Victoria
Hi guys. We recently hired a "Content Manager and Traffic Amplifier", for the first time.
It's his job not only to post content on our blog, but equally to rove around online posting links in groups, forums, social networks, content aggregators etc to amplify the traffic to both our new posts and our old ones.
He's there to drive relevant traffic, bottom line.
We are trying to figure out how best to track his performance in Google Ads (GA). We run a lot of paid ads both on Fb, Ig and Google so it's trying to drill down in to and isolate what traffic HE has driven that is the key for us (this obviously shouldn't include Search Engine Optimization Pay-Per-Click (PPC) traffic, or any PPC, or direct traffic).
Facebook is tricky on this score because we have 3 types: 1) traffic we've driven via our Page 2) traffic he's driven via groups etc and 3) paid Fb traffic we've driven via ads.
Can anyone advise on the steps we'd take to set up the most accurate analytics report?
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Wow sounds like this guy got a sweet job! Unfairness its very hard to measure someones performance, its based on a lot of trust this person you employed should be able to supply you with a monthly report on performance if he cant then I'd be considering you choice.
He completes a log, which he fills in every time he leaves a link anywhere. But we're in this with him in that both he and us don't have unlimited resources so it's a bit of a detective job, figuring out what drives traffic and what doesn't…
Pearson
What is the logic behind asking him to post a bunch of links in comment sections? I've always been under the impression this can hurt rankings, never mind the moderators of whatever platform you're posting on.
Martinez
Sounds like a job for Google Tag Manager to me. That will also help you search for links that are deleted on forums where his drops violate their rules. While I agree with Finan that the link builder should track where he places links, you should be measuring the effectiveness and life of those links. I'd even go further and look for how long it takes to get the links indexed.
Thanks Martinez, how would this work in terms of Google Tag Manager, then? As above we don't have unlimited resources so it then comes a detective game of trying to work out what delivers bang for buck (i.e. we're finding Quora is driving hardly any traffic at the mo, and Reddit is actually quite disappointing, too)…
Martinez » Victoria
I would assign a tag to the link builder and he only gets credit for links using that tag that show up in your analysis. In my opinion you should see a relatively low ROI if you're really going to hold someone to any kind of bottom line. Self-placed links – especially in social media and forums – generally don't do much. Now, if he's working with so-called influencers who have large followings, you might get a lot of clicks. But will the people be clicking out of curiosity or because they want to buy something? This isn't the easiest type of link building to do by any means, and as described above it sounds like a broad spam campaign.
Robert
I would do 2 things – create a Spreadsheet for him to log his actions and (2) run a backlinks checker occasionally to check the effectiveness of the links that he's putting up.
For (2), you can use the free Ahrefs' backlinks checker which shows the dofollow links. So Ahrefs may miss some of the nofollow links which are usually on links placed on community sites, forums, comments sections
Thus, this comes the importance of the Spreadsheet. Also note that some of his stuff (if you're double checking) may be deleted over time by the web moderators of the respective websites
Thanks Robert, we've already got (1) in place. The tricky part is differentiating between the Facebook traffic, and trying to work out whether the work he's doing posting in various Facebook groups (judiciously, not spammy, I might add) is worth the effort. We're in a bang-for-buck game – where is his time best spent?
Robert » Victoria
His goal should be to create meaningful and lasting links with blogs and websites of RELEVANT NICHE.
Traditionally, this is done through GUEST POSTING but these days, the mediums have evolved.
Try out getting on podcast, interviews on small websites (to help with PR and backlinks), writing reviews for your customers (and getting backlinks in exchange from their website).
You should probably change his/her job description to "Community Builder / Content Marketer".
Think of it this way – you're throwing a lot of darts at the dartboard (which is good) but you're not sure which darts will stay = out there putting links
Why not build more DARTBOARDS instead and make sure that these dartboards stay on the wall? Do this by building communities and nurturing your customers into advocates
John
Tell him to use track-able URLS that allow you to track at a granular level. Then you can accurately track and measure this within Google Analytics under campaigns. What matters most here is that you plan out your naming conventions and other tracking parameters before you start. This will make management of his performance easier overall. If you do this properly you’d tie it against conversions (sales, customer enquiries)
Lee
“Traffic Amplifier”?
I’ve never heard of that and I’ve been a SEO for years.
So just a heads up:
If you’re hiring someone for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), build or manage your website, manage your social media, Facebook ads, etc:
Always make sure & ask to see their past successes / data showing that they actually know what they’re selling you.
If they can’t provide any data showing past successes and give you excuses for why they can’t show you real numbers…
RUN.
These may satisfy you:
» A 2-Year Work Experience Content Writer Said No Idea for Dofollow Link. So Is S*He Eligible for the Position?
» I Want My Writers Are Rich In Research Before Writing
» This Guy Had Got Employees to Build Up His Sites