The internet has exploded in praise for " social media, " defining it as the quintessential way to drive traffic to your website. By "social media," I'm talking about sites that (1) allow you to submit content and (2) allow other people to comment, and even vote in real time.
Now, I want to show that this massive traffic is not all that is painted.
So far some of the top social media players are as follows:
Digg - digg.com
Myspace - myspace.com
Facebook - facebook.com
Twitter - twitter.com
These sites, and dozens of others that I'm sure I'm forgetting, have quickly become giants in the online world. In fact, many of them are getting even more traffic than the almighty Google.
At first this might seem like an online marketer's dream…
"If I could get my blog post featured on Menéame's homepage or retweeted thousands of times, my site would be flooded with traffic."
It's easy then to see why many online marketers are desperate to take advantage of all that traffic but…
" The reality of online marketing says that traffic means nothing without conversion."
In other words, if you can't convert your traffic into sales or record every visitor's email, it's pretty useless to have it.
You may have seen on various websites a counter at the bottom that says exactly how many visits the site has received.
Now, think about this. What really matters? How many people visit your site? Or how many people buy from your site ?
Now you may be thinking, "Edgardo, do you mean that the traffic I get from social media is useless?" No. I don't want you to think that social media is bad.
I am delighted to allow my readers to share the articles that they think are good. Also very grateful that, in some cases, thousands of people can get to read them as a result of this free traffic.
When an article from your site is being returned over the Internet in this way, you will get inbound links from different sites. These new links will help you direct traffic to sites interested in your field. Plus, they help you with search engine optimization, which can, in turn, lead to the conversion of more traffic and more subscribers.
In the blogs of my consulting clients, I will continue to test social media and use it as a link building tool. But, if you are looking to build an online business, it is best to focus on direct response marketing, with proven methods.
Don't be afraid to pay for traffic through email (email Marketing), text link ads (adwords), and pay-per-click advertising. These methods can cost a bit of money but…
"You will be attracting visitors interested in buying from you and not just looking for information."
