48 comments(This post was writen a while back, but it’s still one of the most important posts on my blog!)
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I wrote a similar post not long ago, but my primary point is so important and so rarely understood that I feel like I need to do it again, with a slightly different approach. This, and the previous post, are quite possibly the most important posts I’ve ever written. If I write multiple posts driving in the same point you know it’s important!
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There are a handful of niche topics in the Internet Marketing field, which are always talked about more than anything else:
1. List Building
2. SEO
3. Link Building
4. Article Marketing
In many cases each Internet Marketing Strategy is used along side another in one way or another and in all cases they are used with one very simple goal in mind, to generate TRAFFIC!
It’s no secret that these techniques work, but for some reason people are always looking for top secret traffic generating methods.
So, I’d like to share with you the #1 Traffic Generation “Secret” of all time!
OK, it’s not a secret. Actually, the secret could be that it isn’t a secret at all…if that makes sense.
Are there secret gold mines out there that will drive loads of traffic to your site? Probably, but is it worth it to spend hours, day, months or even years looking for them when you may or may not find one…and if you do, will it be long-lasting or a short surge of traffic?
The most important thing I’ve learned over time is that the most important aspect of traffic generation isn’t to get loads of visitors to your site from one traffic source, it’s to get a little here and there and RETAIN those you do get!!
You can work your butt off fighting the Search Engines, Writing loads of articles, trying to convince others to link to your site etc. etc. and do it over and over again just so you can duplicate the traffic you got yesterday, today, or you can retain the traffic you get today and add it onto the traffic you got yesterday and the day before that and so on!
So, continue to write and submit articles, continue to post to forums, continue to do everything you’re currently doing to drive traffic, but get a good auto-responder so you can implement a system within your site/blog that collects names and emails and/or do SOMETHING to retain them!
Simply creating interesting, valuable content is the best way to do that, they’ll come back simply out of will, but giving away a free report in exchange for their name and email is probably the most valuable!
Any way in which you can automate contact between you and them will work. Whether you build an email list, maintain an RSS subscriber base (this blogs lifetime RSS growth in image above) or use another technique to do it, you simply MUST retain your visitors. If you don’t you have a very long, steep hill ahead of you!
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My Unique Article Submission Strategy
Top Ten Article Marketing Mistakes
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List Building – You Seriously Need a List!
15 Article Directories Worth Submitting To
Link Building – Leveraging Pre-Existing Sites to Build Authority
Internal Linking – META nofollow, rel nofollow, robots.txt Confusion
How to Run a NON-Scummy, Profitable Email Marketing Campaign
An Excellent Example of the Power of Article Marketing!
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2nd June, 2008 at 6:00 pm
So, what you’re saying is, I just visited a blog I visit regularly to learn about how to get people who visit my blog to visit my blog regularly.
You’re making my brain hurt, but in a good way.
Thanks — Important article.
2nd June, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Yep, it happens. Just take some Motrin if it persists
2nd June, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Here here! If more people worried about providing something of value instead of just driving traffic, they wouldn’t have a traffic problem to begin with!!
2nd June, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Yes, this is something that I need to focus on more ! I think I will put my nose to the grind stone on this one and see what I can get happening for my website.
thanks Josh…much appreciated!…again!
2nd June, 2008 at 6:34 pm
GREAT article (again) Josh.
Good compelling content always wins!
2nd June, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Makes perfect sense to me. I guess I better start doing something about it. Thanks.
2nd June, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Hey Josh, I am just going down this path myself.
Just this morning I published my first mailing list incentive. I am giving away a FREE way to create a 3D version of an Ebook with Photoshop, and if they don’t have Photoshop, I’ll generate it for them.
Sadly I have had no takers so far…..
2nd June, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I like to think of my blog as a magnet…and the better content I deliver…the more “life-changing” that it can be…the more traffic I get.
Great post Josh!
–Joseph Ratliff
Author of The Profitable Business Edge 2
2nd June, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Josh;
Content is King. Clearly.
I think the trap that new bloggers (especially MMO/IMers) face is that they don’t feel like they have the authority to have a strong opinon. So, they look for shortcuts to compensate.
The other thing might be that they are impatient. It looks to me like you got over 100 subs in 6 weeks. That is very fast. How did you do that?
2nd June, 2008 at 6:47 pm
That is what I have been trying to do. I am giving away a free report on the backpainwiki site. I have gotten a few signups, but not like I really thought would happen. May need to reword it a bit. Change it up and see what happens.
Steve
2nd June, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Dude, your blog sucks.
Feel better now? Doesn’t it get old with people always telling you how GREAT you are?
So…
1. List Building
2. SEO
3. Link Building
4. Article Marketing
I have no interest in list building. I live and breathe SEO out of each pore of my body.
Now, when it comes to “link building”, how do you define that? I thought your definition of link building WAS article marketing.
2nd June, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Good tips as usual Josh. Many people just focus on getting people to the site but you also need to have content and updates that keep them coming back for more. I have actually been focusing on that lately and my adsense earnings have literally doubled in a short amount of time along with my return visitors!!
2nd June, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Hey Josh,
Just noticed the change in ranking for MMO. What do you think caused it?
2nd June, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Josh
Great posts as usual, thank you.
As you said, your message is one that needs driving home and repeating. There are NO quick fixes or else everyone would do it and no one would need to do any work.
Quick question: what tool did you use to estimate the number of subsrcribers you stated earlier?
With thanks
Sami
2nd June, 2008 at 7:19 pm
Along with traffic generation I think converting that traffic is a priority also. I don’t want just any traffic, I want traffic that will click on an advertiser. Maybe this can be an upcoming post for discussion.
2nd June, 2008 at 7:20 pm
This is not working well for me, for some reason. I took new blog,word press with highly targeted niche picked with ‘Micro Niche Finder’,great keywords and wrote articles,posted on a blog daily 2 times.Added RSS feed ,my space to get more link, joined directory’s,posted on other peoples blogs with high PR and should have around 3000 visitors a month and I have 169 visitors per month.I am still doing that but people,most of them,taking my articles from ‘GoArticles.com’ and post without my link back.I did go to support,reported spam but no reaction.Out of many articles I wrote I got 4 links back.Out of more then 50 articles I posted on the article directory’s all over the web. This method is NOT working for me, not because I don’t work but ….I don’t know Josh.Good for you!I am happy for you and all the others if you can do it. I don’t know how to protect my link or my content other then to post it on my site first.That will be recognized by Google as original content but it will not give me back links. I don’t want to discourage anyone here.Keep doing that.
Kind regards
Kathy
2nd June, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Great post once again Josh.
I think you’re absolutely right.
I sell info products on ebay and from my research, those auctions with lots of bids on them attract a lot more traffic. Thus, the more you can engage with the audience and pick up regular vistors the better. Those visitors in turn feel part of the community and join in discussion.
I tell you one thing that seems to work a treat and I seriously need to add this onto my blog is the
“notify me of followup comments via e-mail” script”
I think that’s a seriously powerful bit of script as It fires off an email every time somebody comments on the post. I tend to visit blogs with this function more often than others without.
DesDrec.
2nd June, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Well, your email list sure keeps me coming back. Been reading every article. I’m always reluctant to give out my email, but I’m glad I did because you always have great articles. This is just proof that your methods work.
2nd June, 2008 at 7:50 pm
Hi Josh
Do you see any conflict between offering attractive/worthwhile content to your visitors (to keep them) and aggressive adsense placement? You suggest putting ads in prominent places to get high CTR but I must admit that these types of sites normally make me move on quickly (without clicking).
I’m currently getting a CTR of about 4% on my site which by your standards is very poor, but I’m wary of putting the ads in more prominent positions in case this deters repeat visitors.
Thanks
Neil
2nd June, 2008 at 9:25 pm
That is without a doubt the best quality traffic you can get and you work it so well Josh. You add your content straight to your blog and then email us about it and then “force” us to read it by going to your blog rather than just a message.
Keep up the good work.
Colleen
2nd June, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Seek the truth and it shall find you out.
Thanks Josh for the Email and “Great Post”
This is just proof that your methods work.
Keep it Up
Mike
2nd June, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Hi Josh,
I’m starting my email newsletter today. Unfortunately I don’t have the money for an autoresponder so I’m using a humanresponder (ie. me).
So far, pretty much just through writing (what I hope is) good content, commenting on others blogs and making some links, I’m gradually gaining traffic.
I’m planning to try an article marketing approach for a membership site I want to launch later this year. Though I’m battling a bit to think of lots of articles about one topic.
Thanks for the post.
2nd June, 2008 at 10:54 pm
@ Forest – Give it time and don’t give up. If you have something of value it may just need a little push. Post in forums, submit articles etc… test and tweak. You’ll get there! It takes time and patience, but once you figure it all it it’s oh so worth it
@ Mark – Very true. In this case they should target niches in which they have a little more knowledge in until they have something better to say
Do you mean RSS subscribers or Mailing list subscribers? The RSS subscribers just kinda came. I think it’s a testament to good content, as arrogant as that sounds.
The email subscribers have grown much quicker, over a thousand in the past month and that contributes to my free reports that I’ve released.
@ Steve – Exactly, test and tweak and test some more. At the same time submit articles, post in forums etc. to get fresh visitors.
@ Chuck – lol thanks. How could that ever get old?
I know you have no interest in list building and eventually I’ll change your mind on that.
Article marketing is a good link builder, but it’s more than that. Natural linking is obviously the best way to go. Good content brings in good links. But, some sites (niche mini-sites etc.) just aren’t going to get many natural links, so they need a boost.
For those sites I just submit alot of articles, do some selective link exchanges and go for the long-tail so it isn’t so tough to maintain the rankings once I get them.
@ Solor – Congrats, that’s great news! Keep up the good work.
@ Shaun – Please see this post http://www.ethicalim.com/search-engine-optimization/is-seo-worth-your-time-for-competitive-niches/
@ Sami – I’m not sure I know what you’re referring to, but if you’re talking about the RSS subscriber screenshot, that’s from my FeedBurner account.
@ Jaki – Very true, but yeah, that’s a whole other blog post
Possibly in the future, thanks for the request.
@ Kathy – I’m not accusing you of anything, but I’m just going off of what you say and assuming, so please don’t take offense to this.
It sounds like you’re not providing value and although Akismet has actually had my blog in their filter as well, I had to dig you out and that MAY be an indication that people are reporting your blog posts as spam.
If you’re offering good information on your blog, in your articles and in your blog comments I can’t imagine why you would only have a few inbound links or little to no traffic.
@ DesDrec – Yep, you’re absolutely right. Authority invites authority. I also like the email notify WP plugin, works well
@ Mark – Great to have you and I’m glad you enjoy my content! I’m doing my job then
@ Neil – Good question! I use a more aggressive advert placement approach only on my niche mini-sites. All of my sites that are set up to be authoritative I am not aggressive with my ad placement.
@ Colleen – It works and people seem to liek it, so I just keep on doing it
Thanks
2nd June, 2008 at 10:55 pm
@ Evan – Good news! Don’t give up on it! It’s sometimes a bit tough “learning the ropes” but I promise you if you don’t give up it will pay off in a big way in the future!!
2nd June, 2008 at 11:18 pm
@ Evan
“Unfortunately I don’t have the money for an autoresponder”
Evan, did you notice Josh’s link in his post above? Look for
“good auto-responder”
Those people do a free autoresponder account which you can upgrade when you make some money.
With the free account you’re limited to just 5 auto responder messages but hey that’s good enough to do the initial heavy lifting when people first join your list. So you can warm them up with 5 automatic messages and (with some testing and tweaking) may be from the 3rd or 4th message you could include an offer … all it takes is just one sale per month to cover you for the cost of the pro serivce of that auto responder.
I use the same serivce and they’re very good.
I wish you every success
Sami
2nd June, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Thanks Sami.
Very much appreciated.
I had just assumed it was a service that cost – most people trash free services (because they are affiliates of paid services?).
I am very grateful to you. Heartfelt thanks.
Evan
3rd June, 2008 at 12:52 am
An excellent article.You recommend to use a good autoresponder in order to create a coordinate system of traffic generation.
3rd June, 2008 at 2:03 am
There is a WordPress plugin called “comment relish” that will help you get RSS Subscribers. I have installed it on my blog and it has done wonders.
What it does is sends out an automatic message of your choosing to “first time commenters”. I send out this message
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“This is Rusty from Fitness Black Book…Thanks a bunch for the comment on my blog. I am trying to make this an interactive site.
I have a favor to ask…if you have liked any of the tips on my site will you consider subscribing to my blog? You will get notified of my newest post by e-mail, which normally happens 3-4 times per week. Hardcore bloggers like me like to know how many regular readers we have and this is the best indicator. It would mean A LOT to me
Please go to my site: http://www.fitnessblackbook.com
Just go to the upper right hand corner and enter your e-mail address and hit Subscribe.
I really appreciate it!
Rusty
Note: Your comment will disappear until I moderate it. It will show up normally within 6-10 hours max. I do my best to reply to everything!”
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This is a great way to increase your RSS subscription rate. I’ve tested a few messages and this seems to work the best.
3rd June, 2008 at 2:34 am
Josh,
Any way that we can hear more about your list building efforts and how that’s working for you? That really interests me and I know that you’re pretty new to actively building a list at this time.
Also, where is that screen shot from? Your Google Analytics account?
Thanks!
3rd June, 2008 at 5:40 am
Hey Josh
Lots of knowledge flowing in this here blog! As always you hit it right on the nose again. After spending thousands of dollars on product and seminars, you realize it all boils down to what you are talking about in this post…creating your cult as the Mass Control people would say
Now..can you do a blog post about some autoresponder sequence tips that you find can improve our success?
Keep up the awesome work man!
Mark
3rd June, 2008 at 6:20 am
Hi Josh-
I can count on one hand the listowners who practice what they preach, lol. Seems that SEO people actually get it.
I’m not going to try to justify my refusal to build a formal list- just steady income streams delivered by my seo research, planning, writing, and coding skills.
I seem to remember reading about this internet lifestyle’s ability to travel, but it doesn’t seem to be practical the way most people look to have set up their businesses.
Rich Sheffrin had it right in the Internet Business Manifesto- create systems. If your business can’t run without your presence, than you own your job, not a business.
3rd June, 2008 at 7:16 am
Hey Josh,
You’re so right when you say people spend too much time chasing ‘so-called’ secret methods that will solve all their traffic problems.
The best way I’ve discovered that brings in consistent traffic is to have a system. Little and often of the standard techniques is all that is required to bring in targeted traffic.
Of course once you start to see the increase in traffic, it is essential to build a list and build a good relationship with your list.
Cheers,
~ Peter Tremayne
3rd June, 2008 at 7:29 am
Hi Josh,
Simple stuff, but so true! The hard part is putting it into action.
It’s not until you stand back and think what kind of business you’re trying to build that you realize that this is the logical way to go about it.
Thanks,
John.
3rd June, 2008 at 9:51 am
I gotta agree with Chuck. Why do people write the same vacuous comments over and over ? Anybody would think they weren’t totally sincere.
3rd June, 2008 at 10:19 am
Thanks for the tip Rusty, I’ll have a go at installing that plugin. The use of pics in your blog is great and huge bonus when people use digg.
I’ve started using pics a lot since a little birdie said that google places a lot of weight behind the use of pics with alt tags in your blogs.
3rd June, 2008 at 11:11 am
You are absolutely correct. Many irons in the fire creates a stable, long term traffic stream. I once had the number of visitors on one of my sites drop in half overnight. Two big websites that sent a ton of traffic had gone out of business… and taught me a very valuable lesson.
3rd June, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I agree – a little of everything works, but I think people get their favourite methods of traffic generation and spend more time on that method.
I wish there was a ‘secret’!!
3rd June, 2008 at 6:15 pm
@ Sami – Thanks for adding on to that. I didn’t know GetResponse offered a free service…good advice.
@ Evan – The fill service does cost and the reason people put down free autoresponder services that are run by companies other than GetResponse or aWeber isn’t because of the affiliate commission, it’s because GR and AW get your emails delivered!
@ Rusty – I’ve seen that plugin being used (nice blog by the way) and I think it’s somewhat of a good idea, but I just personally think it’s a bit intrusive. If it were a personal, sincere email it would be different, but it’s automated. Like I said, it’s a good idea though…I’m not bashing it…I just personally don’t use it.
@ Chris – That’s going to be the topic of my next product. Since my last 3 products have been free, this one will probably have a small price tag, but it will be well worth the money, guaranteed. I haven’t even started on it, so there is no launch date yet.
To give you a very basis answer, I provide as much value as I possibly can and promote only products I honest recommend.
I send them to at least 2 good blog posts between promo’s and interact as much as possible.
The screenshot is from my FeedBurner account.
@ Mark – Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. I do not use autoresponder sequences for my main list. I use them for my non-IM lists and my MMO list though. A related blog post may come up soon, we’ll see.
@ Matt – Very true, and it always bites them in the butt in the long run, because people eventually see through the B.S.
You don’t have to justify your refusal to build a list…just know that you’re leaving a whole lot of money on the table
Much of my business runs on auto pilot and I enjoy doing the things that aren’t automated. I don’t need Rich to tell me whether or not I enjoy my “job.”
I’m living my dream and love every minute of it, whether I have to do a few hours of work everyday or not…it’s not work to me.
4th June, 2008 at 4:42 am
This should go to all that praise the almighty Google as THE traffic source.
Sure it’s good traffic, and should be paid attention, but they are not the master of your domain…so to speak. (Also a funny for Seinfeld fans.)
4th June, 2008 at 6:37 pm
@ Dennis – Very true statement. The smart person takes that free traffic from the SE’s, collects their name and email (permissively) and turns it into recurring traffic.
5th June, 2008 at 6:16 am
I bought a book back in ’79 by a guru named Don Lancaster called “The Incredible Secret Money Machine”.
Don also wrote around a dozen books on TTL chips, cmos chips, TV Typewriters, CPUs, and other wonderfully geeky stuff including assembly language programming.
He had the niche/relationship thing nailed, and made a decent living consulting and writing.
Like him, I’m a Contrarian. I know I could make money with a list, but don’t want to divert the time or attention to that type of relationship building. Got a factory habit to support, lol.
5th June, 2008 at 12:55 pm
wow, 79…I was born a year later
Well there’s nothing wrong with that, everyone has their own thing, but no matter what you’re doing, by avoiding list building you’re leaving alot of money on the table.
What does “that” type of relationship building mean? Not all emails have to be sleazy hype. I have a very good relationship with my list.
8th June, 2008 at 12:04 am
Wow – we are all finally coming around to the conclusion that the best way to promote a website is to make a great website.
On the other hand, the point cannot be made often enough to keep down the noise about turnkey automated profit machines…
Nice of Rusty to give us an example of his use of comment relish. I think with a nice offer in there even an automated email could create some loyalty. But again, an offer of value.
18th June, 2008 at 6:53 pm
[...] Traffic Generation and Visitor Retention Revisited [...]
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11th January, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Most of the people do not visit too many websites. they restrict their activities within their few chosen websites.
It is important to hook people once they visit to your site. They have potential; of becoming regular visitors
13th January, 2010 at 7:00 pm
I think that getting visitor retention is actually important but management of those visitors once on site is equally essential. Proper monitoring of these visitors through funneling is key.
14th December, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Very important point Josh! 90 percent of people that visit any given site and never return. If you have a way of capturing some of those visitors they can be repeat customers of yours for years to come.
Build that email list folks!