I read a blog post recently about types of traffic to blogs and which traffic is most likely to stick around. If I could find that post, I'd link it here, but I've lost it.
It got me to thinking, though - which type of traffic should we be gunning for for our own sites - search, referral from backlinks, direct, via email?
Is there a difference on one of our sites, Appraisal IQ, for the type of traffic that sticks around and reads more than a page? Or, heck, more than a headline?
I pulled some recent data and looked at the numbers and here is what I saw for where the traffic is coming from.
If you use Google Analytics, you are probably familiar with that pie chart.
- Most of our traffic (71%) is from the search engines.
- Just under 17% is referring sites.
- Just under 11% is direct traffic.
- What the heck is "other"? Email?
Is that traffic what we want?
Well . . .
- We like search traffic because most of it is long-tail keywords - people looking for specific content. We see that Google almost always sends searchers to the page that actually answers their question - that matches their keyword. Unfortunately, a lot of them still bounce off way too fast, and don't read other pages, even related pages with content that would help them grow their understanding of the topic they appeared to be researching.
That tells me I need to write clearer content that better holds their interest.
- We like referring traffic when it comes in from Social Media sites - where we primarily only post either local interest articles, or stuff that is a little more entertaining (and probably less informative). This traffic has the potential to hit the "like" button which grows the potential reach of the content. Unfortunately, this traffic is also fairly fickle - quick bits of fun clicky clicky and very unlikely to be looking for the services we provide.
Even so, Social Media traffic from sites like Facebook and twitter increases the awareness off the brand, the site and at some point, the services. Sometimes people will book mark on their own computer, or better yet, bookmark to shared bookmarking sites.
- Referring traffic that comes in from most backlinks doesn't stick around because it's most likely to be links in comments we've left on other sites, and those clicks are just curiosity clicks, quick to bounce away. Clicks from Active Rain are the exception to that - AR traffic actually reads content - and looks at lots of pages!
Have you experienced the thrill of seeing Active Rain really stick around and look at multiple pages of your content? The pattern for that traffic reenforces our belief that AR is a fantastic asset to real estate professionals.
- We really really like direct traffic - that traffic is either someone that has the site bookmarked, or typed in the URL directly. Or, in our wildest SEO fantasies, maybe even has a tab open with our site from a prior visit! Oh, if only that were the case, wouldn't that be awesome?
When we step back and look at the whole picture, here is what we conclude:
- We want more direct traffic
- We need regular content for Social Media, and that content probably needs to be different than other articles on the site
- We need to continue to grow the article base of "how to" and "stuff explained" posts, because that brings in regular traffic, and when it's local traffic searching for a service that meets their immediate need, BING! They may convert.
I would very much like to hear your experiences with analyzing your traffic, and the conversions to clients or subscribers.
Have you seen recent shifts in traffic patterns (seasonal?)?
Are you seeing some efforts pay off while others are just work that netted nada?
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