We know that website traffic is one of the key benefits of blogging. A 2010 study by the inbound marketing experts at HubSpot showed that companies that blog have 55% more website visitors per month than companies that don’t blog.
The study also revealed that business-to-business (B2B) companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month than companies that don’t blog. Business-to-consumer (B2C) companies that blog generate a whopping 88% more leads per month than those who do not.
Website traffic should not be the goal of your blog
Warning: When getting more website traffic is the goal of your blog, it will show up in your writing – and it won’t be a pretty sight. I explain further in this excerpt from my series about social media writing sins (this one was #3):
While it’s important to use the same language your ideal client might type into a search engine, SEO (search engine optimization) should never come at the expense of quality writing.
Trying to force particular keywords into a blog post or title can result in awkward (or just plain bad) writing – especially if you’re trying to slip them in after the post is written.
Writing for the search engines, trying to get clicks or traffic at any cost, defeats the purpose of content marketing because you will repel your reader instead of attracting them. What is the gain of getting more clicks if people only leave again because you’ve failed to make a meaningful connection with your writing?
So how do you choose more meaningful and appropriate goals for your blog?
With all due respect… poppycock! :) If you have great content and a solid inbound marketing strategy, growing relevant traffic to your site is a great goal of a blog. You’re mistaking going after traffic with sacrificing quality. You can have both.
Hi Douglas, thanks for your comment! I love hearing your optimism about having the best of both worlds. I’ll watch your blog and Twitter stream for tips I can bring back to my readers.
Best wishes,
Linda
For me, a more meaningful goal is engagement. This might be in the form of comments, tweets or likes. Even better it could be a visitor that sends me an email through my contact form or calls me on the phone. Ultimately, it’s someone saying “oh yes, I read that on your blog” or “hey, I see you know a lot about this and would like your help.”
However, my practical side understands the imporatnce of longtail keyword research and how strategic implentation of search engine optimization strategies and tactics can drive targeted web traffic to my blog.
It’s a balancing act really.
Hi Steinar,
Thanks for your comment. I appreciate the concept of engagement as a meaningful goal of blogging. And as you point out, engagement happens in many different ways.
Best wishes,
Linda
I couldn’t disagree more.
I blog to enhance my expertise in my field (publicity). I blog to build a following. I blog because it forces me to stay on top of my topic and it makes me smarter.
But I also blog because I have to pay the bills. Many bloggers who concentrate only on their writing and hope their sterling prose and strong opinions will pull traffic, without taking the few steps necessary to optimize their blog posts, are the same ones complaining “I can’t get traffic” or “I don’t get enough comments” or “I can’t make money blogging.”
As one of my coaches is fond of saying, “Hope is not a business.”
Thanks for the great read, maybe Web Traffic should not be the goal but it sure helps out a great deal…Greg
I agree, Greg. Traffic is definitely an important benefit of blogging.
A blog’s main goal should include an altruistic approach – that is, by making it a goal to help people. And I guess that is main point why published contents have been created since the dawn of history – to inform and educate the society.