Tools Used: Google AdWords, Google Analytics
Overview
This week was half new content, half reflection. The new content consisted of us learning how to get more traffic to our site through the appropriate use of linking. The reflection portion of our week consisted of us reviewing the progress we’ve made on our site. We were able to review this through the use of Google Analytics.
My Thoughts
Our assignment stated: Link building refers to the practice of getting other sites to implement hyperlinks back to your web site. In broad terms, Google ranks your website based on its link profile (i.e., the quantity and quality of hyperlinks back to your site). Additionally, we were invited to create a plan to implement links around the web and gain more traffic.
Who and When?
Seeing as I am the site admin and the only one working on the site, I will be responsible for getting links out there. The work will start immediately, seeing as I would like to have more traffic to my site.
What and How?
My homepage is extremely important and gives direction to new users (shows them where to find answers to question they might have, shows recent updates on the site, etc.) For this reason, my homepage will be the main link that will be distributed. It will also be important to create links for every update that occurs on the site. For example, when a new commentary comes out, provide that link on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Pages that won’t be distributed will be ones such as the help pages and whatnot.
Where will the links be gathered?
Social media plays a big role in this. It is easy to have content shared on websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (share, retweet, re-gram, etc.) These types of sites will be my primary source. Another source will be on news / content aggregation sites like Reddit where I can push updates out and inform thousands of users (without them having to actually visit my site). Getting my information into the “feeds” of individuals is important. Proximity and mere exposure to my updated content makes it more likely for visits to site.
The second portion of our week, we took a look at our statistics as found in Google Analytics. We were asked to evaluate the strength of our keywords, ads, and landing pages. We were then invited to, after having thoroughly reviewed said items, select the worst one. Here is what I discovered:
What Next?
As we increase the traffic to our site using linking, we must continue to keep on our toes and look for ways to improve our current assets. Including, but no limited to, the strength of our online advertisements.