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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
In this lesson you will learn how
to analyze Internet Traffic. You will be reminded that Internet traffic
consists of a collection of human beings, each with their own interests,
desires, and goals. You will learn how to get into the "flow" of
Internet traffic using value and ease of use, combined with effective traffic
building strategies.
IT'S LIKE WATER
Think of what we know about early
humans and how they migrated and settled. Water is a basic human need. If
early humans did not live close to water, then they had to bargain for it
from others who transported water into the area. People who did not live
close to water had to have several vessels to store what water they could get
their hands on. The consequence was that people who settled far from any
river or stream had to spend a great deal of their time and resources trying
to obtain and store water--and they never really had more than just enough to
get by. On the other hand, people who settled near a large river or stream
could freely dip out all the water they needed in abundance. When it came to
water, positioning was everything. Any map will show that large successful
settlements are usually close to free flowing water.
Analogies have been made between
money and water. It has been suggested that if you position yourself where
money freely flows, you will obtain a lot more of it with less effort than if
you position yourself in some remote location relative to the "money
stream." The analogy to water is equally useful when applied to Internet
traffic.
ANALYZING INTERNET TRAFFIC
MARKETING FORCES IN HARDWARE AND
SOFTWARE
Similar to how the forces of
nature and geological history determined where rivers flow across the earth's
surface, the history and forces of the Internet have shaped how Internet
traffic flows across the wires and ether. People connect to the Internet now
through many types of devices. Traditionally the connection was made through
a home personal computer or a computer networked at work. Now, with the
proliferation of high-speed Internet and wireless networks, people use
phones, tablets, pads and pods as well as smart televisions to make the
connection. To view the World Wide Web on any device, you need an app or
software called an Internet browser. The connecting device and the particular
browser used are the first opportunities for anyone to get your attention in
Cyberspace. Your device or your browser on a particular device can guide you
upon your initial connection to the Internet toward the sites they favor.
Browsers have three features that
control Internet traffic. Those three features are "Home Page,"
"Favorites" (a/k/a "Bookmarks") and "History."
The Home Page is all important. This is the first page you see when you open
your browser. You see this page over and over on a daily basis. Internet
Service Providers (ISPs) (which at the time of this writing are now mostly
the major telecoms and satellite or cable providers), use software which sets
the ISP's page as the subscribers' home page and even pre-sets some of their
'favorites' (or 'bookmarks'). Even though many subscribers may eventually
change their home page, ISPs, by their very nature, have a natural tap into
much of the Internet's traffic. ISPs that provide an expansive and
encyclopedic digital environment along with their access really have a tap
into the traffic. Software companies that make browsers can have pre-set
bookmarks.
The History feature of a browser,
on the other hand, just makes it more likely that you will return to a page
once you have been there before. This, in addition to the other features,
makes it more likely that pages with traffic will gain even more traffic.
Other types of software-based
online marketing include software that resides on your screen independent of
a Web browser and displays ads while you surf or send instant messages.
THE ROLE OF CONSUMER CHOICE
Once a user gets beyond these
built-in features vying for his or her attention, it becomes more a matter of
choice. The Internet user can type in a URL and go to Web pages that have
come to the user's attention through word of mouth or some other media. From
there, the user is likely to follow links to other similar pages. As memories
may fail, typing errors may occur and links may be outdated; this process
only takes the user so far. The next thing a user looks for on the Web is a
way to directly find things of interest to him or her. Search engines fulfill
that function and have been the most popular sites on the Web.
Yahoo! was the original Web search
engine and thus was, for a while, one of the most popular sites on the Web.
Today, Google, the most popular search engine, is the third most popular site
on the Internet. (Facebook and Twitter, the most popular social media sites,
have the first and second place.) Because search engines exist, the choice
and interests of the user are a strong factor, dispersing Internet traffic
according to demographics. That is, unlike the traditional broadcast media,
traffic branches off to different sites according to people's interests.
(Even searches are affected by some 'push', however. Search engine
'auto-complete' features also guide Internet traffic. Suggestions for your
search phrase begin to be made as soon as you start typing. Thus, options for
searches that will lead to selected sites can be controlled by the
suggestions made from various letters typed.)
A newer factor coming into play
recently are the personalized ads that appear on your search engine visits
and your social media visits. These ads are delivered to you dynamically
based upon information that has been obtained about you from your activity on
the search engines and social media sites. Social media sites are able to obtain
a great deal of information about your personal preferences by noting the
types of posts you respond to with 'likes' or comments. Search engines keep
track of the things for which you search and on which you click. With this
information, they deliver ads to you based upon your perceived specific
interests.
THE ROLE OF YOUR FRIENDS AND CONNECTIONS
The top two sites on the Internet
at the time of this writing are Facebook and Twitter. While these two sites
may fade in popularity over time--or may not--their rise in the rankings
above Google is significant. That they pushed ahead of Google (the former
most popular site on the Internet) reveals an important principle; one not
likely to go away anytime soon. The lasting principle we can derive from this
occurrence is the impact of social media on Internet traffic flow. Social
media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, extend the functionality of the
Internet. These sites take the Internet to a new level. (In the original
course and later in this revised course, we will discuss how these sites
build a new layered network on top of the Internet and how Network Science
explains why that is so successful.)
When we are wearing our Internet
browsing cap, we know that we like social media. We may not fully understand
why, but we know that we keep going back to it day after day – getting
totally immersed in it at times. We do this because it connects us to our
friends and family on a daily basis, regardless of the physical distance
between us. We do this because it allows us to make new friends. We do this
primarily, though, because it allows us to share our thoughts and experiences
with others--fulfilling the basic human need to be heard – helping us to feel
less alone in the world, allowing us to see there are people in the world,
beyond the ones we come into personal contact with daily, who think like we
do and like what we think.
The people we chose to connect
with on Facebook, Twitter and other social media will affect what we see and
where we go on the Internet. They will influence us and we will influence
them to become interested in certain topics and visit certain sites. Thus,
connections in social media are becoming a strong factor affecting the flow
of Internet traffic.
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE
Stepping back and thinking
objectively about why people enjoy the Internet and social media helps us to
understand how we can approach Internet Marketing. Most successful affiliates
will advise that you put yourself in the position of the persons you are
trying to recruit. Think from their perspective rather than your own. This,
of course, is excellent advice! People on the Web are looking for content.
People using social media are seeking acknowledgment and affirmation. When on
the Web, people seek contact and information applicable to their particular
immediate needs. Those needs vary from person to person and from time to
time.
To be a successful Internet
marketer, you must take time to think about how and why people use the
Internet. Many people now begin their day on social media. After catching up
there, they go on to explore the Web for information and perhaps products or
services of interest to them at the moment. Although social media is now
considered very fertile ground for getting someone's attention and, thus,
social media needs to be carefully studied, let's look first at how Internet
marketing worked before the days of social media, smart phones, tablets and
smart TVs. Then, we will turn our attention back to social media.
When staring at their Web browser
on their personal PC, people had these choices (before social media): They
could type in a URL that someone told them about, they could read their home
page and follow links from it, they could look at a page in their history or
in their favorites, they could go to one of the very popular sites and follow
links, or they could go to a search engine and follow links or compose a
search phrase. They still have these choices, of course, even though they now
spend a great deal of time of social media as well.
Before social media, the goal was
to have a Website through which you could interact with potential customers.
Once you had this Website, your goal became obtaining a good ranking in the
search engines and accumulating many links from other Websites to your site.
This is still the ultimate goal of an Internet marketer. The addition of
social media just gave us more tools to help in reaching this goal. And,
importantly, the addition of social media changed to some extent the way
Internet traffic flows. More on that later...
A good search ranking and a large
number of links to your site are not likely to happen--and essentially
useless even if somehow acquired--if your Website is not effective. We need
to use our understanding of how Internet traffic flows... and we need to use
our understanding of how people approach the Internet... in order to create
an effective Website.
TWO IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES FOR YOUR WEB PRESENCE: VALUE AND
FLOW
The first principle illuminating
how people use the Web is that it takes value for a Website to be
"sticky." Web surfers are constantly making a judgment about
continuing to visit a Website or exiting the site. These judgments are the
harshest within the first 10 seconds of the visit. Studies show that if a
user perceives that the page has no value, they will be gone in 10 seconds or
less. If they are still there after the first 10 seconds, they will make
another quick assessment within the next 10 seconds. If the user stays longer
than 20 seconds, they will usually stay on the page long enough to allow for
some chance of hooking their interest in what you have to offer. Thus, you
have to design your page so the value is demonstrated within the first 10
seconds--and reinforced within the next 10 seconds.
Two factors are involved in the
users' speedy initial appraisal of your site: 1) the value of the current
page, and 2) the promise of value in future site pages. That is, even if the
current page has a low perceived value, if there is an indication that the
quality of pages may improve, users will stay on the site for another page or
two more. But if they find no value, they will leave the site. This is why we
hear so often that "content is king." When they leave for lack of
value, they are never coming back.
The second principle illuminating
how people use the Web is that there must be a balance between the difficulty
of using a Website and the rewards the user obtains from the Website. The
term "flow" has been used to describe what occurs when a user loses
himself in a Website. Flow occurs when the user becomes so absorbed that time
and task temporarily become unimportant. Whatever the user started out to do
online gets temporarily forgotten while they enjoy your site. When flow
occurs; direction, inhibitions, and caution give way to impulse; and the user
is much more likely to join or buy something promoted on the site. The site
must be both interesting and easy to navigate for this to occur. Most
importantly, the interest must outweigh any difficultly of navigation.
Flow is also a concept that
applies to movement from one Website to another. Banners or textual links
must be in context and create a smooth transition from one site to another to
be effective. Otherwise, the flow is broken and interest is lost.
TRAFFIC BUILDING
Once you have planned a Website
that has value and creates flow, you need to direct traffic to your site. In
our first version of this course, we stated four goals of traffic building.
In this version of the course, due to the rise of social media, we add a
fifth goal. The five goals are:
1) utilizing effective branding,
2) obtaining good publicity, including links to your site from popular pages,
3) obtaining an effective search engine presence,
4) utilizing and maintaining flow in the placement of your Internet ads, and
5) maintaining an effective social media presence.
We will discuss these traffic
building goals in detail in future lessons. For now, note that the term
'flow' is used again in Goal 4 'utilizing and maintaining flow in the
placement of your Internet ads'. "Flow" is an important concept to
Internet Marketing. Understanding how traffic flows across the Internet is
important to your success in Internet marketing.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW (AT THE TIME OF THIS WRITING)
"Net Neutrality" is a big
issue in the United States at the time of this writing. The erosion of Net
Neutrality has the potential of greatly altering the flow of Internet
traffic. This issue will soon be coming to a head. Major providers have asked
the FCC for permission to 'favor' certain traffic through their routers and
networks based on fees they would charge content providers. Many consumers
feel this would destroy the real value of the Internet, turning it back into
a traditional broadcast system that 'pushed' content on the consumers rather
than giving the consumers the choice of 'pulling' the content that they
desired. The amount of official comments made to the FCC concerning this
issue is the largest number of comments ever received by that agency on any
one issue. The current deadline for comments is September 15, 2014. We should
see how this issue plays out in a few weeks.
Net Neutrality is important for
the reasons stated above. It is also extremely important to Internet
marketers. If certain content is accelerated in speed of delivery while other
content is delivered much more slowly, it will affect the ease of use of our
Websites. The end of Net Neutrality would be a benefit to the large media
corporations, but it would be a great disadvantage to independent Internet
Marketers. In an earlier lesson, we discussed how the Internet leveled the
playing fill for individuals in the competition with the big players. The
erosion of Net Neutrality will greatly warp that playing field back in the
favor of the large, 'push' media conglomerates who can afford to pay for
traffic.
CONCLUSION
To be an effective Internet
marketer, you need to analyze and understand Internet traffic and, very
importantly, you must understand that the "traffic" consists of
human beings with unique feelings and interests and desires. You must
understand that they are looking for what they want to find--not what you
want them to find. You must understand that they will get there through their
methods--not the methods you may prefer for them to use. The old broadcast
media methods of controlling attention do not work so well on the Internet.
It's a new game. You must use valuable content and ease of use to create
flow. You must properly position your site within the flow of Internet
traffic. Once you get this right (and you will), you are on the road to
becoming a very successful Internet entrepreneur.
WHAT'S COMING NEXT
In our next lesson, we will
discuss the first goal of traffic building, "utilizing effective
branding."
by George Little
Copyright 2014, Panhandle On-Line, Inc.
License granted to Carson Services, Inc. for distribution to SFI affiliates.
No part of this work may be republished, redistributed, or sold without
written permission of the author.
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