Ever since I began my online adventures, I've always kept close track of certain statistics. As you already know, I'm very into the earnings of my different passive income streams, but I'm equally interested in the website traffic statistics too. When I started, I was fortunate enough to sign up for Google Analytics, Google's free website traffic analyzer, and even though I haven't taken advantage of everything it can do, I still find it very interesting, informational and inspirational.
I say inspirational because just from looking at the graphs and charts, I can track my progress and learn from it. Here are some real life examples and screenshots from my own website at intheleed.com, and what YOU can learn from them.
Things Don't Happen Overnight, But They Do Happen
Here's a chart of my overall pageviews per month from January 2008 thru March 2009:
The lesson here is that things might take a while to get going.It takes a while for your website to get noticed by Google, as well as the word-of-mouth virus to spread.
The same goes with my income. I had my website up for about 4 months before I ever saw a penny from it. Then, as I started earning cash, it was a few cents here and there, which turned into a few dollars, which later turned into tens of thousands of dollars a month (which was over a year later). So—if you've tried and didn't succeed yet, did you give yourself enough time, or did you just expect it all to happen overnight?
Know Your Numbers, and Show Them Off!
Everyone loves to hear details, especially your readers and/or customers (or even potential advertisers). If you're at 10,000 pageviews, announce that and thank everyone for helping you get to that milestone. If you're close to 1,000,000, hold a contest for the spectacular occasion.
Did you hear about the 1,000,000,000th (one-billion) iPhone application download? Apple was promoting the crap out of it, and it helped them get to that number even faster. They held a contest for the billionth download, and everyone was talking about it left and right on twitter. Great marketing (Apple's marketing is top-notch, so I didn't expect anything less), but as you can see…people like numbers. Show off your success!
For example, when I reached 1,000,000 pageviews, I actually held a contest and was giving away some iPod Nanos to a few lucky ebook customers, just because. I think it helped my sales (I didn't keep track like I should have), but it was fun and I know people were telling their friends.
Right now, I'm at…
Reach The World
I think one of the coolest parts about working online is the fact that you can reach people from all around the world. This is something we all too often forget.
I LOVE to look at where my visitors are from. I've actually made an effort to learn how the LEED exam is taken in those countries, where the tet facilities are, etc. When people from those regions have questions, I'm more than likely ready to answer those region specific questions. This has helped my sales, and helped those people spread the word in those countries. If I wanted to get really fancy, I could put a translator on my website so it could be read in any of those languages that most visit my site.
Here's a picture of my visitor numbers and where some are coming from:
So, if you have a product, or a blog about a certain subject, are you catering to your non-local readers? Do you even know where your readers are coming from? Good stuff.
Today's Conclusion
So, the lesson here for today consists of three parts:
1. It's going to take time to get the traffic you're looking for. You can, however, help it along by link sharing, posting on blogs and forums, and even paid advertising. Don't give up on your projects that you really care about just because you're not getting traffic yet. Give it time, but also give it the best chance to succeed as well.
2. Keep track of your numbers, and use them to your advantage. It's an easy way to stay inspired, and inspire your readers and customers as well. Besides visitors, you can showcase any type of statistic worth mentioning. For example, I often tell my “I'm not so sure I should buy your product” customers that over 3500 people were satisfied with their purchase. They usually are convinced after that.
3. Don't be so local! Your website and product(s) are definitely open to the world. Check out who is visiting your website and where they are coming from. You may be able to use that to your advantage.
