Creating web traffic growth

Change creates growth

Looking at stats for 1000s of sites over the years has taught us a lot about visitor traffic.

The opentracker law of website traffic:

Given a constant environment, website traffic will remain unchanged unless you take action.

"Unchanged" refers to: the number of new visitors, visitors entering by search term, referred traffic, etc, will not increase.

executive summary: in a nutshell

The point of this article to make you aware of the need to change things on your website in order to increase traffic and make your site more effective.

In 10 words or less: measure and evaluate, in order to make effective changes.

We see many sites "stuck" at the same level of traffic. Many sites generate the same number of new visitors consistently, year after year, the number changing only 1-2%.

In practical terms: you can rely on changes in your search engine ranking or free publicity, OR you can work to make change yourself.

general introduction: change creates growth

Summary:

Change creates growth
Action is required for change

"Actionable metrics" are data or information that you can apply.

By looking at thousands of web traffic datasets we have learned that change does not happen by itself, you need to make change happen.

Steps To Take In Order To Succeed:

In order to take action you need:

information or data
the ability to implement your ideas effectively
a way monitor this; indicator of success or failure
ability to identify and implement the most effective solution

Example: you have a website and want visitors to find your products. You can use a search bar, a drop-down, roll-over or click selection. Place alternatives on your site and use measurement to think with your clients, to understand how they like to navigate.
Find out and make it happen. The best option will mean increased user satisfaction and products viewed.

A lot depends on your site strategy. Google, for example, is designed to get visitors off their site; fast results drive high visitor click-throughs, and keep visitors coming back.

Your goal may be to keep visitors on your site. Therefore you should identify the solution that results in the most pages served (clicks) & time spent on your site. We think the goal is to give your visitors a good experience.

your website: understanding the internet environment

Pay attention to what is happening on the internet, and how it affects your success:

Your website does not exist in a vacuum. Your website exists in the internet environment, this means your (potential) success is dependent on this context and how you "fit in". In evolutionary terms, this is called adapting, survival of the fittest.

What can you learn from the wider internet and apply to your website in order to improve? Specifically, what observable trends will influence your content management strategies?

how to stimulate change: seeing your website in context

The question is "what should you do in order to stimulate change?"
The public are increasingly savvy
The internet is more interactive in the Web 2.0 environment.
Can you generate content related to any changes you observe?

In the next article in this series, we will provide examples of how to learn from and adjust content to fit-in with current Web 2.0 environment.

We will provide practical tips for generating and increasing traffic in the current internet conditions in part 2.

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