Getting A-Listers to Notice Your Blog vs Social Networking
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Social networks like StumbleUpon, Digg, Reddit and others, can definitely send massive traffic too. But from my experience, people coming from Problogger, LifeHack, ChrisG, Performancing, Successful-Blog and other well-known and established blogs are more inclined to click, read and subscribe to your rss feed. (like I said, that’s “my” experience)
Numbers And Facts
A well written post that gets stumbled in the right category can easily bring 5,000-6,000 visitors in a day, and some of those visitors will subscribe to your rss feed. That is awesome. But, I realized I don’t spend a lot of time on the blogs I find while stumbling, usually less than 3 minutes.
I guess many stumblers are like me. That’s probably why the average time stumblers spend on my blog is around 2-3 minutes. That’s fine, I’ll take all the traffic I can get, but I don’t care that much for numbers on this blog, what I care about is getting my blog in front of people, even just 10 people, and interacting with them, engaging in discussions.
When an “a-lister” (whatever a-list means) links to one of my posts, usually the traffic is not as massive as a post on Digg’s frontpage, but you know what? Those people coming from authority blogs (maybe that’s you!), they click, read, comment, and subscribe to my rss feed. Now that is cool! Even better, they spend an average of 11 minutes on my blog.
Don’t get me wrong I love social networking, and I love it when a top stumbler stumbles one of my posts, but you guyz coming from ChrisG, Successful-Blog, and LifeHack (on freelancefolder) you folks rock! You’re clicking like crazy! It’s unbelievable!
The Importance Of Networking
How can you manage to get a post featured on authority blogs then? Well it’s actually quite simple, just don’t think about it too much, and keep writing. It’ll happen eventually, no worries, provided you write good enough content. You can also participate in contests and group writing projects. Talk/network with other bloggers, either on Skype, on the phone, by e-mail, live in person (like we did at sobcon07), and leave comments on their blogs, simply get to know them. Trust me, it works! :)
Your Turn To Talk
What do you prefer? Traffic coming from social networking sites, or from other blogs?
Think about it for a second, when a top blogger links to one of your posts, it’s a personal recommendation from the blogger to his/her readers, chances are those people will enjoy your blog also. On the other hand social networking sites can send massive traffic your way.
So, what do you think?
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49 Responses to “Getting A-Listers to Notice Your Blog vs Social Networking”
Discussion Area - Share Your Thoughts
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Yes , that Stumbleupon traffic does look nice in the stats, but if there are no comments or rss subscribers, what good does it do?
Hi Adam, exactly, I’m a strong beleiver in conversationnal blogging, though I really don’t mind the traffic from SU and others, the reason this blog is still up, is because of you guyz that leave comments :)
I’ve never been dugg or stumbled or any of that so I can’t really speak for it, but I have to agree that traffic coming from an “a-lister’s” site would be better in that those users will be the ones to click through your site, comment and subscribe to your feed.
I only know how I browse digg and it’s usually just a quick glimpse of the site to read the article and see what the site’s all about and then I’m out. To date, I don’t think I’ve ever bookmarked or subscribed or clicked through any site I’ve came across on digg. So, traffic is great, but if the traffic isn’t giving you returning visitors and subscribers, what the use besides using up all your bandwidth? lol
Hi Deron, you’ve just been stumbled :)
Yeah I much prefer returning visitors or rss subscribers, than a huge spike in traffic from Digg (which would probably melt my server lol)
Sometimes, when I’m stumbling, I’m mindlessly clicking. I usually only stumble when I have read everything in my reader. It’s rare that I even spend as much as 3 minutes on a stumbled upon page.
Angela, same here, I try to spend some time on the sites though, but usually after 3 minutes I just leave, sometimes I will bookmark or subscribe, but not often. On the other hand when a blogger I know recommends another blog, I will definitely check it out and spend a good amount of time on there :)
I’m a bit greedy so I’ll take both if I can heh. Traffic from an authority blog would be my first choice. Since that has not happened yet, I’ll gladly take traffic from the social networks :)
Hey Brown Baron, if you can get both it’s really cool, best of both worlds. It doesn’t hurt to contact a-listers and ask some questions, it may work :)
Jon -
It’s funny that I read this right after I get off of a Skype session with ya.
‘nite!
Hey Dave, hehe the timestamp feature in wordpress is great :)
FF is getting quite a lot of traffic from social networks, and it seems to wwork great for this blog. :)
Building relationships and enjoying them is the key to networking. It may begin with social blogging but end up to be a keeper from the relationship you’ve built. In the end not only does your site blow up but also your social contacts and relations. Your Success, www.houseofhancock.com
Hi House of Hancock, that is exactly the reason why I have this blog :)
getting the attention of an “a lister” has been a goal of mine for a while now. I just can’t seem to grab their attention…. yet :)
Hey, I’m not an “a-lister” (well I don’t think I am lol) but you definitely got my attention :)
It’s always quality vs quantity.
Quality wins out in the long run, but the allure of getting “massive traffic” right now is very strong.
They’re both important. And even though most people that stumble on in won’t subscribe or be back much, some will. Especially if your content quality is up there.
I’ve become a strong believer in strong content. If it’s worth reading, people will.
Shane, yep, on SWR the stumble traffic is great, but stumblers don’t usually subscribe, on the other hand on freelancefolder they’re clicking like crazy (just checked the stats) after only a week, FF is already at 135 rss subscribers, but that’s probably because a post got featured on Lifehack.org :)
I have once been linked to by a high traffic blog, but I can’t say the visitors stayed much longer.
The blog was not in the same niche as me so that might is probably the reason.
Hi Thomas, what blog linked to you? If it’s in a completely different niche it may not be highly targetted traffic.
As a rather small blog I prefer the link of a (related) high traffic blog. I had this once and the conversion of visitors in subscribers was very good (it jumpstarted my feedcount).
Recently I have been getting a lot of traffic from StumbleUpon, and although exciting in the stats, didn’t convert into a lot of subscribers. It did generate comments though, and for ad performance it wasn’t bad as well.
But in this stage of my blog, I prefer a high conversion into subscribers above high traffic numbers.
Hello Lodewijkvdb, good point, if the blog is “fairly new” (I consider SWR to be fairly new), you definitely want to increase your feed subscribers number, so you have an audience, then at some point SU traffic doesn’t matter much, since you already have a “fan base” :)
It seems more likely that visitors sent via links from established bloggers will be more appropriate to your niche or topic range, are more meaningful, and have a greater chance of helping to build your loyal reader base.
Links from social sites are a bit like linktrain memes - kinda like tasty but nutritionally-void Internet junk food. The sudden surge of traffic is a sweet sugary rush, but the high fades fast and few of those random visitors who made your stats soar seem to convert over to regular readers or subscribers.
Rob, hehe I love the way you put it “kinda like tasty but nutritionally-void Internet junk food” - Great metaphor :)
Agree with you totally. Its seems that was an effective way for Tim Ferris (www.fourhourworkweek.com) got noticed. I also have a link from problogger.com and its a great link source.
Hey Jon (nice to meet another Jon), Tim got a lot of exposure from authority bloggers, it definitely helped a lot. I had a link in problogger’s top 5 writing project, and I’m still receiving traffic even weeks later, it’s awesome! :)
I got stumbled last week and got an insane rush of traffic for about 3 days …
… and no new subscribers.
I started hanging out near Jon at FF, and my Feedburner number keeps climbing LOL
Jon,
When are SWR and FF going to get those nifty (1235 readers by Feedburner) buttons? :-)
Hey Dave, hehe that’s cool! I’m happy FF is sending you some traffic and subscribers :)
As for the feedburner buttons, humm, soon! When FF reaches 700-1000 rss subscribers. As for SWR, I’m not sure, maybe I should put it up and see if it helps get more subscribers.
I know that when I see the number climb, it makes me more likely to subscribe (even if the blog has low numbers - it’s actually easier to see it rise then)
You could always put text below it:
(130 new readers this month!)
One more reason for people to come back …
Good idea Dave, feedburner has this API thing, so I will try to code something so it displays:
[# of readers] subscribers this month
or something similar (instead of using the feedburner default chicklet) :)
I go for the A-List blogger. When it’s a recommendation from A-List, it’s carry more weight. And the traffic is just the right target audience too for your industry.
I got an article linked to by problogger and it brought in about 900 readers over the course of 3 days. It was pretty amazing.
The article linked to by Darren -
http://onemansgoal.com/34/does-monetizing-your-blog-cost-you-readers/
I had a post “Stumbled” earlier this month and it was actually quality traffic. I’ve had a post stumbled before and the people basically came to my site and left within seconds.
This time around, the average time on my post was almost 3 minutes and my RSS did go up quite a bit :D To me, any traffic is good traffic since I’m still trying to get my traffic stats and what not up!
-Gregg
[…] Phillips wrote a post yesterday, Getting A-Listers to Notice Your Blog vs. Social Networking. In the article Jon asks his readers which source they would prefer to send them traffic. He […]
I don’t do much for social network. My website traffic mostly from SEO. however, I would think to put stumbleupon button in my website.
I think it’s a good idea to get both. the best way is to write meaningful content. who knows you might just end up on digg’s front page. but traffic from a good blog can mean return visites. now anyway you cut it it looks good!
I think you’re totally right the traffic you get from sites such as Digg and Stumbleupon is just that, traffic. It’s hard to monetize, may crash your server, and will lead to few if any regular readers. Quality reviews from respected blogs is earned, not gamed, and people are therefore more likely to read and return to the recommended blogs.
Start Blogging, I’d go for the a-list blogger too :) Traffic coming from social networks is nice too, but peeople tend to stay on the page for less than 2 minutes so :)
Bryan, wow that’s pretty cool! Out of those 900, how many subscribe to the rss feed or left comments? A link from problogger in his Top5 writing project sent me a ton of traffic (and my link was there along with like 200 other links)
Ruri, that’s great, if you can optimize your site so it gets a nice amount of SE traffic. I do get quite a bit from search engines, but nothing compared to a link on an authority blog or a wave of traffic from reddit or SU. Balance is eveything :)
Todd, totally! A post on my other blog got linked to from lifehack.org (they have 45,000+ rss subscribers) and it did send a massive amount of traffic (and page views, woah!)
Chamonix, good point, it is earned, not gamed. Although I don’t mind a wave of traffic from SU, I like it best when those people comment and subscribe to my feed ;)
It is truly more powerful, and I think it validates you more than other types of traffic. I’m working on getting noticed by John Chow, ProBlogger, and ShoeMoney. (and you of course, :))
Hey Cooliojones, thanx a lot hehe, I’m not an “a-lister” like Darren, John or Jeremy, but sure wanna work my way there :)
Getting noticed by the a-list bloggers is..like Coolio says..very powerful. But if you don’t have enough “pillar” content to hook visitors, you’ll miss out on the benefits. For newer bloggers I think it’s better to concentrate on building up numerous relationships with the B- and C- list bloggers. It’s easier to get their attention, and you’re more likely to create a memorable impression with them. Once your site’s ready, and built up with enough strong content, the A-listers can definitely help you get to the next level very quickly…
Some useful stuff there, I’d rather have regular readers/subscribers than just high brief traffic.
Still working this “blogging thing” out and learning a lot.
Hey Zen, good point, a lot of bloggers I’ve met when I started were not “a-listers” at that time, but they are now, so all the conversations we had (and still have) and the links on their blog(s) or on mine are of greater value now, so it pays to get read, visit and comment on newer blogs :)
Michael, I agree, although I’d take all the traffic I can get, traffic coming from other blogs tend to be of greater “value” (if you see what I mean) ;)
Hmmmn, very interesting, i had not thought of this before. Social network traffic vs A-list blog traffic? In my niche (vegetarianism and eco-friendly lifestyle) the a-list bloggers would probably bring in more (solid and valuable) traffic vs. like BC or MBL. I’m not sure about SU, as it is tag based, and i would think that someone who specifically types in a tag related to my niche, would be a pre-sold reader. Hmmm, good tip to consider.
Missy.
Something that hasn’t been mentioned explicitly yet is duration. If you’re stumbled today, will it bring traffic in 3 months time? Probably not.
But if you are linked to by an A-Lister, that link will always be there. People WILL be browsing their old stuff in 3 months time. And A-listers show up high in search engine results, so you may get third-hand traffic from that way too.
Just my gut feeling, but I really think a link from an A-Lister will keep on bringing the benfits for much longer.
This is a really great post. Thank you for the advice. I never thought about it, but it’s true that when I comment on popular blogs, I can actually get traffic from that.. and the quality of the traffic is much better than SU.
It’s great to have traffic coming from what you called AListers but this don’t happen everyday. or at least not for me… That’s why most of the time you’ll have to settle for the social networking traffic…
Can I pick both?
I’d prefer traffic from the A-Listers since it is more of a targeted traffic. When people visit from the social networks they don’t surf around the site or get involved. They check out the link and leave 10 seconds later.
Nice analysis and I want to say hello to you and your wonderful blog!
[…] course getting links from A-listers is nice (according to some statistics I’d be an A-lister, whatever that means), and getting […]