(in other words, how to NOT have a blog that gets no traffic)

Every few days I go into Google Analytics to see what’s driving traffic to my site.  If there’s a sharp spike, it’s usually because of a guest blog post or speaking at a conference.  If it’s a gradual increase, it’s because I’m ranking on some organic keywords.  The number 3 keyword driving traffic to my blog over the last few days has been “Facebook application promotion”, and that’s been driving new consulting business to Content Factory.

So when you see that you’re getting traffic on an organic keyword, the next thing you should do is search on that keyword and related keywords.  So I did that search.

And found that I was ranking #2 out of 58,300,000 results, with the #1 result being Facebook themselves.  Here’s what I’ve learned: if Google thinks your blog is good enough to rank on a competitive keyword, then by all means you should blog more about that keyword and related keywords.  Maybe you rank on a term that is not ultra-competitive, such as “cell phones suck”.  Well, with some work, maybe you can eventually rank on “cell phones”. Think of it like winning in junior varsity before moving to varsity or pro.

There are 4 things to consider here:

• How many hits you’re getting: Don’t worry about the terms that you give only a few hits a month– look only at your top 20 terms.
• What position you rank: 10 hits a day could be due to ranking #1 on a low-volume term or ranking #35 on a high-volume term.  So you need to assess how much room there is to grow.
• The quality of those hits: If the bounce rate is greater than 70%, you have a problem.  It means that people aren’t getting what they’re looking for– and you know that Google notices that bounce rate, too. In search, it’s called bounceback rate– the percentage of folks who “bounce back” to the search engine results page to keep looking.
• Whether those keywords have economic value: How much are those users worth via AdSense or some affiliate program?

Thus, if you listen to Google, it will help you make more money.  I hope these tips help you get more traffic– and more earnings– to your blog!

Update: Looks like dennisyu.com is not ranking #1 on “Facebook application promotion” on Google.

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations. He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications. Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries. Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.

View all posts