The Ups and the Downs
Last week I was flying high from my Twitter successes! My website views jumped way up when one of my tweets was retweeted by someone who has a lot of followers.
Up!
Yesterday? I had 8 views.
And down...
I suppose that's just how this is going to go. Sometimes things will be looking up. And sometimes things will be down, down, down.
I think the trick here is to manage the downturns in a way that you don't get discouraged.
The thing is, I have quite a bit of content on my site now. Yet, still not enough traffic. What can I do? How can I get more people to my site? Am I doing something wrong?
What if my content isn't good enough or engaging enough? UGH, this is the down, down, down part of this whole process.
What do you tell yourself when it seems like things just aren't going anywhere? What do you do to keep moving forward? How do you find more traffic? Do you pay for ads at all? (That's something I want to explore.)
Help advise me, WA community!
Recent Comments
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I don't have a lot of content on my site yet but I can say me when the negatives come. I just think of my dreams and my goals, and tell my self "if I stop now I won't get to where I want to be". Also the law of attraction I believe in so the more you think and believe eventually you will get it.
I haven't been to your site yet but I will check it out when I can. Stay positive and keep putting out more content, one thing I have learned is that traffic comes with trial and error. If one traffic source isn't working try another until you find something, that will work for you.
I have for years been going to site called stumble upon, I haven't looked into their ad program but their site seems pretty good. If you haven't heard of it you create an account pick interests then it will show sites that are in those interests. For example just say you like fitness you could pick that then you can stumble upon sites based on fitness.
I hope this helps and I hope the best for you
Thanks so much, Matthew! I do believe in Law of Attraction as well, and believe me, even though there are lows, I will not give up. I've learned that lesson in the past. :)
I've been on StumbleUpon a long time ago. I didn't even know it still existed. I'll check it out! And great advice about trying different kinds of traffic sources. Makes sense!
- Christina
You're welcome anytime I know what you mean by that, the law of attraction has worked for me in good and bad ways but it can be a good tool for our success.
I always do my best to put positivity out there instead of negative even if it is just thoughts learned the hard way ha.
Trail and error that is what I do with a lot of things one way may for some but others it don't. Stumble upon I seen the app for it and was on it for a while. I just never knew if anything is recent on there though. I hope you find out what works for you and your site or sites.
Hello Christina, in any business there are highs and lows, that is why our posts have to grab the attention of the visitor, make them want to stay a little longer and see what else you are saying. I visited your site and looked at your about me page. It really grabbed me. What I found is the wealth of topics contained there, why you went Vegan, what constitutes a wholistic approach to healthy living, the use of essential oils and so much more. I thought you website would be about these. Do not get me wrong the site is very informational. The question you might ask is what made the post that drew traffic popular, not just because someone else retweeted, but why would they pick it up in the first place and then try and do the same to your future and current posts. Just my thoughts.
Thanks so much for going through my site and for your wise words! What happened with that particular tweet was that the Dr. posted an article about intermittent fasting. I retweeted with my blog post about my experiences with IF. Then he retweeted that. So, honestly, it was just good timing. But you're right. I need to look for more of those kinds of opportunities.
- Christina
I think you identify several opportunities in your “about me,” page that you can research and post that will attract traffic.
I agree--that's how it is not only with my sites, but my book writing and my locksmith business1 It comes and goes, but that is also why I like to have a few extra irons in the fire!
Jeff
Just make sure you are speaking with people not at them. And make sure that you are telling them things that are new and exciting. Find something they don't already know about. Keep it fresh. It just takes time though
Hm, this is good advice. I'm always trying to keep in mind who I'm talking to and why, but I do think this is an area I need to work on. Thank you!
- Christina
You are welcome I know it is a problem I struggle with I have redone my post a couple of times because I see myself doing this
Drive under 40 and you'll do fine Christina! As a rule of thumb, a bounce rate in the range of 26 to 40 percent is excellent. 41 to 55 percent is roughly average. 56 to 70 percent is higher than average, but may not be cause for alarm depending on the website. Anything over 70 percent is disappointing for everything outside of blogs, news, events, etc.
Well, mine is currently 80%, so now I'm even sadder! lol. Oh well. I'll plug along until I get in front of the right audience. My people are out there somewhere!
- Christina
If someone has a specific question and they find your post with the answer to their question and they click on your link to buy the product you recommend...they bounced. But that is a good thing if they bounce right on over to buy something. Therefore, I don't worry about bounce rate on my site.
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Hi, I just checked out your site. It looks great! You do have a lot of posts. Good job!
Don't feel bad about the lows. Yes, they are pretty much a requirement in this business I think! I have written many posts in the two years I have been here about these roller coaster highs and lows. The never seem to end when you are building a site.
I can be on Cloud 9 with a bunch of organic traffic and making sales one week, and feeling depressed since my traffic drops down and I am getting no sales the next. I go weeks without sales sometimes. This is my own fault since I have not been consistent enough with my site. I don't even have an email list yet.
I had highs when I started on Flipboard that were mind blowing. I was getting 1400-1600 visits per day to my site! I was making sales! That only lasted for a few days though. Then it just fell off a cliff. I had gotten lucky and a well know cat site retweeted my posts. It would not last and I never got much traffic from Flipboard after that. I never got that much traffic from anything after that.
I am happy to get the organic traffic I do though. I firmly believe organic traffic should be our first priority. Social media requires constant input. Organic traffic will keep coming in even if you do nothing on your site for a few days or a week.
I only bought advertising once on Twitter and I will not do that again until I have loads of money to just throw around. It was not worth it at all and it reconfirmed my feeling that I should not spend money on advertising at this stage. I have heard Facebook ads are even more expensive and get poor results.
I got just as much or more engagement from my own posts on Twitter as I did from one I paid to promote. There was really no benefit at all.
You have more posts than I do however, so I don't know if you are far enough along that it would make sense.
Another great way to get engagement and also rise Google rankings is to ask for comments here at WA. Do you have many comments already?
I have to say, I have not made any sales from Twitter or other social media other than the first foray with Flipboard. All the rest of my sales are from organic traffic or other WA members.
Don't worry about the lows, they are always followed by another high!
Jessica
Thanks Jessica! I appreciate the pep talk and the lessons! I actually just started a Facebook campaign (just $2 / day for 14 days) yesterday just to test the waters. Well, it was actually rejected so I'm trying to fix it and see if I can get it going again.
If not, that's ok. Because you're right that organic traffic is better anyway. And cheaper, of course! lol
I do try to get comments on my site, but I need to do more of that, for sure. There's only so much time in a day though. Eek! So much to do...
What is Flipboard? I've never even heard of that. I'll have to check it out!
Thanks again!
- Christina