Stop Stressing SEO & Focus on Stable Traffic Sources

In the post-Panda & Penguin Apocalyptic world, it goes without saying that aggressive search engine optimization is not the best place to invest all your resources. Instead of being reactive and stressing about what’s next—or everything you lost— the proactive approach is to move forward and shift your attention to the most reliable strategies for attracting new traffic.

Social Media

Keep in mind that social media is another form of internet marketing that—like SEO—is full of misinformation and bad advice. If you’re not going to stick with what you have the resources to keep up with, don’t bother. The only thing worse than a stale social account is an automated one.

With that being said, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, G+, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) can connect your brand with the right audience and it packs a ton of benefits above and beyond attracting interested consumers to your website.

Content Marketing (External)

Again, this isn’t something you do for SEO so just get that out of your head. An effective content marketing strategy should focus on the topics that matter to your best customers, and it should never be built around keywords.

Your Blog (Internal)

While content marketing focuses on relevant publications to reach a larger targeted audience, keeping your own blog maintained with useful articles (AKA- not a waste of web space) is valuable for attracting new readers. Of course, the goal is to earn enough interest that visitors will want to subscribe to your blog… and you are responsible for keeping them interested.

Directory Listings

You’ll probably notice that even the best websites are outranked in Google by relevant directories. (Yelp, Angie's List, Travelocity, etc.) You can use this to your advantage by claiming a listing in the directories and services that are most relevant to your industry. After all, this is probably also where your core audience will be looking for your products or services!

All in all, these strategies work best for a long term, sustainable goals.

If you’re only in it to convert traffic right away then you might have a hard time attracting traffic at all. Yes, people like to shop and buy new things but nobody likes being sold to. So if you’re tired of stressing about the SEO song and dance, try building a like-able and unforgettable brand instead.