If you do nothing else this week, look at your website analytics.
In particular, look at the traffic volumes. You can learn more about your customers, your website and your marketing strategy in 5 minutes looking at clear graphical representation of your traffic over time than any other activity. And what you see should influence how you act.
We speak to hundreds of people a month looking to improve traffic, drive business etc but they often have the same challenge to overcome… how to maximise the returns of their investment.
The answer is straightforward. Dont put all your search eggs in one basket.
Search works best as a strategy not a tactic. That means taking the information from your analytics to design a cohesive strategy that will flatten the peaks and troughs inherent in search and build into a nice upwards curve that drives increased traffic.
Answer the following first;
- Are fluctuations in search traffic seasonal, related to economic events, sports or industry specific occasions?
- Are fluctuations the same across all search engines or does one perform better over another?
- Are there monthly variations you can capitalise on?
- If search traffic goes down how are your referral sites performing?
- Is the 5 hours a week you pump into Twitter, Facebook etc delivering traffic
- Is your direct traffic i.e. the traffic that arrives direct to your website feeding more or less as your brand grows?
Now design a strategy;
- Diversify across traffic types – search, direct and referral
- Use combinations of search tactics SEO/PPC/News to drive traffic from search, direct and referral
- Diversify search with adhesion to other marketing including Social Media advertising, social media networking, Public relations, direct marketing, internal marketing.
Why bother?
- Spread the risk wisely
- Increase the coverage
- Minimise the whimsy of search customers (the/your public)
Now watch your chickens hatch!
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