Is Referral Traffic the New Search Traffic?
20:01, Monday, 25 January 2010
I recently involved myself on a discussion with some like-minded (and not-so-like-minded) Online Marketing exponents on Linkedin, when the question was raised "Is there a need for SEO, now that Social Media has arrived". I took the stance that Social Media allows the potential to create an online presence, without the need for your own business website, and in that respect, SEO is less important than it once was (shooting oneself in the foot?).
It got me thinking, though, about how I utilise Social Media for my own business gains. A look at my Analytics shows that traffic from referring sites; mostly Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Ecademy and The Best of Richmond, comprises more than 50% of non-direct traffic. That's great in itself, but there's more to consider.
It's fair to assume that only a fraction of people who view your Social Profiles and Pages will click through to your website. Therefore, in the case of my own online presence, there are a great deal more people finding out about me from the Social Networks than my own Website! You could argue that this behaviour comes from the position of my being an SEO Consultant, residing in a super-competitive Search environment. Whilst that's a factor, I'm sure, there is evidently a great deal of promise in Social Media as a Business generation toolset.
Social networks allow you to be more targeted about who you connect with; your ideal clients and partners can be found with relative ease, and providing you're willing to nurture the relationship, your efforts should be rewarded with paid work. Treat your online networking in the same way as you do your real-world networking, and you can't go far wrong, whatever your chosen industry.
What have been your own experiences of Social Media for generating new business?
Tags: Social Media,SEO,Traffi