Is it safe to build a business completely reliant on free Google traffic?

[JJMcClure]

So I'll just pay an Indian link builder for 1000 generic links to my competitor, the site that "deserves" to be at #1

Afer all Google did change their previous line about "there is nothing you can do to reduce the ranking of a competitor" to "there is almost nothing..."

You'd have to have got their ranking to number one with those links in the first place for that to work mate so the net effect is zero, except maybe to increase their traffic for a while. The point is that if you use weak ass techniques that fail to correctly mimic the signals that indicate genuine usefulness then you'll pay the price.

As for hurting competitors, this is a discussion I've had numerous times, it can be done, no two ways about that. Either that or it's impossible to hurt yourself..... Check this out - Google Bowling

One thing is certain, there is nothing you can do to ensure you stay permanently at #1 for your key term. Whether you are there or not is due to your implementation of SEO and Google's chopping and changing with the algo. From a business perspective, one's in your control and other isn't. So working to eliminate your free Google traffic may actually be a good thing for your business? The less you depend on them the less likely you are to have a massive drop in turnover/profit and have to tighten your belt or sack employees

Now you're starting to see why rankings are not the be all and end of all of SEO. Rankings fluctuate because of algo improvements and competitor activity and people may not even be seeing the same thing as you anyway due to personalised/geo targeted search so 'position' is actually a pretty meaningless and difficult to measure metric to go by. The stats that matter are how many visits result from a keyword phrase and what that traffic is actually doing on your site. I'd much rather have 20 page/one and two rankings than one #1 ranking, that gives a larger safety net and makes your SEO traffic that much more reslient AND if the rankings are built on genuinely good content or signals that mimic that then you're safer anyway. Again, it comes down to understanding what Google want.

[Clinton]

Rich, I'm aware of the geo-targeting and personalisation

Let's sound all of you out on what source of traffic you feel is safest - traffic from Google SERPS, Other SEs, Affiliates, Wikipedia, Facebook, PPC, Something Else?

Also, I'm curious what percentage of your traffic currently comes from Google.

In my case, some of my finance sites get 80% of traffic from Google. Experienced-People.co.uk gets about 40% from Google, and there are sites I've blocked from Google which get 0%. Excluding those blocked sites, the average across all my sites must be somewhere between 20% and 40% from the Gorg.

These forums get 80% of new visitors from experienced-people.co.uk and about 5% from Google. What are your rough figures (you don't need to disclose the sites)?

[Andy]

You're talking about a company worth billions and staffed by PHDs and who's primary goal is to maintain the quality of their product. I'm not going to second guess them nor am I going to feel personally singeld out just because I fell foul of their quality guidelines, that'd be like saying that they shoulda let me on that plane last time I was drunk or moaning cos I got caught speeding.



It very much is with Google, I wonder if it's you that doesn't get them, not the other way around Andy. Everything they do is aimed at being as useful as possible for their own users otherwise they don't make any money, they're not directly responsible for the content of their index so they have to control it second hand, not an easy job.

I'm going to try to not get into this too deeply, but I would like to say that

a) I already mentioned that maybe it was "I" who didn't get it. Ya know, maybe those PhD's are just too smart for an undereducated fool like me.

b) I do follow guidelines. It not my nature to break the rules. I may not always understand them - after all I am not a PhD but I do my best.

c) Yep, they've got oodles of money so therefore their wisdom MUST be above reproach. Right up there with Microsoft, Apple, Exxon, BP, Enron, Toyota, GM... should I go on?

Sorry if my answers are a bit terse here, but I take exception to my words being twisted into something far beyond what I was saying.

"Google just doesn't get it" referred specifically to the example of when someone wants to buy something, they might - just MIGHT want to go to a sale page. From what I've seen Google consistently penalizes "pure" sales pages.


Sorry, I see things differently than the Mighty Google Oracle. We have different ideas on how things should be. I'm a street guy. I know what I know because I've spent considerable time face to face with prospects and customers. The one thing I REALLY think I understand is when it comes to prospects and customers - I haven't learned anything yet.

And since Google has invested in one of the most sophisticated testing engines I've ever seen and one of the better analytic engines around, I think we do agree, in part, on that.

I now return this thread back to the original inquiry...

No, I would not want to rely on Google for all my income. Nor would I want to rely on any single source.

Andy

[hooperman]

Also, I'm curious what percentage of your traffic currently comes from Google.

I've got the following percentages from Google for my "good" sites:

1. 75%
2. 90% (I know, I know...)
3. 87%
4. 88%
5. 83%
6. 84%

I'd prefer it if I had a bit more referral/direct traffic. A couple of those sites are never going to have much direct traffic, though, as the content never updates so there's less of a reason for those sites to get "bookmarked".

[JJMcClure]

Rich, I'm aware of the geo-targeting and personalisation

I'm not saying that you weren't mate but the paradigm shift that SEO has undergone in the last 18 months because of the many different ways in which people can view the SERP is something I wouldn't have expected you to be aware of.

Let's sound all of you out on what source of traffic you feel is safest - traffic from Google SERPS, Other SEs, Affiliates, Wikipedia, Facebook, PPC, Something Else?

Google/PPC (since they're the same source company) then affiliates. Facebook and it's ilk are here today gone tomorrow, no way I'd rely on traffic from them, just look what happened to myspace.

I do some networking and word of mouth is big for me, I advertise in hard copy occasionally but never had anything from it that made it worth it and I'm considering a radio Ad, see how that goes. I get the odd enquiry from Google SERP

Sorry if my answers are a bit terse here, but I take exception to my words being twisted into something far beyond what I was saying.

That wasn't my intention, I was saying it how I saw it. Maybe a misintepretation due to the textual context. You sound slighted, again, not my intention. What it boils down to for me is that when I'm not sure what Google are doing I'm going to err on the side of assuming that they know what they're doing since I don't have a trillionth % of their available intellectual capacity.

If you really believe that on anything issue at all 'google doesn't get it', then tell them - suggestions for webspam projects for 2009.

[Clinton]

Anyone else with any percentage? Rich?

[Clinton]

LukeMoulton has added that he agrees that proper web businesses shouldn't rely solely on Google.

He keeps putting proper web businesses in quotes though. Why's that then?

[meathead1234]

He keeps putting proper web businesses in quotes though. Why's that then?

I'd imagine he puts them in quotes referring to those who treat their online/web income seriously/rely on it and as such is a real business more than just a hobby where one could argue a huge change in SERPs isn't going to ruin someone's livelihood.

[Clinton]

Was just going through the referrer stats for these forums. Google sends less than 1% of the traffic. Do I go get vbseo or do I ....celebrate?

[petertdavis]

Was just going through the referrer stats for these forums. Google sends less than 1% of the traffic. Do I go get vbseo or do I ....celebrate?

With forums, Google traffic is really important if you're trying to make money with the forum. I like the forum how it is now, I doubt I'd like it so much if it was attracting larger numbers of non-expert people.