Many website designers and developers dream of creating a one-stop-shop for all of their users’ needs. With one click a user can be taken from a simple product search to a comparison shopping engine to a chatbot that can help them make a purchase decision, and so on. This is called a ‘one-stop-shop’ or ‘single-purpose-built-for-functions-only’ website.)
The benefits of a ‘one stop shop’ website are many. First off, your visitors won’t have to click multiple times to find what they want. Second, if they do have to click multiple times, it’s less likely that they’ll leave the site, meaning your business will receive more organic traffic.
But creating a ‘one stop shop’ isn’t as easy as it looks. You need to have the right content, the right platform, and the right design.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of having low traffic web pages or a.k.a. “orphan pages” — those quiet little corners of your site that aren’t regularly updated, don’t contribute to your bottom line, and don’t really serve a specific purpose.
Why Should You Have Low Web Traffic Pages?
The short answer is that you shouldn’t. Ever. As a business owner, you have a bottom line to consider. The longer answer is that you shouldn’t have pages that you don’t expect to receive traffic from. Have a look at your own website’s analytics and you’ll see a clear difference between regular and “orphaned” traffic. (Note: if you don’t use analytics, you can use popular tools like Google Analytics or Hotjar to get a clear picture of how visitors engage with your website.)
Older website owners may remember when internet connections were slower, and therefore pages didn’t load as fast. Due to this, and the fact that people wanted to read the news as soon as it was published, there was a tendency for website owners to update their content regularly. Once they’d published a piece of content, they’d often see a spike in visitors as people came back to read the news or check out what was new.
With the rise of social media and the instant gratification that comes with online shopping, we’ve seen a decrease in the number of people who go back to a website to look for something specific. If you don’t update your website regularly, the chances are that people will lose interest and just walk away.
Luckily, there are ways to bring in more “orphaned” visitors. One way is to publish interesting, engaging content that will keep them coming back for more. Another way is to include videos on your site that will allow your visitors to see how your product or service works in real life.
How Can You Make The Most Of Your Low Web Traffic Pages?
As a business owner or manager, it’s your job to figure out how to make the most of your website’s limited resources. One of the best things that can happen to your website is when a visitor finds something interesting or useful on one of your low web traffic pages and decides to come back to read more. (In the above example, the reviewer found an interesting article about fashion trends that was previously published 4 years ago, but since then, a lot has changed. It’s now 2016 and the article is pretty much outdated.)
The goal is to get as many of these “orphaned” visitors to become paying customers. How do you do this? You could start by creating a landing page for each of your products. A landing page is a page where you list all the benefits of the product you’re promoting, along with your pricing information. (In the above example, the landing page is for a fashion product and the benefits include items such as “stylish” and “fits all fashion trends.”)
A landing page doesn’t have to just contain product information. You can use the space to promote other products or services that are complementary to the one you’re selling. For instance, if you sell fashion products, you can promote a stylist or store that offers personal fashion services. The key is to find something that will interest your audience, and don’t be afraid to experiment with formats and styles to see what works best for your site.
Once you’ve created a few successful landing pages, look into creating a sales page. A sales page is a special type of ‘landing page’ that’s dedicated to encouraging visitors to make a purchase. (In the above example, the reviewer’s interest was piqued by the stylist’s personalised recommendations for the outfit he was wearing, and the stylist’s unique selling points – like having a fashion degree and being a fluent Spanish speaker – are both promoted on his sales page.)
A sales page is not just for promoting a specific product. You can use the space to highlight a special offer, mention a discount code, or provide some useful tips on how to purchase the product you’re promoting. (In the above example, the reviewer is being guided through checkout with quick, easy instructions and a discount code.)
To attract organic traffic to your website, you need to make sure that your content is relevant and useful to your target audience. When you do this, you’ll often find that some of your website’s older pages begin to generate more interest and clicks than newer pages.
Make Sure That Your Content Is Relevant And Useful To Your Target Audience
Your target audience is the group of people that you intend to serve with your product or service. When you write content for your website, you’re going to write for a broad audience. However, you need to make sure that your content is useful and relevant to your target audience. This is where the old saying “content is king” comes in. Your content needs to be valuable and interesting enough for your target audience to spread the word about your website, product, or service.
To find your target audience, you need to first define your ideal buyer. This is the person you’re writing for. For example, if your product is intended for small businesses, you may want to write blog posts for business owners who are looking for tips on how to grow their business.
Your product’s features and benefits will become your website’s content and as you begin to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, you’ll find that content relating to your industry will be more valuable than general content.
When you’ve found your target audience, you can begin to think about their needs. What do they want? What are they looking for? You can use this knowledge to determine the kind of content you should be creating. Begin by looking at what you know about your target audience. (In the above example, the target audience is business owners, and the blog post’s content is predominantly about how to build a successful business.)
Once you’ve established yourself as an expert in your industry, you can write content that is more tailored to your audience’s needs.
As a website owner, you’re faced with the difficult task of bringing in enough revenue to make your business viable. One way to do this is to create content that will keep your visitors interested and coming back for more. This content can take many forms, but it generally falls into one of two categories:
- Educational
- Entertainment
When someone visits your website, the first thing they’ll see are the words “Get to Know Your New Dentist” for example. What happens next is largely determined by the type of content you create. If you want to educate your visitors about choosing a dentist, you’re going to teach them something new. Maybe you’ll even use a case study to show how one of your competitors’ mistakes negatively affected their bottom line. (In the above example, the words “Get to Know Your New Dentist” are an affiliate link. When a visitor clicks on the link and makes a purchase, this website will earn a small commission.)
If you want to engage your audience and keep them coming back for more, try creating content that is fun and interesting. For example, maybe you want to write a series of humorous anecdotes about what it’s like to be a business owner. Or maybe you want to highlight the positive aspects of your industry. (In the above example, the words “Get to Know Your New Dentist” are an affiliate link, but the content is positive and entertaining. The business owner featured in the blog post is using the service and enjoying the content.)
They Can Be Valuable Clues
Sometimes, Google treats pages that are solely meant to stand alone as “clueless pages.” A clueless page is a page on your site that does not contribute towards the indexing of your content, and can be beneficial for SEO. For example, let’s say you’ve got a series of product reviews and you’ve decided to review software for digital marketers. You’ve created a product review page where you discuss various platforms and their benefits. However, Google sees this page as a “robot review,” and doesn’t think it contributes to your site’s content. In the event that the reader doesn’t find what they’re looking for on your site, they may click on a random link (possibly even from a competitor) and land on a page that looks exactly like your “robot review” page. In this case, your site’s URL may begin to look suspicious to Google.
They Can Be Hosted On A Subdomain
Another way that Google can penalise a site is by hosting all of its content on a subdomain. A subdomain is a separate domain that is hosted under the same URL. For example, let’s say you’ve got a domain name that provides hosting for your company’s blogs. If you decide to create a separate blog for in-house SEO purposes, but want to keep the original domain name, you can have the in-house blog hosted on a subdomain of your company’s main domain. In this way, every page on your company’s main domain will still show up in the search results, while the in-house blog will rank separately.
They Can Be Established As A Money-Maker
If you decide to establish your in-house blog as a money-maker, you’re taking a risk of appearing “guilty of deceptive practices.” Establishing a blog or other content-bearing page can be a goldmine for your website’s SEO. For example, if you’re running an eCommerce store and you’ve got a product review page that brings in a steady stream of cash, you’re running the risk of appearing shady if a reader happens to click on a link on your site that takes them to a low web traffic page.
Creating an a low web traffic page for the sole purpose of establishing a money-making blog can be a risky move. If you decide to go this route, you’ll need to have complete control over the entire content of the page, and make sure that it draws in the right kind of audience. Otherwise, it could do more harm than good to your SEO efforts.
While establishing a blog definitely has its perks, it can also be a dangerous move if you do it wrong. Make sure you do your research first, and come up with a clear strategy before you dive in.
They Can Be Used To Hide Content
An a low web traffic page, or a “clueless” page as Google calls them, can be used to hide content that doesn’t belong on a particular page. Let’s say you’ve got an about me page on your site. You could put down a brief bio about yourself, along with an image. However, you don’t want to show the whole truth about yourself on your about me page: You want to keep some “secrets,” or at least, parts of the truth hidden. One way to do this is to create a low web traffic page and put down a short bio about yourself. If someone were to click on the link for this page, they would come away with a brief overview of your content but no indication of any personal information.
In this way, you can put down a short bio about yourself that will only show up on your about me page if a user happens to click on a link for this specific page. In the event that the reader doesn’t find what they’re looking for on your site, they may assume that this about me page is some kind of mistake, and click on a different link (possibly even from a competitor) to find the personal information they’re looking for. Your site may then appear to be a website that is unintentionally duplicative of content.
They Can Be Used To Hide Affiliate Marketing
In case you are running an affiliate marketing programme on your site, you may want to consider having a low web traffic page. Let’s say you’ve got a blog post about fashion. You’ve decided to put your affiliate link at the end of the post, and someone clicks on it. They’ll be taken to a page that looks like your regular blog post, but with your affiliate link in place of the usual affiliate links at the end of the post. In this way, you essentially bribe people to click on your affiliate links with free content or discounts. You’re not technically breaking any laws, but you’re definitely running the risk of appearing “less than honest.” You could also use a low web traffic page to completely separate affiliate marketing from your honest content; no one would ever know the difference.
Creating orphan pages can be a useful way to bring in extra revenue, as long as you’re not doing it solely to circumvent Google’s ranking algorithms. If you want to try a new affiliate marketing strategy, take your time building up a sizable audience before you put the strategy into action.
