Are traffic analytics reliable? While you wish to have the best data on your site’s traffic, maybe the numbers are misleading. Google Analytics and WordPress analytics have a tendency to show a broad window where traffic is concerned rather than giving you a precise look at your website traffic. Here are some of how the analytics may not be reliable and what you should do.

Tracking script problems and fixes

Setting up your analytics can be tricky. If you do not set up the script correctly, you may find that you have two problems. First, you may find that the script is being used twice on some pages. This would boost your overall traffic count substantially. Second, you may not have the script on a page, which would diminish the total traffic. To fix this, use the tag manager on the entire site. If you find any issues, fix them and refresh the analytics page. Update if needed.

Your numbers are way too high

There are great numbers for analytics and then there are unrealistic numbers. If you have a surge in your website traffic, maybe there is spam entering into your analytics. This is usually the case on WordPress sites and on sites that do not have the measures in place to block bots. Google Analytics has a feature that block bots, but that does not stop all of them. The best way to stop spam is to implement spam blocking on your site first and then on the analytics site second. Additional plug-ins are encouraged, as the more you have to stop spam, the less apt it will be affecting your overall traffic numbers in your analytics.

Duplicity and personal use

Perhaps the most common issue with website analytics is duplicity and personal use numbers. Duplicity occurs when a user visits multiple pages of a site and is counted as being a different person for each page. It also occurs when a person visits the site multiple times. While the visit is new, the person visiting is not. While there is not a solution you can know that such is occurring by monitoring the location, Ips, and other such information. Subtract duplicity from your overall traffic numbers to gain a more reliable count.

Personal use issues occur when a person visits their site, usually for maintenance and monitoring, and the analytics records that person as a new user. This issue is the simplest of the issues to fix. Look within the analytics software for the button to exclude you as a new user. It is that simple.

Are traffic analytics reliable?

Traffic analytics are reliable in the sense that they give you a broad picture of how your site is performing. You can see the spikes and the declines of your site. This is useful for campaigns, SEO revamps and gaining trends in the website’s performance. Analytics should not be used as the sole method for monitoring the traffic on your site. You should combine the analytics with traffic monitoring software, your SERP ranking, and other data for a more accurate analysis.

Building local SEO is best suited for businesses and individuals who want to drive the local traffic to their sites. It is more than just creating content and hoping for the best. By implementing the proper strategies you can see your business perform better in search engine result pages (SERPs). You will also see an increase in organic traffic, relevant traffic, localized backlinking, social media reshares, and brand awareness and trust. If you have ever wondered how to boost your local SEO, read on to find out.

Know your brand before building local SEO

Understand what words and terminology you want to be associated with your brand. This will be the basis for the keywords and phrases that you will use for building local SEO. The type of business will dictate what people expect from your brand. For example, if you have a restaurant, people will assume that you offer delivery and/or catering services. You will need to have the business’s SEO words and phrases oriented to those types of searches. Another example would be an e-commerce site. Because the site is digital, the focus should be on building up the social media presence of the brand. Facebook, Twitter, and Tic Tok should all be explored and referenced in your SEO.

If you are not sure where your site stands in terms of the existing SEO, have an audit performed on your site. An SEO audit can help you to determine any technical or on-page SEO issues. Typical issues include loading times, broken linkage, and a passive voice to your text. Before moving on to optimizing your local SEO these issues should be corrected.

Understand the competition

Crucial to understanding your SEO is to understand the SEO of the competition. Look at their site. If possible, do an audit on the site. Key phrases and keywords should be researched to see what results show up. If your competitor is performing better than you are local, check their site to see which words are repeated the most in their blog, web page content, and other textual parts of the page.

It is important to note that you should not try to outrank the mega superstores. They have teams of professionals which ensure that they will rank in the top SERPs. They are not buying their way to the top. Google algorithms are shifting to more localized and organic sites anyway, and so you may find that you rank on the first page. Strive to stay on the first page, preferably in the top 10 results. Focus on outranking other local competition. Remember, if a person is searching the web for your products and services, the odds are that they are looking for something local. The mega-store does not need to be searched for, as most people can find them easily just by driving around.

Keyword for local identification

When building up your local SEO, use words and phrases which are specific to your geographical location. Ensure that you use your geographic location several times throughout your content while ensuring that you meet the standards of SEO optimization. For example, if you sell shoes, do not just say Shoe Sales in Georgia, but type in Shoe sales in Columbus Georgia for better results. The more specific you can be with your geolocation information the better you will rank with your local SEO.

To maximize the local geographic information of your site consider putting a location map on your contact page. This not only allows visitors to your page to quickly find you, but it also helps you in the SERPs. As Google, Bing, and Yahoo all have map features that are based upon registered businesses, having a map sets you apart from the competition, identifies you locally, and boosts the overall awareness of your brand.

Go behind the scenes to build your local SEO

Perhaps the most overlooked part of building local SEO is the information that is not seen by the visitor. This behind the scene information is critical to how well your site performs and ranks in the SERPS. First, you will need to ensure that your title has the SEO phrase or keyword. When typing in a word or phrase into a search engine, the engine will crawl for titles that best match the phrase typed. Therefore, if your page is specifically titled to the phrase you desire, you are more apt to receive views.

Secondly, make sure that you identify your SEO in your blog settings. This will help you to know if you have the proper amount of phrases and words. Third, have the key phrase associated with the images on your site. If you do not have images on your site, you need to add some. Everyone loves visuals. Behind the scenes, you need to have metadata, alt links, backlinks, and proper loading times to boost your local SEO. Metadata needs to contain your key phrase. Backlinks should reference other blogs or content that you own, or go to authoritative sites. Do not haphazardly link your site to other sites. Such could be catastrophic if the domain name is sold to a less reputable type of business.

Submit to your site

A site can only be found if the algorithms know to look for it. Building local SEO can be done in two ways. The first method is to submit your site to the Google business listing directory. This will put you in the search engine as a local business. You can also list your business with various other sites which allow for customer reviews of your business. When listing your business, make sure that you are ready to comment on every review. This shows engagement with the customer and is vital to your overall brand identity and SERP ranking.

Once you have your business submitted to the Google business listing, make sure that you have your domain registered to Bing, Google, MSN, and Yahoo. These are the top sites where SEO and SERPs factor in. Most website hosting has a means of submitting your domain name. However, you should not assume that you have been added to the directory. Go to the search engine main page and type in submit domain name for registration. Submit your name on all major platforms.

Building Local SEO

Building local SEO must be done by local businesses if they expect to increase both local traffic and online traffic to their stores. By focusing on creating local SEO, you not only boost your SERP standings, but you maximize the awareness of your brand to your neighbors and community, thus giving you better standing as an authoritative source for your products, goods, or services.

Internet strategies continue to shift. Ensuring that your target audience is met is more critical than ever. Paying for traffic may be an option to help grow an audience. It is a quick way in which reach several potential clients. However, there are some factors which need to be considered before committing to purchasing traffic.

Consider the complexity of digital marketing

Digital marketing is ever-changing. It is complex. Google algorithms is constantly updating. Understanding the various standards and algorithms which are in place can help you determine the best strategies for your marketing campaign. If you are using an organic strategy, special consideration should be given to the effectiveness of buying web traffic.

Keep in mind that every year, there are more than 7 million advertisers around the world using paid traffic. This should raise the question of whether you should purchase web traffic. Is it ok to purchase web traffic? What are the pros and cons of purchasing? Should you use paid or organic traffic for your marketing?

Understanding Paid Traffic

What is paid traffic and how does it help your site? The simple answer is that it is revenue which is generated through any digital content pertaining to your website. This could be the actual site, the app, mobile webpage, or the landing page. The traffic and revenue is acquired through ads which are placed on social media and/or search engines.

Buying web traffic is typically done through major websites, such as Google AdWords. Google takes certain keywords which pertain to your site and generates an online advertisement for your target audience. When the keywords are typed into the search engine, your ad shows in the results.

Time sensitive advertisement

If you are buying web traffic, it is important to understand that the content building software is only for a specific period of time. Organic traffic is building for the long-term. Why does this matter? Buying web traffic generates an abundance of traffic in a short amount of time. This is especially helpful if you have a certain campaign which needs to reach a certain target audience. Ads are beneficial in this example.

Is it a good idea to buy web traffic?

Whether or not it is a good idea to purchase web traffic has been the discussion of many forums. While some would argue that you need to generate traffic naturally. There is a sense of cheating when purchasing traffic, when argued from this perspective. However, many believe that paid traffic can be a bridge to reaching a target audience. This perspective does not see any reason why you should engage in buying web traffic.

Buying web traffic really comes down to a personal choice of how you want to acquire followers and reach your target market. Keep in mind that buying web traffic is not the same as the black hat technique or other frowned upon methods of gaining traffic to your site immorally. Buying web traffic is just a means of purchasing ads which could lead to visitors and leads. You are not purchasing the leads or the visitors themselves.

What are the Pros of Buying Web Traffic?

Buying web traffic can be a substantial investment. This is due to the way in which the advertisements are set up. You usually pay per engagement with the advertisement. It is critical to understand, therefore, the multitude of benefits and the overall ROI (return on investment) you can expect from the ads.

First, companies such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Tic Tok generate most of their money through advertisements. Their paid advertisements are optimized with many tools and resources to ensure that the campaign is successful. This is better than trying to guess if you are doing your campaign correctly. The sites have already done the market research and know how to reach the most people.

Second, using a platform such as AdWords is faster than SEO. This goes back to the way in which ads are presented to the SERPs. SEO, while effective, takes time in order to establish your brand. In instances where you really want to push a campaign and see immediate results ads are the way to go.

Marketing Pros of Buying Web Traffic

Buying web traffic is a quick way in which to build your brand awareness. As the advertisements are targeted to those who want to see and engage with items meeting the keywords in the ads, you are far more likely to see an increase in your brand’s online identity. Furthermore, by using keyword analysis you can ensure that the branding shows up at the top of the SERPs (search engine result pages), even when your target market is seeking out your competitors’ goods or services.

Unlike SEO, which takes time to find out what works and what does not, you can quickly find out the type of keywords and phrases which your target audience engages with. Buying web traffic allows you to understand your audience better, especially when you combine platforms such as Google Analytics with your campaign. Seeing what works and what does not can help you to create better worded ads and generate more leads. If you do not have leads and visitors you can quickly retarget your ad to gain leads, something SEO is a bit time-consuming in doing.

The Cons of Buying Web Traffic

While there are several pros to buying web traffic, there are some challenges which should be addressed before you buy web traffic. For example, big keyword competition can lead to lower ad engagement. Also, as buying web traffic is targeted for the short term, it can get rather expensive trying to use a campaign for long-term leads. You will need to couple your campaign with proper SEO strategies in order for it to work well for you.

The second major challenge is that paid traffic has a huge learning curve. Using platforms such as Google AdWords is a quick way in which to gain traffic, but the platform and the advertisements are not as easy to generate successfully as one may think. If the ads generated the ROI expectations of everyone who used them, the company would go bankrupt and the users would be rich. Therefore, understand that the purpose of the ad is not for capital gains from the ad, but for an increase in traffic and leads which generate ROI.

Other Considerations

Besides the actual advertisement, you will need to ensure that your landing page is the best. This is the first thing that the visitor will see. Studies show that within seconds, the visitor will make a decision as to whether or not they will engage with the rest of the site. If the site loads in more than 2 seconds, it is considered slow. Optimize your site to load quickly and to have the most recent standards and content in order to capture your audience once they are directed to your site.

Which is better, paid for or organic traffic?

Now that you understand the pros and the cons of buying web traffic, the question which arises is which is better, paid for or organic traffic? The answer depends upon your current needs. Organic traffic is free and helps to drive up your SERPs. However, it is a long-term investment which requires you to have content constantly added to your page. It is a building of content and publishing material which can empower the visitor to make decisions. SEO within your content is important, as this is what the SERPS will use to find your site.

Paid for traffic generates quick leads to your site. It is ideal for those which need to boost the engagement with their site in the short term. Specifically, paid advertisement is great for those who have a campaign they wish to promote. Paid for traffic is also ideal for those who are building their SEO alongside the paid for advertisements.

Use both methods

While you may choose to use paid for traffic for your site, you should understand that you cannot have sustainable SERPs without using both methods. A company can benefit from buying web traffic because they can cause leads and followers to see and frequent the site through the ad campaign. SEO and orgainic content benefits the website as it helps to reach people outside of the target market who may be seeking your goods or services.

Optimization of your site requires a substantial amount of work. Continuously knowing the trends in SEO and content marketing is the key to driving traffic to your site. Before starting your campaign, perform a keyword analysis on your site, research keywords and phrases which show up at the top of the SERPs, and look at the analytics of your site. In this, you can better understand the needs for your site and make an educated decision on whether you need to purchase web traffic or not.

SERP Algorithms are made to help search engine result pages determine what sites are the best and what sites are spam. Algorithms are based upon a series of mathematical equations and finite sequences. These sequences and formulas are calculated and implemented using artificial intelligence software (AI). To drive traffic to your site, understand the variables read by the AI. Here are a few things to consider.

Have something specific

Having something specific drives traffic to your site. Google algorithms call this a niche. Keep in mind that there are several websites within any niche. Therefore, you should have different keywords from other sites in the same niche. This will make the SERPs AI identify your site as being unique and having fresh information when it seeks data on-site (known as crawling).

Try to be specific about your niche. For example, if your passion is dogs and you wish to have a blog focused on a particular breed, do not use “dog” as your niche but “short-haired German Shepherd” as this is more likely to gain you better rankings in the SERPs.

SERP Algorithms: SEO words and phrases

Coupled with your niche should be proper SEO and content phrases. SEO goes beyond just using keywords. Though the keywords are important, it is equally important to have phrases that the algorithm will identify as being search-worthy. Besides this, you should have keywords in the URL of your blog post or website. Again, avoid generic titles and non-specific labels. The more unique the name is while staying true to your niche, the better.

Put your keyword phrase in the title. This is a must for algorithms. The first thing they use is the title. Then, after categorizing your site niche based on that title, the content is crawled. Have a metadata description. While some claim that meta tags are becoming obsolete, they are not. Google has updated its AI in 2021 to include metadata tags as part of the SERP standards for SEO. Have text associated with your images. This includes image description text and alt text.

What links are associated with your site?

There are two main types of links that are looked at by the SERP algorithm. The first is internal linking. These are the links that you place to other blogs or pages of your site. Be careful when placing your links. Too many and the Google algorithm will flag your site as being spammy, something no site wants as it will plummet your site’s SERPs to the back pages.

The second type of link is outbound linking. Here is where you need to perform your due diligence. Remember that the sites you link to update their information. Also, keep in mind that the domain name for the site may expire and the content may change completely. A news site recently found out the hard way that keeping up with your external links is critical when they had several of their links reference porn instead of the previous news channel links.

Have the proper label for your link (URL)

• As important as it is to understand other sites’ links, it is more important to understand your own. Have a URL that is easily identified and contains the information that you need. Do this by adding Hyphens in the tag/mainline of your URL. Avoid using underscores as these are harder to type and may blend into the search bar.
• Keep your permalink short. The more a person has to remember in typing your address, the less likely it will be to gain traffic. Algorithms push long permalinks back into the SERPs. Check the loading of your site. Type your URL into various browsers. If the site takes over 2 seconds to load, it is slow. Optimize images and text to make your URL appear instantaneous.

Have your media labeled for SERP Algorithms

A common mistake that is flagged by algorithms is the lack of text associated with media. Users upload an image or a media file and forget to put alt text and descriptions. This is mandatory if you wish to have high SERPs. Google algorithm looks at this text as having your site fully hearing and visually handicap compatible. The better the description (remember those keywords) the higher you will rank.

Wait

Perhaps the most important thing to remember with SERP Algorithms is to wait. They work on a looping system and are updated constantly. It takes time for things to set in and to see a result in your traffic. Do not change the overall site too much. Yes, updates regularly are critical and web maintenance is a must. However, if you change too much, you may have to wait till the next crawl to see SERP results.

Questioning which type of website is best suited for your needs has been an issue since the evolution from standard html pages to mobile and responsive websites. As the design and development trends continue to shift, it is important to address this question. Here are a few things to consider about mobile and traditional sites.

Mobile websites pros

Mobile website development has its pros and cons. On the pro side, you are allotted freedom to cater to the specific needs of the person on the go. Information can be designed to quickly and effectively target your intended audience. Mobile sites can be paired with push notifications to further drive traffic to your site.

Mobile website cons

The downside to the mobile website is that they do not do well by themselves. Mobile sites work better when there is a desktop or responsive site counterpart. Why is this? Because of how mobile sites are designed, there is a limitation on the information and the data which can be shared and collected. Mobile sites are best suited for those who change information (such as blogs, review pages, and new posts).

Mobile website alternatives

One alternative to mobile website design is to have a mobile app. Yet, even with this solution, the design is limited. You could choose to have a responsive website, but the downside to that is in the site’s focus. With mobile sites, you can cater to your on-the-go audience while using the desktop to cater to another audience. With a responsive website, you must choose a targeted market and stick with it.

Popularity is one of the key pros to having a mobile website. With the increase of mobile dependency, mobile apps and mobile websites are quickly pulling ahead of the traditional website. Because mobile websites are catered to quickly be viewed and engaged with, the potential to quickly grow your website’s traffic is substantial.

Responsive ‘traditional’ site pros

While the HTML site is the all-time default website, responsive websites have become the traditional base model to use. To see if your site is responsive, simply scale down your viewing window. If your site scales, then you have a responsive website. But which type of website is best? Should you use a desktop site or a responsive website, or should you go completely mobile?

Responsive websites give you the ability to create one design and have it available for almost any device. This creates a continuity between the devices. It also keeps your website from having any outdated issues. Think about this. If you have a desktop site and want to make a tablet site, then usually you must reformat the site and create one. The same is true for mobile. The information being transferred must be updated per platform used to raise the risk of error. With a responsive site, you only need to update the information once.

Responsive ‘traditional’ site cons

The major drawback from a responsive website is that the content cannot be catered to multiple groups. For example, if you wish to have a direct and optimized experience as you would with a mobile site, you would have to have that across all platforms. This could prove problematic on desktop sites where viewers went engaging and long form content. The second drawback is that responsive websites yield an assumption of compatibility. Smaller screens may not be visually appealing, although the site changes. Margins and images may not scale accordingly as well. It takes a focus on all platforms to ensure that the design carries properly.

Which type of website is best, mobile or responsive?

The perfect solution for you depends upon your traffic needs. For those who have content, which is constantly updated, a responsive website is more suited to your needs. E-commerce sites would also do well with a responsive website, as the risk for differences in information is minimized. If you have a site which leans more to the visual, then a mobile site may be the best website. Sites which need to focus both on people on the go and those who have the time to review content should use mobile websites.

Both mobile and responsive websites should be considered. While a mobile site has the advantage of a large target audience, it lacks in the material which can be optimally presented. Responsive websites give the content but lack in the delivery. Having both could help. Keep in mind that if you have both a mobile and a responsive website that you will have to do twice the upkeep. On the plus side, by catering to both the mobile and responsive website, you meet both the demands.

Determine your target audience, evaluate which method will cause you to have the best SERPs and UX, and then design your site accordingly.

With millions of sites on the internet, it is important to effectively increase web traffic in 2021. SERPs (search engine result pages) determine where you are rated when people use search bars. If you show up on the third page or beyond, you probably have low traffic to your site. Here are a few ways that you can increase web traffic to your site in 2021.

Increase your SEO and content phrases

When you write content for your site, ensure that you have words that people will search for. You can research SEO words using WordPress plug-ins or through keyword identifiers. Be careful about the density of your keywords. Google algorithms typically do better on sites that use keywords fluently, rather than placing the phrases hap hazardously.

Content phrases are those phrases that form a question for a search bar. For example, you may ask “what is the best place to eat in Atlanta, Ga?”. Your content phrase would be the best place to eat in Atlanta, Ga. Like the SEO words, be careful that you naturally use phrases when writing your content.

Remove or revise old content

Content needs to be updated regularly on a website. Old content, though valid, needs to be updated with new sentences, better wording, and rephrased. This will help the search engine algorithm to see the page as something fresh. This step is essential to increasing your traffic in 2021. Google has implemented new standards in 2021 for websites and is focusing on those sites which have new content.

Double-check the sentences used on the site. Content with grammatical errors does not rank well. If your sentences are too long, your site will rank lower. Keep your customer feedback. Do not manipulate it, as this takes away from your organic ranking.

Submit your site to multiple search engines

While your site may be found by search engines, if you do not tell search engines you are online, you are taking a chance. Google, Bing, Yahoo, and MSN all allow you to submit your site’s address. Be sure that you also register your address with Google businesses to increase your local SEO. The more search engines you submit your site to the higher the possibility that it will appear to your target audience.

Get other sites to link to your site (backlink)

Look for sites that rank higher than your site in SERPs. Contact those sites and ask them if you can do a guest blog or if they can reference your site in a post. The more sites which link back to your site (known as backlinking) the better. You must do authentic backlink building. Surges in backlinks are likely to get your site flagged, so build your site’s links strategically.

When building backlinks, look for SEO keywords and phrases that you want your site associated with. Again, here is where an SEO audit or a search for keywords would help. Use only authoritative sites for backlinking your site will be identified as associated with whoever links to you.

Add social share buttons to effectively increase web traffic in 2021

We are a socially driven culture. Social media affiliation is necessary to increase website traffic in 2021. Make sure that your share buttons have the proper icons associated with them. Most times, the sites will have a direct link button you can embed in your HTML coding. If using a site builder such as WordPress or Wix, use the built-in icons. Viewers who can identify your social links are more apt to visit and engage with your site.

Have social pages

Coupled with the social buttons is the necessity to have social pages. Link your social media pages back to your main page. Do not neglect to use YouTube marketing, as this is a growing trend. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are standard pages every website should have should they wish to increase their traffic in 2021.

Tic-Tok is also becoming an online marketing hot spot. Consider creating an account to fully maximize your online social presence.

Guest Blog and Forums

Creating organic content is the key to driving traffic to your site in 2021. To do this, you need more than just SEO and context phrases on your site. You need to have information about your site on other authoritative sites. As everyone is competing for the top ranks in SERP, the best way to do this is through guest blogging and forums. Guest blogs allow you to contribute to the authoritative site while backlinking to your site to boost its visibility.

Forums allow you to either create or engage in multiple conversations about a topic. The more conversation you have on a forum you have created, the higher your ranking will become. When engaging in conversation address all comments made about your site. Whether good or bad, potential viewers want to know what you have to say. Be curious and stay on point for the best results.

Overall, be consistent to effectively increase web traffic in 2021

While the above points can help to gain traffic in 2021, it is more important that you are consistent. Apply new content on a schedule, post socially on the same day, engage frequently on forums, and you will find that your page’s SERP will do better.