When More Traffic Isn’t Better Traffic
By Julie VanMersbergen
Senior Search Engine Marketing Consultant
More isn’t necessarily better when it comes to your Web site traffic. Senior Search Engine Marketing Consultant Julie VanMersbergen explains why in When More Traffic Isn’t Better Traffic.
More is better, right? Yet, we can all name areas where this isn’t true—cholesterol, smog, and debt all come to mind. Believe it or not, traffic to your Web site isn’t always better either.
Maybe the following scenario has happened to you: a salesperson from a Web company approaches you and promises you 1,000 site visitors per month guaranteed! This may sound like a good plan. However, these guaranteed traffic schemes often are not worth the money spent. It all comes down to the quality of the traffic.
There are many methods by which a company can guarantee traffic. One of the most common methods involves click fraud (using software programs to click through to your Web site or hiring people to do the same). In most cases, these “visitors” will visit your home page and leave. They have no real interest in your firm or your services and are not local to you—in fact, they may not even be human visitors but software programs!
In one recent example, our Account Management and Search Marketing teams traced more than 900 visits to a FindLaw® FirmSite to a single cable modem in rural Nebraska. The attorney had signed up for a guaranteed traffic program. None of these “visitors” viewed more than a single page of the attorney’s Web site and he received no billable business from the traffic.
Other companies will offer the opportunity to buy keywords. Note that these programs are different than Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns using Yahoo! Search Marketing or Google AdWords, which are reputable programs recognized throughout the search industry. Many third party keyword buys involve either minor search engines or require Web users to download special software programs to take advantage of such advertising. Not surprisingly, few users install such programs, and, in fact, many PC virus protection programs actually remove the needed software as potentially dangerous! If a salesperson cannot show you the program on a computer without downloading something, or you cannot replicate his or her demonstration from home without instructions or assistance, beware. If you have to go through special measures to see an ad campaign, will other Web users go to such measures?
In addition, most providers of Google and Yahoo PPC campaign management do not so much guarantee traffic as much as they estimate the expected traffic for your campaign based on your practice area, geographic region, and campaign budget.
The FindLaw approach to helping attorneys increase their Web traffic is based on attracting quality traffic using best practice search marketing techniques, quality content writing, and the power of the FindLaw.com portal. This approach helps you connect with actual potential clients in your practice areas and in your local service area. Isn’t that what having a Web site is all about?
