I had an interesting conversation with one of my traffic generation clients earlier today. They own a reasonably newer site that we’ve been working together on for about 2 months. Their traffic levels have been rising, and they are now at a traffic level where it’s time to start considering conversion.
Our conversation today focused mostly on getting more traffic and getting that traffic to convert. Since these clients are somewhat new to online marketing, the conversation was very rich in terms of traffic strategies and suggestions of how to create conversion.
What came from this conversation, for me, was there is no magic bullet for traffic or conversions. If you’ve been online for as long as I have (13 years as of this summer)- you know that not all traffic is good traffic- and that getting 100,000,000 visitors to your website in just one day is pretty much unlikely for most of us. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen- but it usually doesn’t happen without either a) a major media mention of enough significance to immediately flood your site with traffic or b) a careful, step-wise process of building small traffic streams that feed into a raging river.
But the point is, most website traffic starts as a stream, not a flood.
I think it’s important, periodically, to be reminded that there are no quick fixes or magic bullets to building your online business, not matter what you might read or hear. There are ways, certainly, to accelerate the process- this is why people work with coaches and mentors, for instance. But the truth is, most “overnight” success is years in the making.
It’s no different in your online business. You must show up each day, taking the next step, and the one after that, watching for clues and trails of success. While you may be discouraged, initially, because your traffic numbers are low, remember, that first visitor (or sale) is always the most difficult to get. After you’ve gotten the first one, you have a bit more confidence that the 2nd and 3rd- and so on- will come.
So it’s important to show up, keep doing what you have to do, and realize that every great internet empire was built from the first paving stone. Your goal is to create a conversation and dialogue with your very best clients, and to curate content for them so they can be more successful in their life and work.
This “seeding” process does take time, but when the results show, they grow quickly, and you’ll be able to enjoy the rewards of your efforts.
By all means, look for ways to accelerate and jumpstart your process- but also realize that small streams of traffic, consistently attained, can, one day, create a traffic flood.
