Introduction
SEO -- everyone talks about it. Everyone says I need to have it to have a successful blog. If everyone says it's true, it must be true, right? Well, I'm here to say it is NOT true. Maybe that's too strong. Let me rephrase it. I have another opinion. I never worry about SEO. It happens naturally.
Show me you say?
Don't you hate it when someone asks for proof? I love it. If there is no proof, or at least support, then it's an unsubstantiated opinion. This will be a "one-substantiated" opinion as I'm only looking at one website. If you disagree with this opinion, I'll cheer you on to show me another website. Between us, we can find the truth as we want to express it. Not the real truth, mind you. Just the truth we decide on for the present.
Master Blogger's site
Steve Scott is one of the people I respect most in the world of writing and making money on the internet. Consider buying every one of his books on Amazon. Study them carefully and extract what you can use.
He is also an excellent blogger. He has been doing it since about 2007, maybe earlier. Not only doing it, but working hard at it. He shows real numbers in his books and sometimes on his blogs. This means we can learn how to make as much as he does.
Alexa
Sarah Arrow from www.sarkemedia.com mentioned www.alexa.com. You plug in a website and out pops some statistics.
I noticed only about 10% of Steve's views come from search engines. Huh? Yep. Only 10%. How did I find his site today? The long story is I first heard about it in a book. Now the autocomplete function in my browser finds the site when I type the first two letters. This happens to most of the sites I visit.
Where does traffic come from?
Check out my site http://48statehike.blogspot.com. You don't have to read it. Take a look at the picture on top and then forget about it. Set a reminder for a month from how and try to remember the site name. My guess is most people won't, but if you have autocomplete turned on for your address bar, when you type 48 the URL will appear.
Looking at my personal browsing habits, I use Google for a one time visit to a blog and autocomplete for most of my repeat visits. Given that Alexa says only about 10% of people's views come from search engine, I suspect this is normal.
First two characters of blog name
In my opinion, the first two characters of the blog name are critical for repeat viewers.
Conclusion
Look at Alexa to see where your viewers come from. What's the right metric to improve? I think it is the Daily Time on site. This is the amount of time unique visitors spend on the site. I can't think of a better way of grading a blog than this.
Forget about SEO for a long time. Work on quality content so people read what you write. If they are reading what you like, they will come back. They might also buy your product if you are selling one.
According to Alexa I get 6% traffic yet my stats say more. So I'd double what Alexa say for Mr Scott. And remember, some traffic can be topical an inflate what Alexa says. Christmas related sites will be getting an influx of traffic right now, but in February?
ReplyDeleteSarah,
DeleteI'm still trying to determine what to target for improvement. Most people come to http://48statehike.blogspot.com by coming directly to the site. A backpacking forum is my second source of views. Google is third.
Usually Facebook isn't even listed.
However, when I stated the 30 day challenge ( http://www.sarkemedia.com/blogging-challenges-traffic/ ) I had many views from Facebook. I surmise I've kept some of those readers.
Maybe I'll write my blogging thesis on the topic. :)
Facebook isn't listed? Have you not thought about buying GaryThaller.com and joining us in the dark world of self hosting? You will find it much more suited to your meticulous nature
DeleteSarah,
DeleteBlogspot seems to only list the top 5 or 6 sites that refer a viewer. Many days, Facebook doesn't make it. I think some people just type 48 and get there.
I had garythaller.com.
Right now YouTube is my best passive sales tool, and I'll probably go back to that.
The blogs are for fun. Especially this one which I intend to use to make people think. People especially includes me.
Interesting post and I applaud someone having their own opinion and not following the crowd. I agree with your point of view, and disagree at the same time. I think it depends upon your objective with your website (and whether you're happy to sell out or not!).
ReplyDeleteI used to run a Wedding Cake business. I read a fabulous book on SEO with very actionable points that improved Natural Search in an authentic and genuine way (using lots of honest techniques). Within 2 weeks I was ranking in top 5 for 'Wedding Cakes Herts/Hertfordshire" and a further 2 weeks later I was number 1.
What did it mean for my business? Referals and sales. Yes, I obviously had to convert the leads, but my cakes were good :o)
Without spending time on SEO I wouldn't have had that business coming through the door.
Would I work on my SEO again? - Hell yeah, I need to!
So it depends on your objectives, whether you're writing for business or pleasure, what that business is, and so on. In an ideal world my clients will just find me because I'm wonderful and fabulous (smiling here!!!) but in reality, they need a bit of help.
Sam
Sam,
DeleteI'm agreeing and disagreeing with myself, too.