Search Traffic vs. Social Traffic

To get traffic from social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter requires constant updates from your accounts. As soon as you stop putting new content on your tweets or status, you will stop getting traffic from social networking sites. Social networks have to be maintained more aggressively than search engine results to sustain user visits. Unlike a search result, updates on social networks provide almost no residual traffic. Every new tweet is pushed further down the timeline by a newer tweet until it fades into history. A good search ranking, on the other hand, maintains its place for as long as it’s perceived to be a quality result in the eyes of Google.

Blogging also faces similar problem as social media. Bloggers are sometimes referred to as “pageview slaves” due to their need to blog regularly to maintain their traffic. Any sharp decline in posting leads to a sharp decline in traffic. To increase their pageviews, many bloggers feel obliged to increase their posting frequency at the risk of burning themselves out; or worse they’re compelled to write “link bait” topics that succeed at attracting short-term traffic at the risk of lowering long-term credibility. 

If you’re trying to make money online, social traffic is notorious for providing poor conversion rates. Social bookmarking platforms like Digg and StumbleUpon bring in plenty of readers, but few buyers. Social sites are used primarily for recreation. So a visitor on your site that comes from a search engine is generally more likely to convert to a sale than a visitor from a social bookmark or status update.