I was reading a post the other day on Massive Traffic Techniques written by Mitch from ImJustSharing and he was responding to another post he had read. Now before you go off on me saying “hey Mirjam, what happened to you not reading other blogs anymore?” let me explain that there are a small number of blogs that I do continue to read occasionally for a number of reasons, but overall I have severely cut down on the hours spent reading.
I do go to Mitch´s blog though because he gives me food for thought and more often than not I find stuff to discuss, but anyways, back to the posts on Massive Traffic Techniques…
Have you noticed that when it comes to this type of post, 95% of the bloggers are saying the same thing over and over again? The same techniques are shared and shared and shared and they supposedly all lead to massive traffic for our sites.
The first on the list of “massive traffic techniques” was article marketing and I am going to quote it here so you won´t leave just yet (you can always go check out the posts later, after commenting here, right?)
1) Write articles: believe it or not this is an incredible tool for driving traffic.
I have 10 articles on Ezine Articles and Evan Carmichael, and, according to Analytics, I’ve never gotten a single person to any of my sites because of them. They’ve been used elsewhere, though, so I’ve gotten links, but traffic,… nope.
That comment to me was … how to say it politically correct… different from what I have found.
So I actually decided to dive into my EzineArticles account and look at my own stats. Some are just too embarrassing to admit really, but hey, trying to make a point here and being humble once in a while can´t be all bad, right?
So I do have a few articles that did not get me one single click at all. None, zero, napa, zilch, niente… even though they had a decent amount of views, or at least enough to be expecting a few visits.
But lately, even though I am still not getting the thousands and thousands of views per article, yet…, there are also articles that received as much as 60-70% of clickthroughs per view. Now the percentage isn´t really that important when it comes to numbers, but it is actually important to find out myself how I need to write the articles I submit to EzineArticles in order to get people to my sites (and hopefully buy the products that are on there).
In total I have only submitted about 70 articles or so, received over 8300 views on them and as a result of that had 1,400 clicks to the different links in there. Far from great stats but if I look at them and compare the beginning of my article writing venue and where I am at now, those 70 articles have taught me quite a bit, (which I will be sharing here in the near future so stay tuned for that!) and both views and clickthroughs are improving from when I first started.
Back to the original reason for me writing this post:
Most Posts on “Massive Traffic Techniques” are Fooling You into Wrong Thinking!
Yep, that is my opinion and my personal opinion, and feel free to disagree with me here, but I will explain why I am thinking this. I hold my “grudge” not so much with the techniques themselves (although I do feel that some techniques are way more productive than others when it comes to making money) but with the overall stigma they keep alive: “the more traffic, the more money”
Right, I am sure you must have seen that hundreds of times already, that the more traffic you have, the more money you can make. And even though this might be true when you want to sell advertisement on your site (in order to do so, you will have to be able to show that the advertisement spots are placed on a site that gets plenty of traffic) I don´t think that the more traffic always gives you the more money.
I think it is way more subtle than that, you can create absolutely useless traffic in huge amounts without selling a thing and you can make a sale from only a few visitors (did you notice that my main reason for getting specific traffic is making sales?).
When I first started doing the “article thing” I did see a rise in statistics of traffic on different sites, I even saw a rise in certain keywords in the SERPs, but it stayed far from becoming a big earner and after having submitted 30-40 articles to EzineArticles, I thought it was not going to do anything for my business and ready to join the huge amount of people that proclaim that article marketing doesn´t work to create massive traffic to their sites.
But then I started looking at other authors on EzineArticles, have you ever noticed there are people with hundreds if not thousands articles to their name? Now call me stupid, but I firmly believe that people wouldn´t keep beating the article marketing path if it wasn´t working for them, so I decided to have a closer look at just what they were doing, how they wrote their articles (and very important too, their author boxes) and started reading the blog on EzineArticles that offers really good information on how to make article writing a success.
I took what I learned from that and actually changed not only the way I was writing those articles but also the author box information, made shorter articles, more catchy titles and author boxes that looked as if they were part of the articles themselves.
Can you guess what I saw changing in my stats? Come on now, give it a shot!
Back to why I think those Massive Traffic Techniques” posts are fooling you into believing you need huge traffic … I like to think more into percentages, productivity and ROI. And I will give you a specific example.
I have two articles that I published on the 18th of February and the 11th of February, both promoting a lens project I had been building. Now I know that according to the One Week Marketing Plan I should have submitted one article per lens but life got in the way and I got sidetracked a bit, but anyways, back to those 2 articles.
The have respectively 58 and 127 views and a total of 100 click throughs. I did nothing to promote those articles, just wrote them and published them and that is it. They are both 250-260 words and have an adapted author box of around 200 words, so in total that is not even 900 words. Between having a really really slow internet connection, writing the article, making the links and writing the bio box, that took me about 30 minutes to do.
100 clickthroughs might seem like nothing if you are shooting for thousands and thousands of visitors, I know, but these articles actually lead to 2 sales, totalling 51.18…
This is where it becomes interesting for me because it is proving me a few things, and by doing so, turning most information that is rehashed on almost all of those MMO blogs into plain myths:
- It only took less than 200 views and 100 click throughs to make 2 sales
- 900 words were enough to drive the targeted traffic I needed to cash in on $50 for now
- I made those sales without doing the selling myself but left that to the vendor on his landingpage
- I did not spend hours and hours using “massive traffic techniques” like commenting, socializing nor submitting to directories or other things “people tell us to do to become a succes”
- The articles were published on a new account, so no “fame”, not being a “big trusted name” myself, no buzz no nothing, not even being popular, just 2 simple short articles.
Keep in mind that this is only one personal experience and example, but I am pretty sure that the better I get at picking the products, creating mini projects and improving on my articles on EzineArticles, the more sales will follow.
Thought that was enough food for thought for now, seeing that I want to get back to work and will be doing a personal challenge today that I might post on shortly (another reason to get back here or sign up for my rss as to not miss out on information that might actually help you make money or if the challenge fails, to save you from going through the same 
)
I do hope that you all start thinking for yourself without just copying what others tell you to do.
Don´t just buy into hype because it is fun to spend your time navegating and socializing, at least not if you are serious about your online ventures in terms of creating an income. And hey, more power to you if you are actually making big money already following all the “massive traffic techniques” and have a MMO that makes those big bucks, by all means, do what is already working for you and giving you a high return on investment. I´ll just continue working on what is bringing me personally a higher ROI and so should you!
Don´t even take what I am saying for granted, but check your own personal stats and see what you can improve on in order to make more money and build a solid business online. Find what really works for you and start building on your most productive ventures and ditch those that are just time-wasters.
Nicely written, Mirjam, and a very interesting take on the same thing I wrote about. You know, the articles I have on that site are former newsletter articles I wrote a long time ago, and not specifically written to try to drive traffic anywhere, just to highlight my, uhhh, “expertise” in one of my fields. Maybe that’s the wrong approach, although, as I stated, I’ve found those articles copied all over the place.
I might now have to try an experiment with a shorter article, although, as you know, sometimes I don’t do “short” well. lol
Mitch’s last blog post..Is Google Reading Your Robots.txt File?
hey Mitch, already thought that would get you back over to my blog
Maybe you should give it another try, because from what I gather here from your comment is that you really didn´t give it a fair shot and maybe came to the wrong conclusions because of that.
I mean… you could be getting traffic because of those articles without even realizing that, the articles you used weren´t even written to drive traffic so you can´t really tell whether it would be working for you were you writing articles that actually do drive articles. So that means you don´t give away your clue in the article itself but make viewers curious enough to read more on your website.
As for the “not doing short” well … EzineArticles has a blog that offers a few different article templates that could help you even “do short very well”;)
I have been comparing the articles that I already submitted and can see a huge difference in clickthroughs related to the length of the article and the way I started playing around with the author box. And to be frank, seeing results is the best motivation
We’ll have to see if I can find the time to do more articles, Mirjam. After all, it’s not like I’m not writing so many other things, as well as other work these days. lol
Mitch’s last blog post..Visa Black Card
That’s cool. I am glad to hear this from you because I was rather disheartened by the “effect” that EA brought. I wanna keep writing and I guess it will work like you said.
Just a question, do you leave your affiliate links in the resource box? If yes, what do you write?
LOL @ Mitch
@ Ben, make sure you check out the ezinearticle blog and find the article templates on there, pretty good info that helps improve your writing style for EzineArticles.
You are not allowed to leave affiliate links in the resource box, mainly what I have been doing is sending them to either my own sites, squidoo lens projects or domains that redirect to an affiliate link, depending on the article really. Hope that helps
Yea, spot on. I wish more people would concentrate on making sales instead of increasing traffic to their blog, for their own sake.
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..The Big Secret of Affiliate Marketing
What you have seen is the difference between two different business models for generating income. The first: massive traffic to sell ads and second: actually generating sales.
Most bloggers prefer to make incomes from ads because that way they will get paid whether the ads work or not. Smart merchants prefer to pay affiliates because they only pay when they actually generate sales.
Smart merchants may also do what direct mail experts always did: they test for conversion rates and only continue to buy ads from sites that generate buyers and not just visitors.
Whether we’re talking about direct mail catalogs or online sales, clicks on ppc ads or percentage of buyers to visitors the average percentage is 1-2%. Below 1% and you’re highly unlikely to ever be profitable. 2% and you may be if the profit margins are decent. Over 2% and you’ll be making money.
What that means is if your ad gets 10,000 views you’ll get 1-2% clicks or 100-200 clicks and if 1-2% of those who click buy you’ll generate 1-2 sales. (Now you know why most people want to sell ads and few really want to buy them.)
There is one major key to skewing those numbers in your favor and increasing conversion rates so you and/or your advertisers are profitable: targeting! The more relevant the ads are to your buyers the more likely they’ll click and buy!
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Making Money with Your Blog – Part 2 – Evaluating Affiliate Programs
@Alex oh well… everybody is free to do what they want right? Like I said in this post, I am just holding a bit of a grudge with all the rehashed rehashed same ol´ posts telling people how to get more traffic without focusing on the real productivity in traffic, the differences between useful traffic when it comes to making sales and traffic that only makes you feel more important …. so to say LOL
@Internet Strategist …. were your parents drunk when registering your name?
:P
Bad jokes besides, ever noticed that when people talk about generating traffic, they never really go into depth when it comes to the reason to actually generate that traffic?
Which is probably why people mistakenly choose a certain traffic generating technique for their own purposes and later down the line realize that maybe they have been going about it the wrong way all along and could have spent their time in a more productive way had they choosen a different technique to start off with.
To illustrate what Mirjam is talking about:
I got an eZine article approved today. After a few hours it had 10 article views, 6 clicks on the link, and 1 happy sale.
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..The Big Secret of Affiliate Marketing
The most valuable content a blogger can provide is what really works for them. Even most online retailers aren’t that familiar with why conversions are more important than traffic. (I post about that regularly because it IS so important.)
There are so many get-rich-quick type make-money-blogging sites that their credibility is in serious doubt. I can USUALLY tell which are b.s. and which may be legitimate. How is a Newbie to know?
Worse still are new bloggers who write about how to make money blogging even though they haven’t made any yet! I’d much rather see people write about what they already know and are passionate about instead.
We should strive to level with people. While Alex just got one sale from six clicks that is NOT the average and could very well be because of his copywriting skills, existing following, or knowledge of a particular niche.
Yes money can be made online and maybe those long sales letters do make a bundle for some (I wouldn’t know because I don’t like them) but for most it is like growing any other businesses. You keep working and building and learning and eventually get it figured out.
More would do that much faster if there weren’t so much misleading information and a lot more honest disclosure – like this article and the comments it will garner.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics – Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Sorry I forgot that link I mentioned. For those that are interested it is about the dangers of data mining on our privacy.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Blog Traffic Up 54.87% in the Last 30 Days: Our Proven Traffic Improvement Strategy
@ Alex, LOL thanks for that
but seriously, like you said in a pm already, it could be just a fluke, beginners luck or whatever you might call it, but on the other side, it does very well illustrate what I was trying to say in both this and last posts… traffic is only relative 
Now, let´s see if you can repeat and repeat!
@ Internet Strategist
I hear you I hear you, I have to say, I have been guilty at times, writing about stuff I felt was interesting but hadn´t had the most knowledge about yet.
Not sure you have been reading my blog lately but not so long ago I made a very conscious decision about the direction of this blog because I was fed up with a lot of things I see happening online and the huge amount of bad information put out there that will ensure most people will never see any money.
Anyways, we´ll see where this one will end up LOL
Awesome points. Care to guest post on article marketing from a sales point of view?
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
hey Dennis,
funny that you mention that, I was actually thinking about it the last week, to write a guest post when I saw you mentioning it on your blog… I´ll think about it
LOL… “from a sales point of view” … you mean, not dishing socializing traffic techniques? ROFL
LOL well yea, something “unique”.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
Yea Mirjam, why not do a guest post?
After a few weeks of OWM, you are probably shooting out articles in your sleep. Writing a guest post should be a piece of cake.
I just finished 4 articles in 40 minutes
Of course, it was on the same, pre-researched, subject.. but still. I couldn’t do that before.
Cheers,
Alex
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..What Do You Do When You Run Out of Money For PPC?
hahahahaa are you guys working together to get me to do the post or what? ROFLMAO
Well golly Alex, how about a guest post from you?
Drove right into that pool, didn’t ya.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
I didn’t mean to invite myself by that comment…
But, if you want me to write something – np. Just suggest a subject for me to write about..
Oooh, there’s an idea:
“Former Soviet Emigrant Makes a Living On-Line One Week At a Time”
One Week Marketing has brought a former Soviet emigrant from working 9-5 for the Politburo to living the online dream, sipping margaritas on a white-sand beach, and it did it One Week at a time…”
yea…
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..What Do You Do When You Run Out of Money For PPC?
ROFL boys…..
@ Alex…. 4 in 40 minutes, pretty good, I am averaging 11-12 minutes per article for article submission, but then looking at the posts I write over here, they do take me quite a bit longer especially since my posts have become quite a bit longer, 1500-2000 words
and more indepth me thinks…. so IF I would ever do a guest post… I´d probably write a long one too, not just like I would be submitting to article directories, the focus and goals are quite a bit different 
(and so are the rules, after having read Dennis´ rules for guest posts LOL)
Oh, I didn’t know there were rules.. I’ll have to give it a look.
Dennis, you should have a review system in place, like EzineArticles.com… Send out mails to your writers: “Your article does not adhere to the following Editorial Guidelines…”
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..What Do You Do When You Run Out of Money For PPC?
well basically, the articles for EzineArticles for example, you don´t really say a lot do you, just enough to make them curious and get them to read on by clicking your links, while as a guest post should be informational to start off with, right?
Yea, but still you have to provide some value on ezinarticles. Otherwise your article can be rejected…
you can’t just go, “just wanted to tell you there’s a cool product that you could buy to solve your acne. Visit my site to find out more…”
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com’s last blog post..What Do You Do When You Run Out of Money For PPC?
Of course you have to put some value in your article, but it is way different from writing an article for a website/blog/guest post.
I saw a neat example for an ezinearticle that was saying absolutely nothing really, just touching the surface of things but at the same time it would get people interested in the subject to click through to read more… shame I can´t recall just where I saw it now LOL but that kind of hit home with me.
I mean, especially people that have focused on writing content for their websites that then go onto article marketing fail to see the different focus they need when it comes to article marketing and making people click through… if you know what I mean
@Alex – That’s a great idea for an article! Just tell me where to insert my affiliate link.
I’ll be in touch…
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
OK boys and girls, razz my rules all you want, but I’ve learned…..the more “obvious” and “common sense” something seems to be, the more it should be put on paper. LOL!
If you notice, I also jot down some perks and benefits which seems to help as well.
Dennis Edell’s last blog post..3 Secrets to Writing for the Search Engines
Mirjam, you never mentioned that, if you get enough articles on their site, they send you a coffee mug and some specialty coffee. That was a nice touch!
Mitch’s last blog post..Sites You May Not Know About
@ Dennis I always gotta moan about something
but yeah, people should read your rules and see them perks 
@ Mitch…. say what?? a free mug and coffee??
Yup, just came yesterday, and I was shocked. Very nice touch; I’m assuming, based on your reaction, that you didn’t get this? Oops!
Mitch’s last blog post..Sites You May Not Know About
Do you have a premium account or something? and nope, I didn´t get a coffee mug *crying* …. wondering if they would send them to Spain anyways …..
Hi Mirjam,
And I thought I was going to get the usual how to get more traffic to your blog kinda stuff. I enjoyed a different perspective you gave. Good job.
Peter Lee
Peter@Work At Home Blog’s last blog post..Work At Home Blog Income Report-March 2009
hi Peter
yeah, doing things a bit differently than the “usual” over here
So, did you get anything out of it that rocked your boat or to the contrary, didn´t agree with?
Well Mirjam, the only thing that really got me thinking was what you said about looking at how others were writing them for EA on their resource box – I don’t. We seem to have something in common too as I have written about 70 articles to EA but I stopped and focused on blogging for some time now. The reason being that like you then I had found no one clicking my resource links. The only thing I benefited was getting backlinks and I stopped writing when I found the process of manually changing the posts (I don’t use spinner or equivalent)to maintain originality and submitting to other ezines very tedious and time consuming. Well after reading your post, I may want to get back to where I left off with EA.Thanks for giving me food for thought Mirjam.
Peter Lee
Peter@Work At Home Blog’s last blog post..Work At Home Blog Income Report-March 2009
You´re welcome Peter, I do think it is worth evaluating your own work so far, whether that be article marketing, blogging etc and find out what is going wrong or how to improve ROI. Anyways, thanks for letting me know what you got out of it