Think Like a Searcher to Increase Your Traffic - Keep Them with Content
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You probably want to do more than just increase your site traffic. You want to increase conversions, whatever that happens to mean in your case (sales, newsletter sign-ups, course subscriptions, ebook downloads, etc.). It's unusual for someone to go to a web site and make an instant purchase. It's not impossible, mind you, but most of the time a visitor will want to poke around a site for a while to see who you are and what you offer so they can decide whether they trust you with this transaction.
One way you can raise their trust is by having lots of good content. I know you've heard this before, but it bears repeating. Look at it this way: would you be visiting this site if it didn't feature lots of content about a subject of interest to you (SEO)? Then why should someone visit your site, let alone stay for a while, if it doesn't have content of interest to them?
When you create content for your web site, you need to keep it focused. Searchers are often trying to find out something specific or accomplish a particular task. You can appeal to them by making sure your pages give them what they're looking for. If they got to your web page because they were searching for "superhero costumes," they're not going to be interested in hearing about your exciting line of Renaissance garb - or not in that particular session anyway.
If you don't have content that interests a visitor, they'll just click away. Before you get discouraged from checking your site's log files and seeing lots of "bounces," consider that there may be more than one reason for a bounce. Barry Mills, chairman of Netstep, an Internet agency that offers SEO and Internet marketing services (among others), made a pointed observation about bounces. He thinks there are two sides to them.
"I have seen bounce rates go up and conversion improve simultaneously after a redesign," Mills noted. "My theory...is that lots of people research shortlists - they click through SERPs, check out the site, and when they're sure it is one for the shortlist they bookmark. If they're sure it isn't, they leave, and if they aren't sure either way they might look at a few more pages." He suggests that a better tactic would be to track return rates of bouncing visitors - by IP address, perhaps. A true "bounce," then, might be a visitor who doesn't return in 30 days.
I hope I've given you some food for thought. Here's one final tip. Next time you go online to search, watch your own behavior. You might get some valuable clues to help you attract more visitors and turn them into customers.
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