The Blog Traffic Myth

Much of the high traffic figures on your blog dashboard are practically empty, hollow, and meaningless  . 
Unfortunately, the blog traffic myth that ‘more traffic equals more profits’ will keep a lot of online business men tramping the rat-race marketing track till the end of time.

Don’t be a victim.

Wake up! The harsh reality is that one visitor  to your website or blog can create more profits and open up more opportunities for you than ten thousand others; and I write purely from my own personal experience. In other words, a blog or website traffic stats that shows 5 unique visits in a day could be more strategic to your overall mission than a spike of, say, 2000 page views

One of the best decisions I made for this website was to take out all forms of adverts. They weren’t making much money for me anyway (Google is too smart for that )  That decision allowed me to focus on creating articles that expressed my true values rather than what would cause a spike on my traffic statistics.
This eventually allowed me to realize that the volume of traffic to your website is not as important as the quality of traffic.

I used to look at my traffic stats and feel so good seeing 2000 page views in one 24hr period.  I enjoyed the thrill of seeing 600 unique visits a day to my blog and I felt so good.  That was, until I sat down and did a brutally honest review of all of these page views and unique visits.  I suddenly realized that the 20/80 principle was working in my traffic stats.  Less than 20% of the traffic to my blog was responsible for more than 80% of the profits and opportunities that were opening up to me  

Before this realization, my blogging strategies were motivated by the drive for thousands of page views and unique visits.  I was hitting my stat targets, but I wasn’t satisfied with the level of engagement of my audience with my content – a lot of those visits were just hollow and meaningless hits on my blog.

Well, I’ve already altered my blogging strategy.  I don’t give a damn anymore about those figures on my dashboard showing me the volume of page views and unique visits.  I’m more concerned about the number of emails, and phone calls that I receive as a result of the content I have on this blog.  This change in strategy has enabled me to focus on building community and stronger relationships with my readers and social networks.

Results?

Sure, they are as you would predict.

1. Reduced traffic from some bookmarking sites where I no longer advertise my blog.  A lot of traffic from some of those sites are just mere page hits.  They can visit on their own from the search engines and advertise my content if they enjoy it, but I’ve decided not to personally advertise my content at some networks.
2. Increased engagement from my readers – more emails and phone calls. 
3. I have more subscribers now than ever. 
4. I have more page views per visit ( very low bounce rate).

I am a Pastor in Nigeria, Africa.  But as a result of the content of this blog, I am flying out to America this summer for a series of speaking events, as well as meetings and deliberations to set up an international office for my mission in USA.  This is strictly as a result of connections I made through this blog.  This is significant considering the fact that everyone connected with this trip met me directly or indirectly through this blog.  It is also significant because I’ve never left my Continent before and have never physically met with any of the people involved with my international mission.  The relationship was made through this blog and built up subsequently through social media.

I believe this happened because of a paradigm shift from the blog traffic myth – (more traffic = more profit) – to a harder and long-term community-building oriented strategy. 

This has paid off so handsomely that I dare to state my observation that one visitor  to your website or blog can create more profits and open up more opportunities for you than ten thousand others; and I write purely from my own personal experience.

What a best selling emptiness!

We live in an age that is extremely influenced by visuals and dazzling lights. 
Ours is a very fast-paced world and many are in a hurry to ‘make it’. 
In our haste to achieve our so-called goals, which are often so superficial and ephemeral, we sacrifice our true values and authentic content.

For instance, I’ve read several best selling books that left me thinking, "what a best selling emptiness!"

A best selling book does not necessarily imply a best-read or best-content book.  A high-traffic blog does not automatically mean a high-quality blog in terms of content.  As a result, such ‘best-selling’ and ‘high-traffic’ pseudonyms cannot be sustained and will not translate into long-term and enduring success.
In fact, a lot of best selling materials do not necessarily reflect the readers’ preferences as much as they do the marketers’ manipulative skills.

In a time where there’s so much hype about marketing and getting your products and services ‘out there’, never allow your marketing skills to overtake the quality of your offerings, else you’ll start churning out many ‘best selling’ but mediocre materials. 

It is ok to hone your marketing skills to perfection, but do not sacrifice the ultimate on the altar of the immediate.

Be inspired…
Discover yourself!

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