The Number 1 Reason Why You Don’t Have a Problem Getting Traffic

Hi there,

It’s great to have you here, thanks so much for stopping by to check out my latest post. 🙂

So then…

Traffic!

This one word can instill such a variety of emotions in bloggers, product vendors and Internet marketers the world over.

It’s pretty much universally recognised that getting traffic is one of the most important things you need to nail for your online business or blog to succeed.

It’s as I always say: traffic = people.

So, without people, you have no business, right?

That’s why, then, it’s critical to give attention to this important topic.

But in so doing, people agonize over it. They pour their heart and soul into figuring out new ways of getting traffic, trying to find some magic solution that will solve all their traffic problems.

Sound familiar?

I wouldn’t be surprised if it does, especially if you’re a newbie. After all, without an audience, you’re pretty much hamstrung before you’ve even started.

Or at least that may be how it feels.

But I’m going to let you in on a secret…

Well, it’s not really a secret, but given the way some people view this topic, you might think it was!

You Don’t Have a Problem Getting Traffic

Here’s the thing:

The number 1 reason why you don’t have a problem getting traffic is because there isn’t a problem.

Let me say that again – getting traffic isn’t a problem.

Getting traffic is the easy part.

The bigger issues are:

1.  What are you doing to brand yourself and get exposure?
2.  What are you doing with the traffic once it gets to where you want it to go?

You see, there is a wealth of traffic out there and so many ways to get it. If you have an offer and you want to direct people to a squeeze page, you can buy traffic. There’s no shortage of paid traffic available.

If you are a blogger then you have a ready-made audience on other people’s blogs.

If you are a social media marketer, there so many platforms out there, each with millions of users.

So you see, traffic itself isn’t the problem.

What IS The Problem?

Conversions.

Conversions are always going to be the prime issue to address when it comes to the success of your business or blog, whether your conversions are in terms of sales, subscribers or whatever the end result is that you are aiming for.

Let’s go back to our two points above and consider the first one: What are you doing to brand yourself and get exposure?

Let me give you a hypothetical scenario (one that I have witnessed many, many times):

A blogger starts their blog. They put up a few posts, each containing great, original content. Hours turn into days, days turn into weeks and still, no traffic.

“Why am I not getting any results with my blog? How do I get people to comment? Why won’t they subscribe? I’ve checked my Analytics and I’m getting hardly any visitors. What am I doing wrong?”

I’ve heard that lament so many times.

My answer is always the same: “What are you doing to bring the traffic?”

I understand the line of thinking – put up a website, submit it to the search engines, people will find it and visit my site.

Well yeah, if you are going to go down the SEO route then perhaps, in its most basic form, that’s essentially what we would expect to happen.

However, no matter whether you focus on SEO or not, there are other things that you need to be doing.

You need to be branding yourself, getting out there and getting exposure.

Make a name for yourself. Give people a reason to click on your links and visit your blog or offer.

Give people a reason to talk about you, to recommend you. Give people a reason to seek you out based on your reputation.

By doing this, you are warming up and pre-framing your traffic so that it will naturally gravitate to you and your site.

If you’re a blogger, visit other people’s blogs. Share their content, leave comments of value that contribute to the thread. Reach out to people, help them.

Use social media.

Social media is referred to by many as the new SEO and for good reason. Aside from the social signals that a good social media presence sends to the search engines, it is one of the very best ways to cement your branding and get people to know, like and trust you.

Think of YouTube. Not only is it owned by Google, but it is the most popular video site.

Video is something that I know I don’t leverage enough myself, but the power of leveraging a site such as YouTube is plain to see.

If you were to make regular, daily videos that contained short, bite-sized points that were interesting and full of value, making sure you always included a call-to-action back to your offer or blog, do you think that you’d get traffic from that?

Of course you would!

And you would treat it in exactly the same way as I mentioned above with regards to blogging – get out there and visit other channels in your niche. Like and share their content, leave comments of value on their videos and offer help when appropriate, not only to the channel owner, but to their audience.

Do you think that would get you noticed?

Do you think that this would increase the know, like and trust factor?

Too right!

You see, it’s taking this principle and applying it to whatever you’re doing, whether it be blog-hopping, using social media or using video sites.

You are getting out there and making an impact upon people (potential traffic) before they even reach your site!

The next thing to consider is: what are you doing with the traffic once it gets to where you’ve sent it?

Is your content engaging, inviting?

Are you responding to comments on your blog posts, or comments/questions sent via e-mail?

Are you using clear calls-to-action, telling your visitor precisely what you what them to do at a given moment?

If you’re giving something away as a lead magnet in exchange for the person’s e-mail address, is your gift relevant and compelling enough, as well as the copy?

Nurture Your Audience

Do you see now why getting traffic is not the problem?

There is literally a whole world of traffic out there. Of course, there will be varying degrees of responsiveness and there will be times when you have to work a little harder to get it.

But generally, the actual task of getting traffic is not the hard part. The hard part is the conversions.

You could have all the traffic in the world, but if you aren’t optimising your conversion process then it will count for very little.

So bear the aspect of getting traffic in mind, of course. I would definitely say that you should have a clear idea as to what your traffic strategies are going to be.

But if you aren’t getting the results you want, whether it be sales, subscribers, commenters or whatever, it is more likely that you have other pressing issues rather than just the job of getting traffic.

If you are making sure to connect with people, engage with them and put out as much value into the marketplace as you can, then the traffic will, to a degree, look after itself.

The thing is too, that the traffic you get from adopting this approach will be much more targeted and much more likely to take action on what it is you want it to do.

And for the cold traffic that lands on your blog or your offer, if you are doing all you can to nurture it, then it will be much more likely to warm to you and, in turn, go onto take action.

What Have You Found?

What methods have you found to be effective in attracting good quality traffic?

I’ve already mentioned that I know that I don’t do enough with video. What about you? What could you be doing to increase engagement with your audience and, in turn increase the volume and quality of your traffic?

Let me know by leaving a comment below!

And if you enjoyed this post, please don’t forget to share it. 🙂

Until next time,