Understanding 3 Main Sources of Website Traffic

Tons of traffic can be a bad thing. Very bad. One of my favorite billboards of all time, strategically placed outside the Fort Pitt Tunnels in Pittsburgh showed a closeup image of the iconic Heinz Ketchup bottle with a caption underneath that read, “Unfortunately, ths is not the only bottleneck Pittsburgh is famous for”.  Great advertising-acknowledging an irritating problem and at the same time, celebrating one of Pittsburgh’s most beloved brands. I was still annoyed, however, having to sit in traffic for an extra twenty-five minutes (albeit a great ad had me entertained).

Tons of traffic can also be a good thing in my world. Very good. Online marketers, search engine optimizers and Google Analytics (not to mention business owners) love website traffic. In your Google Analytics reports, you’ll see some of the same entries come up again and again in your data tables. Where are your website visitors coming from? What should you do with the information? Here are a few “Traffic Sources” terms defined.

  • Direct-Visitors who visited the site by typing the URL directly into their browser. Pretty self-explanatory, right? Hold on. ‘Direct’ can also refer to the visitors who clicked on the links from their own bookmarks/favorites, untagged links within emails, or links from documents that don’t include tracking variables (such as a link within a PDF file or a Word document). There are a variety of other “direct sources” but these are a few examples. Google Analytics sometimes terms “unknowns” as “direct” so be aware of this when reading these numbers.
  • Referral-Visitors referred by links on another website. Referral traffic is Google’s method of reporting visits that came to your site from sources outside of its search engine. When someone clicks on a hyperlink to go to a new page on a different website, Analytics tracks the click as a referral visit to the second site. For example, if you click on the Fina Promos link here, you will be considered part of referral traffic, since this link connects you to a different website and it was found by you outside of Google search.
  • Organic-Visitors referred by an unpaid search engine listing, e.g. Google.com search. This is my favorite traffic source. The traffic that comes from organic sources is extremely important. Three immediate benefits include trust and credibility, inbound marketing and high ranking in search engines.

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Once you have learned from your Google Analytics Reporting where your traffic is coming from, you can begin to make intelligent decisions for your website.  For example, If  your bounce rate is high (the percentage of a single page visit without exploring your site further) that could be an indicator that site entrance pages are not relevant to your visitors, or that your CTA (call to action) is not prominent. Possibly you are not giving your reader a reason to explore your site or landing page further.

Bounce rate of a website has nothing to do with “Time spent on a webpage/website” (a misconception common about marketers and webmasters.) Bounce rate speaks to the quality of traffic to your site and/or landing pages. Bounce rate can be a powerful metric for measuring the defined goals of your page or site.

Fina Marketing Group can help direct your traffic. Tons of traffic can be a good thing. Very good. Be sure your website traffc sources get your readers where they want to go.

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Linking Your Way to SEO Success

Links from your website to other related websites, and vice versa, play a role in your business’ local SEO visibility, because they help to establish the authenticity and credibility of your business. Without appearing “spammy” use these 5 action items in your website link strategy:

  • Consistently share links to your website via your Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels, and encourage others to pass along the information as well. Speaking of links; Here’s a few of ours: Fina Promos Website  FinaPromos Facebook Page  I find myself struggling with this at times. But really, the next time you are sending off an email try and take a few seconds and include a link to a special blog post or article from one of your social sites or website that would help, entertain or amuse your recipients.
  • Include links to your website in email newsletters and other updates to customers. Posting a link back to your website on your LinkedIn and GooglePlus Page updates/posts can greatly increase your search engine optimization efforts. Again, without being a self-serving spammer, try to include your website link if it would actually be helpful to your associates or readers.                                                                             breastcancergirls
  • Host or sponsor local events, or provide discounts for neighborhood students, and then encourage neighborhood businesses, the local chamber of commerce, charity organizations and other partners to link to your website when talking about those activities. And don’t forget to return the favor.
  • Create a local directory of community resources including your favorite nearby restaurants, stores and cultural attractions, to provide an opportunity for you to link out to others (and for them to return the favor). Even consider starting a blog where you can talk about your business’ neighborhood and link to businesses and places of interest.
  • However, be sure that your link strategy is authentic in that you know who you are linking to and that they have relevance to your business. Also, do not create link schemes like spamming your business’ domain name on websites, forums or blog comments.

Here’s to your success!

Audrey Gotto

How Social Media Helps SEO Rankings

Social media sites play a key role in local business’ visibility in search results. When a potential or current client Googles your business, (and believe me they will before deciding to do business with you) ideally, your business website should appear first, followed by social sites. The more proactive your social media strategy, the higher likelihood your pages will attract followers- and in turn, appear within search. Give it a try. Google your name or company name. Does your website appear first? Where do your social sites appear and in what order? I tried this with my company name – Fina Promos My website appears first followed by Fina Promos Google Plus Page, Fina Promos Facebook Page, Fina Promos LinkedIn Page, Fina Promos Pinterest,  My You Tube Page and finally my blog.

What can you (or you social media marketing partner) do to help your local (organic) SEO rankings? In two words- Engage Regularly!  Here are 5 action steps you can take to regularly engage with your online audience:

  • Develop a strong social media strategy  that includes engagement and follower goals like the one in this inforgraphic from Social Media Online Classes

 

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  • Post updates on your new products or services offered. Can you feature a “product of the day, week, or month”  and highlight the benefits?
  • Create promotions or giveaways that require engagement from your audience. Everyone loves a chance to win a promotional product, branded gift or premium. Gift cards also make great promotions since they are easy to distribute and less bulky than larger gifts.  Give away a chance to win your product or service for free if this is possible
  • Highlight stories of relevence to your customers. Who is your target audience and what are their concerns? Posting about things happening in your city or town  puts you on the map with local rankings!
  • Engage on social media by responding to those reaching out to you via your social sites with questions or feedback on their orders.

I hope these few tips help  you see good results with your visibility online.

All my best,

Audrey Gotto-Fina Promos

 

 

Why Social Media Marketing is Still King in 2016

via SEO In 2016: What It Means For Your Content Strategy.

I love precise, easy-to-understand  articles that help me stategize my marketing efforts for my small business. To be honest, I do not often find them in the vast sea of “content articles” on the web. However, this morning I read an article written by Jessy Smulski, contributing author for Business2Community that I feel is share worthy. Click on the link at the top of the page to read the full article.

So, research shows us that these four factors are important aspects for SEO in 2016.

  1. Mobile Browsing is Boss.  Stop procrastinating on this. Get your website on par.
  2. Social is Increasingly Important. Yep. Stop thinking Facebook is a waste of your marketing time.
  3. Voice Search is a Game-Changer. People talk to their phones to find you.
  4. “Rich Answers” Are Stealing Thunder. Write your content intelligently.                                                                                                                                                                                                       SEO infographic from LeapFroggr                                   SEOInfographic