The NFL Guide to Website Traffic
It always seems to be about traffic on the Web
image credit: Jayel Aheram
I’ve written about traffic before here on Hunting Business Marketing. These posts always seem to garner interest. I write the posts to help you, a hunting business professional, have success on the Web. Here are my previous posts on traffic:
- Paid vs. Natural Traffic: It’s like Baiting vs. Funnel Hunting for Deer – Part 1
- Paid vs. Natural Traffic – Baiting vs. Funnel Hunting for Deer – Part 2
- Hunting Outfitters and Guides: Get Valuable Traffic to Your Website
- Is Traffic to Your Hunting Website Really What You Want?
It might be the fact that football season and whitetail deer hunting season occur during the fall that I always associate the two.
For me, the only time I come out of the woods during opening weekend of rifle season is to watch the Packer game except for this past season since they were on Monday night. And of course the ‘05 season when they were just terrible (4-12 ugh), but it worked out because I harvested a nice 11 point at 1:30pm.
Anyway, that’s why I’m writing about the NFL on a hunting business blog.
The reason I’m writing about the NFL is because it’s a busy period in the NFL. Free agency is only a few days old, but there has already been plenty of excitement.
The Green Bay Packers (my favorite team) and management are sticking to what has been their approach since ‘05, which has been to sit back in the initial weeks of free agency and focus instead on value free agents and the draft in April.
The Packers approach is one way of building championship teams and the other is of course the Washington Redskin approach, which is to pay big bucks for splashy free agents (Albert Haynesworth, DeAngelo Hall, and Derrick Dockery in ‘09 alone).
There are a mix of teams who follow the Draft and Value Free Agency Approach (Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and New England) and those who follow the Splashy Free Agency Approach (Washington, Minnesota, and Dallas).
Side note: By ‘Value Free Agency’ I mean teams that sign resign their own players to extensions before their contracts are up and teams that sign unrestricted free agents for a more realistic dollar value; usually after the first week or two of free agency. By ‘Splashy Free Agency’ I mean big name players that make a huge splash with astronomical amounts of money attached to their new contract.
We’ll know what approach wins come February ‘10.
The off season team-building period of the NFL reminds me of how Websites work to build their presence.
Building organic or natural traffic is similar to how teams use the draft and value free agency to build a team from within and paid traffic is similar to how teams sign big name free agents.
Natural Traffic and Draft & Value Free Agency
Pros
In the NFL, teams that focus on bringing in strong talent through the draft and value (underappreciated talent) players are able to create a solid foundation for their franchise. From the beginning (the draft) players are able to learn a system and grow with the team. Rookies (beyond the first 15-20 picks) are real (relative) bargains for NFL teams. If a player is a success early on after they’re drafted, the team can offer a contract before the player is due to make it to unrestricted free agency. This is a way for the team to save future money by giving the player guaranteed money before that player has to risk injury by waiting for their contract to expire (Aaron Rodgers in ‘08).
If the team knows how to build organically through the draft they can have sustained success (New England and Pittsburgh).
The same approach can work for your hunting Website. If you spend your time creating excellent content and making strong connections via mediums like Twitter, blogging organizations, forums, etc., you can build a strong foundation of steady and quality traffic for your site.
This approach takes time, but you’re building a solid base of loyal readers who understand your content and are willing to spread your business service/product through word-of-mouth.
Cons
The natural approach takes some risk out of the equation as far as current dollars are concerned. NFL teams that don’t spend big money on splashy players avoid the common letdowns i.e. Joe Johnson, Jerry Porter, and Javon Walker. However, by not signing big players in free agency, teams are missing out on the occasional Reggie White. (Thank goodness the Packers made that move in ‘93).
If you’re avoiding paying for traffic you’re not strapping yourself for cash. However, you’re also taking a chance of not gaining some potentially huge traffic numbers to your site. You might be missing out on a lucrative traffic opportunity.
Organic traffic building is also a slow process. Building a solid foundation of natural traffic (making connections with potential readers by reaching out as well as through keyword planning and search) takes time and can wear a person out.
Paid Traffic and Splashy Free Agency
Pros
Sometimes a player is a splashy free agent for a reason. In the NFL, some players take the chance to reach free agency while risking injury because they know if they have a good ‘contract year’ there is a good chance teams will get into a bidding war. Each year NFL teams have needs for certain positions (usually QB, the lines, receiver, and cornerback). These teams get desperate for proven talent and are willing to pay premiums for the available players.
Sometimes, as in the Reggie White case, the team’s choice to pay top dollar pays dividend (‘96 Super Bowl Champions!).
Splashy free agents can have instant impacts as their proven talent transfers to the team paying them the big money.
Sometimes on the Web there are sources of paid traffic that pay off for Website owners despite the large costs. You might be able to find a pricey, but highly trafficked site where you can stick a banner ad and get tons of traffic. It might cost a ton of money for a monthly or yearly contract, but the traffic could turn out to be high quality and convertible (profitable).
Also, paid traffic can have instant payoff. If there is a need for instant traffic, the paying approach is generally the best way to get spikes in traffic.
Cons
There is a huge risk in NFL free agency to get into bidding wars over players that aren’t really worth the huge amounts of money teams pay. Too often these players don’t live up to expectations.
The same is true for paid traffic. Often, new Web users and new site owners look for the quickest way to get traffic to their Website. This approach often leads to letdown and a loss of value.
More often than not, NFL teams get burned on big names and more often than not, Website owners get burned on paid traffic sources.
What is the best approach for you and your hunting business?
I favor the Natural Traffic and Draft & Value Free Agency Approach for my Websites (and for the Packers).
While this approach runs the risk of losing out on some major traffic from paid sources, I think it also forces my creativity to flow in figuring out ways to gain natural and organic traffic.
Just as Ted Thompson (the Packers current GM ‘05 to ‘09…) gets flack every off season for not signing big, splashy names, I also have to sit back and watch as others are able to get traffic through paid sources.
As with everything on the Web, the important thing to remember is value.
Always look for value when spending money and spending time. Understand the risks involved and determine when it’s acceptable to take on risk and when it’s best to avoid temptation.
I feel that paid traffic has a significant place if it’s truly valuable for you and your business. Look at the quality of traffic the source you’re paying has been able to provide their existing clients.
Look for paid sources that work to truly empower their clients.
A paid traffic source that glows about their clients’ success is much better than a paid source who brags about their own (false?) achievements.
Focus your energy on creating great content (your draft) and adding value by spending time building connections on the Web. Also look to pay for some traffic if the situation is truly valuable (your value free agents).
Related posts on the Web
Case Study of TheFutureBuzz.com: Analytics, Trends And Insights
Organic Traffic Building: The Only Way to Grow A Sustainable Web Brand
The Day 250,000 People Showed Up At My Blog: Case Study
Related posts on Hunting Business Marketing
Increasing Your Web Presence – The First 3 Months
10 Things Every Hunting Website Needs (Plus a Few Extra Ideas)
10 People All Hunters Should Follow on Twitter
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