April 3, 2007 Comments
|
|
Ok, ok, so she actually says that it's useless without analytics, but my title is much more engaging. She's spot on though... While link baiting is a great tactic for building up new links to your site, it's important not to get so caught up in the linking excitement that you forget to do some analysis of those links and the traffic they provide.
With marketers so consumed about creating the next big piece of linkbait or creating content that gets people excited, but when does it stop being “funny” and become a turn off to users? And it’s not just linkbait that can turn people off. You may have a form users really hate or wording on your site that makes you sound less friendly and more pretentious.
How do you know what part of your site is leaving a bad taste in your visitor’s mouth?
You see, one of the issues with link bait is that while it's great for creating new links, it often falls short in terms of driving engaged visitors to your site. Now for many companies that's fine...the link itself is all they were after. But what if you could gain the links AND gain new and engaged site traffic from them. Wouldn't that be better than JUST the links?
Lisa explains that without analytics, you'll never know why all that new traffic is spending just 20 seconds on your site. Sure, it could be because they've come in from Digg and they have the attention span of a gnat, but it could also be because that obnoxious Flash site you've built leaves them running for the door.
Give it a read. No sense doing all the work to get all those links if you can't score any new customers from them.
Jennifer Laycock is the Editor of Search Engine Guide, an educational web site aimed at translating the search marketing world into something that small business owners can understand. Jennifer specializes in common sense search engine marketing, viral marketing and customer outreach via social media and blogs. A former search marketing consultant and in-house trainer, Jennifer’s clients have included companies like Verizon, American Greetings and Highlights for Children. Her primary clients now are a little girl named Elnora and a little boy named Emmitt.
|
|
|
Search marketing information for small business owners.
Fetching the best small business news.
A friendly place to share small business ideas and knowledge.
A different kind of small business marketing conference.
The directory of the best small business sites and tools.
Home of our network.
Copyright © 1998 - 2009 K. Clough, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy
FreeFind Site Search Engine - FreeFind adds a "search this site" feature to your website, making your site easier to use. FreeFind also gives you reports showing what your visitors are searching for, enabling you to improve your site. FreeFind's advanced site search engine and automatic site map technology can be added to your website for free.
(Unpaid placement - FreeFind is a Search Engine Guide partner.)