Are You Wasting Domain Traffic?

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Monday, 31 January 2011 09:09

Chasing traffic in the
hopes that people will
become addicted to your
site because it's so damn
good is only half the battle.

Wasting traffic is simply wasting time when it should be converting well if you pay attention. Steady traffic is not the issue. I am not referring to domains that receive steady traffic on their own because that in itself has value. Rather, I am referring to the traffic you work so hard to obtain, websites you work so hard to promote but when that small window of opportunity opens you are too busy working on the next round of traffic.

You might believe that any traffic is good traffic but traffic is merely a distraction from the real payoff. People simply amaze me how they still measure results in traffic and not in sales, revenue, click throughs, newsletter signups, membership signups, leads, etc. Traffic doesn't mean a damn if you have nothing to do with it once it reaches your site. It is all a waste. Paying or promoting a site for the sake of traffic that dies off later and never converts is pointless.

If you have a domain that receives decent traffic either on its own or by your own creation but it's just not converting, that means you are overlooking several opportunities and should be trying multiple things. Pay-Per-Click is not the only way to obtain monetization for a domain. Revenue is not the only way to increase a domain's value.

I am going to use Elliot Silver's DogWalker.com and compare it with DogWalkersUSA.com as an example:

( The fact that DogWalker.com looks cosmetically better than DogWalkersUSA.com is beside the point. )

First, let's take a look at DogWalkersUSA.com. The site is simple. It has an easy to use directory that lists dog walkers in every state. What is most likely to happen when a visitor comes to DogWalkersUSA.com and finds what he/she is looking for? They get redirected to a different site and they leave. The chances of this visitor being a return visitor is very slim.

On the other hand, DogWalker.com does it right from the get go. Immediately, the visitor sees a simple search form and a call for dog walkers to be listed. There are other incentatives to the site such as dog walker of the week, dog park of the week, article of the day and dog walker resources. However, what really makes this website stand out are the data collection opportunities presented on each corner. Dog Walkers: Get Listed! If you search for a zip code, you are encouraged to sign up and add your listing. You can get a description, contact info and map for each dog walker. You can contact a dog walker via the site so the visitor doesn't have to leave. This site has a better chance of turning visitors into returning visitors & users versus DogWalkersUSA.com.

Chasing traffic in the hopes that people will become addicted to your site because it's so damn good is only half the battle. You have to give them a reason to spend their time, take actions, return, take more actions, give you their information, tell their friends, etc.

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Comments (6) Add comments

Acro January 31, 2011

DogWalkersUSA.com ? That's a hideous long-tail domain so in that respect it's a loser from the get-go.

TWood January 31, 2011

Acro: actually, no it's not. It shows up on page 1 for "dog walker", "dog walkers" and page 2 for "dog walking" - keywords DogWalker.com competes for. [Product]USA.com, [Service]USA.com , USA[Product].com, USA[Service].com are great alternatives if you can't get [Product].com or [Service].com. Granted it's not as great as DogWalker.com but it will do the job in seo and branding.

Acro January 31, 2011

It's at the bottom of the page, well below DogWalker.com (Elliot's) and right above Elliot's news feed about the same subject. In other words, way low for sufficient exposure and thus clicks. Anything with "USA" is very old school just like the suffix "Direct", and regardless, in this case it's 3 words and not 2 unlike eg DogsUSA

TWood January 31, 2011

I'm just going to agree to disagree. Whether or not DogWalkersUSA.com is a worthy competitor in domain quality or even in SEO to DogWalker.com is not the point of this article.

Acro January 31, 2011

Of course it is the point. When comparing an inherently weak competitor - the USA one - to a generic such as DogWalker.com, you must take into account the difference in class.

Poor Uncle January 31, 2011

What would be a great experiment is to have the 2 sites switch name and see how well they perform. I suspect Elliot's site will win both in terms of revenues and traffic regardless if its name is dogwalker.com or dogwalkersusa.com. A good domain name obviously help, but it's not the only thing. The website's owner skills and resource probably have a lot more to do with its success or failure than anything else in my opinion.

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