3 replies to this topic

[nkzbusiness]

Hi all. I am wondering if you can help me with this problem:

My website is new and I am in the process of optimizing it for search engines. 

6 days ago I started seeing a spike in search traffic (I had added a bulk of content)
5 days ago I had over 50 unique visitors from search traffic. 
4 days ago that number dropped to 8.
The last three days yielded 0.

I have no idea why this number dropped so drastically. Analytics is working, so I know that's not the problem.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Edited by Jill, 26 February 2013 - 07:28 AM.
Website removed

[torka]

New sites often receive a "bump" in search rankings at first, then they float to their natural level in the search results. I suppose it's possible you were seeing that search traffic as a result of the "new site bump" and now your pages are appearing at more the natural level for a brand-new site.

 

Can you think of something else that might have been going on outside of your site (some breaking news story that might have affected search traffic for keywords important to your site, maybe)?

 

The thing is, search traffic does fluctuate all the time. You're noticing it a lot right now because you likely don't have as much traffic from other sources, so even a small variance in search traffic shows up huge. (For example, on my employer's website a drop of 50 visitors wouldn't even be noticed most days.) But these kinds of fluctuations are actually par for the course for many sites, and even more so for new sites.

 

If you're confident that what you're doing is best for the visitor -- that your content is high quality, that the site is laid out for user-friendly navigation, that your inbound links are from credible sources, etc. -- then keep on with what you're doing. Work to build links from other sites that can send you direct, targeted traffic. Build your brand. Keep in mind, search traffic is at best a "loan" that can be recalled any time, for any reason, so focus your attention on getting good steady traffic from other sources.

 

Good luck with your new site!

 

--Torka

[seomaster28]

I too am having some issues with generating traffic to a brand new site.  IS it safe to assume that now with there being so many sites out there that the early days of a new page are going to be slow when it comes to unique visitors?  Are there any ways we can force our hand and get a spike in traffic?  We have already resorted to buying links from a link farm company and I personally spend a little bit of time every day trying to get back links.  Any suggetions and feedback would be very much appreciated!!

 

Thanks,

 

Matt

[torka]

If you want more traffic, pay per click is the way to go. SEO is not an overnight operation, never has been, never will be. (And, frankly, buying links from a "link farm company" isn't SEO in the first place. It's just a waste of money.)
 
Of course, traffic isn't the ultimate goal, anyway. You can't pay your bills with traffic reports. So you really need conversions more than you need traffic. Look at it this way: would you rather have 100 visitors with a 10% conversion rate, or 10,000 visitors with a .00001% conversion rate?
 
You need to make sure you're getting maximum value out of the traffic you are receiving before you start trying to pump through more traffic. Bonus tip: it's easier to increase your conversion rate than it is to get more traffic, because the things you need to do to optimize conversions are all under your control. Bonus tip #2: many of the things you do to optimize for conversions are also the very same things you need to do to optimize for search. )
 
--Torka