Will Traffic from Social Media Convert better in 2009?

There is much discussion on the web as to whether traffic from social media sites is high quality traffic and if it even converts to sales.

Some will tell you that social media traffic is just individuals who are stumbling around and they won’t stay on your site for long. Others will tell you that if your site is what your visitors are looking for then it will convert and it’s all about the ‘looks’ and information.

In any case social media does help with search engine rankings and it’s great for creating high quality backlinks to a website. We all know what good rankings in the search engines can do for a website.

So what’s the deal? Should we be focusing on the social media just to improve our search engine rankings? Or should we focus on improving our status within social media and not worry about search engine rankings?

For someone to search for a product or service on Google and then to purchase that product or service, this process is very normal today. People are use to it. I believe the same will happen within the world of Social Media. The more credibility one has the more people will come to trust his website. Meaning the more you are out there in the Social Media world and not just out there but involved and sharing information this will help improve your status and credibility. Social media traffic will convert because they will trust you. Google will still be around; I’m not worried about that. But will the focus be on SEO? I am not sure. I have a strong feeling that the main focus [maybe in 2009] will be on SMO – Social Media Optimization, how to strategically place yourself within social media.

Even if you are not seeing any results in marketing via social media today – stick with it – because in the long run – the results will come and it all depends on your perseverance and sticking with your marketing activities consistently on a daily basis.

Did you ever see water dripping on a rock? What happens to the rock after a while? Eventually a hole will be formed in that rock. In social media marketing, sometimes it feels like you are marketing and marketing and what happens? Nothing! Always remember the rule with the water and the rock – if you are message is consistently ‘dripping’ out there, if your message is crystal clear – eventually you will form an opening for yourself within the world of social media.