“Joel, how do we get more traffic to our Web site?”
It’s a question I get frequently. People are usually surprised at the answer, which seems so elementary if you let it digest awhile: Create content.
Think about it. Let’s say you create one page of content (article, blog post, job description, etc.) everyday for the next year. At the end of the year, you’ll have 365 new Web pages, all driving traffic on an ongoing basis organically via search. And if the content is on topic to the visitors you want, then you’re going to get a pretty targeted audience. And no, writing about Britney’s increasing insanity is not targeted.
Additionally, creating engaging content means more backlinks from other sites, which means greater trust in Google, which means higher rankings for the content you do create. Now, my SEO peeps will scream that it’s more complicated than I’ve outlined - and it admittedly is - but the fundamentals are clear. Create content.
When you hear about major increases in traffic from Wikipedia, MySpace, Facebook, Jobster, LinkedIn, etc., why do you think that is? They’re all creating content, sometimes at an incredible rate. There’s no magic trick. Yes, they’re all remarkable in their own way, but without content - all of which is user generated - none of them would be anywhere near the traffic levels they enjoy.
Jobster’s traffic increases, for example, can directly be traced to the number of pages indexed in Google, I’m sure. When they went social, adding tons of new pages, traffic grew. Shocking! Likewise, Facebook’s numbers spiked once opening its doors to everyone in addition to college students. Shocking! College Recruiter and its vast network of bloggers creating content on an ongoing basis is most likely garnering similar benefits.
It’s this fact that makes plug-and-play, customizable and user-friendly wikis and social networking solutions so promising. Companies like Wikia and Ning could be hugely successful for this reason alone. They represent a way for any site to create content on the backs of their users, and that means more traffic.
OK, let’s review: Want more traffic? Create content.
March 8th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Thanks for the friendly reminder! Nice post.
March 8th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Good post Joel. I’ve been blogging for almost a year - Monday through Friday - and creating good content that often is… not so easy :) But it is definitely the only way I can think of to create a good readership. Now, if I could just do SEO on top I’d be hot!
March 8th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
Joel-Great summary of your web philosophies and practices. Thanks for putting this “out here”.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:24 am
Well said. These kinds of posts are why you’re the best in the biz. Head and shoulders above all the Cheezhead wannabes out there who mistakenly think they can out-Cheez the Cheez.
March 9th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Thats a great point. Another option is to syndicate exclusive content from a citizen media site like http://www.associatedcontent.com. We generate high quality content so you don’t have to.
But you are right about traffic…we currently generate over 1000 articles/day and our Alexa rating has skyrocketed.