Social network Pinterest is driving more traffic for RealSimple than other social networks. Image: Flickr / bryanlanders / CC-BY-SA
Search Engine Optimization is a difficult challenge when it comes to driving traffic to your website. One thing that can be easy for many marketers and affiliates to forget is that SEO is far from the only — or best — way to drive traffic to every site.
The limit of SEO
Search engine optimization can be an incredibly powerful tool that can drive millions of dollars worth of traffic to a website. On very high-competition keywords, or on websites that offer a product that is not necessarily unique, SEO can be a challenge of diminishing returns. There reaches a point where no matter how much more work you put into your search engine optimization efforts, the returns are lower.
Marketing is about finding your market
Your intended market or demographic may or may not be the type that uses a search engine to start their research. Finding and knowing your market will help you target your marketing efforts. The way most people navigate online starts first with their networks and the places where they are most comfortable. This may be e-mail, it may be a social network, it may be their favorite blog. Think about how your intended market navigates around the web, and target your marketing efforts there.
A case study in traffic
So how does this work in the real world? In a discussion with AdAge, print and web magazine RealSimple has revealed that social bulletin board Pinterest drives more traffic to its website than Facebook or most other social networks. RealSimple is in a very high-competition market: household and home ideas. Pure SEO for the variety of topics covered by RealSimple would be difficult at best. By combining a strong social media strategy through Pinterest with strong content and solid SEO strategies, however, RealSimple has built a strong online following.
In short
SEO is important, but marketing to your demographic and where they hang out online will be much more effective.
