How long till I see Good Organic traffic - No Backlinks built?

[OrangeSmash]

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to this ''Build your content site'' game and I've been hustling on an 'entertainment' content site for the past 4 months ish. It's a list site (top 10-40) about mostly anything. What I mean by that is I have some article about celebs, some mysteries, funny pictures, cool animals, etc. Trying to build something like TheRichest.

I read about on-page SEO and I'm doing as much as I can in this regard. However, I haven't done any backlink building, never reached to any blogger to get a link or anything. Just doing KW research the best I can, get some unique articles written and then post on the site.

Here's what organic traff looks like after 4 months :

Top was 17 organics in a day, now it's around 3-5 visits a day. There doesn't seem to be a trend, except a short spike for 2 weeks (I tried some daily news during these weeks, but it wasn't working out well on my site so I cut them off).

Here's the SEM Rush screenshot of my site :

As you can see, the growth is good and it seems I now have 469 keywords in the SERP's

4-10 : 1
11-20 : 21
21-50 : 198
51-100 : 249

Even though the # rises, the traffic doesn't.

My question is : Is it possible to get good search traffic ONLY using on-page seo optimization (Not building backlinks as I have no idea how) or am I totally wasting my time just publishing new articles?

Any help and tips is appreciated, thank you so much!

John

 

[Phenom]

Hey guys,

I'm fairly new to this ''Build your content site'' game and I've been hustling on an 'entertainment' content site for the past 4 months ish. It's a list site (top 10-40) about mostly anything. What I mean by that is I have some article about celebs, some mysteries, funny pictures, cool animals, etc. Trying to build something like TheRichest.

I read about on-page SEO and I'm doing as much as I can in this regard. However, I haven't done any backlink building, never reached to any blogger to get a link or anything. Just doing KW research the best I can, get some unique articles written and then post on the site.

Here's what organic traff looks like after 4 months :

Top was 17 organics in a day, now it's around 3-5 visits a day. There doesn't seem to be a trend, except a short spike for 2 weeks (I tried some daily news during these weeks, but it wasn't working out well on my site so I cut them off).

Here's the SEM Rush screenshot of my site :

As you can see, the growth is good and it seems I now have 469 keywords in the SERP's

4-10 : 1
11-20 : 21
21-50 : 198
51-100 : 249

Even though the # rises, the traffic doesn't.

My question is : Is it possible to get good search traffic ONLY using on-page seo optimization (Not building backlinks as I have no idea how) or am I totally wasting my time just publishing new articles?

Any help and tips is appreciated, thank you so much!

John

@Ryuzaki has a thread or post showing just how powerful on-page can be I believe. Sad truth is, if you are planning on generating traffic through search engines organically, links should be a part of your strategy.

Instead of publishing new articles all the time, create a quality one that you can promote. There are countless guides on "authority content" also in the crash course you can get an idea as well.

After you have said piece of valuable content that is optimized, go put it in front of people that find it useful. That could be a subreddit, reaching out to someone via e-mail, sharing it on social media, re;ated forums etc. Treat your content like a valuable product and make people have no choice but to link to you. How is anyone going to link to you if they don't even know what you are offering?

I use the 1:3 ratio. For every 1 hour I spend on creating content, I spend 3 hours promoting it. Anyone can come up with decent content, the key is knowing what people like to share in your niche and get your content in front of them.

Content does not need to be 2000000 words of stereo instruction content unless the niche desires it. For example I created a map for a local page I am ranking. The map has points of interest based around the product.
ex. If I am selling sunglasses, I would have a map with all the beaches, lakes, parks, etc that are related to sun activity.
I shared the map to a few places and ended up with a few quality links because people actually see the content as VALUED. Think about your customers, what do they want to see? What do they find useful? Video Tutorials? Step By Step Guides? Maps? Code Snippets? whatever it is, if you make something quality and put it in front of interested eyes, your linkbuilding can be pretty natural.

Bottom line is, if your in SEO and a halfway competitive niche, links should be in your strategy.

 

[OrangeSmash]

@Ryuzaki has a thread or post showing just how powerful on-page can be I believe. Sad truth is, if you are planning on generating traffic through search engines organically, links should be a part of your strategy.

Instead of publishing new articles all the time, create a quality one that you can promote. There are countless guides on "authority content" also in the crash course you can get an idea as well.

After you have said piece of valuable content that is optimized, go put it in front of people that find it useful. That could be a subreddit, reaching out to someone via e-mail, sharing it on social media, re;ated forums etc. Treat your content like a valuable product and make people have no choice but to link to you. How is anyone going to link to you if they don't even know what you are offering?

I use the 1:3 ratio. For every 1 hour I spend on creating content, I spend 3 hours promoting it. Anyone can come up with decent content, the key is knowing what people like to share in your niche and get your content in front of them.

Content does not need to be 2000000 words of stereo instruction content unless the niche desires it. For example I created a map for a local page I am ranking. The map has points of interest based around the product.
ex. If I am selling sunglasses, I would have a map with all the beaches, lakes, parks, etc that are related to sun activity.
I shared the map to a few places and ended up with a few quality links because people actually see the content as VALUED. Think about your customers, what do they want to see? What do they find useful? Video Tutorials? Step By Step Guides? Maps? Code Snippets? whatever it is, if you make something quality and put it in front of interested eyes, your linkbuilding can be pretty natural.

Bottom line is, if your in SEO and a halfway competitive niche, links should be in your strategy.

Hi Phenom,

thanks for the quick answer. This is something that you just made me notice, my site has NOTHING unique about it. The kind of topics I talk about and the lists I share are all about topics and stuff you can find on the internet. There's no reason why somebody would want to share them 'Badly' because they can find the exact same thing at a couple other places.

I really like your idea about your map, good thinking and it got me wondering..!

I always thought these kind of sites (like mine) had a faithful audience. Like the viewers keep coming back once they're hooked.

Since I'm not sure how to promote 'comon' material, I'd have to think about something great / revolutionary to start promoting and getting results

 

[Phenom]

Hi Phenom,

thanks for the quick answer. This is something that you just made me notice, my site has NOTHING unique about it. The kind of topics I talk about and the lists I share are all about topics and stuff you can find on the internet. There's no reason why somebody would want to share them 'Badly' because they can find the exact same thing at a couple other places.

I really like your idea about your map, good thinking and it got me wondering..!

I always thought these kind of sites (like mine) had a faithful audience. Like the viewers keep coming back once they're hooked.

Since I'm not sure how to promote 'comon' material, I'd have to think about something great / revolutionary to start promoting and getting results

One thing you could do is use the google search operators or any other tool that can show you older articles and do a "Revisited Series" and compare the lists from year to year. I have seen a few people using that strategy with like Top 10 hottest places in 2016 vs Top 10 hottest Places in 2010. This gives the reader double the data and also adds a "comparing data" aspect that people eat up all day on social media

Good luck and keep plugging along!

 

[Sutra]

Ditto on what Phenom said. There is another way to get backlinks. Create a strong social media presence on the site your visitors use most. Build that presence up and post your articles. Your fans will spread your stuff to sites that will link to you. Many if your fans will have their own sites and link to you. Some of your fans will have authority sites and link to you. Point is, you'll gain lots of backlinks, get organic traffic, and ad revenue from the social traffic.

 

[CCarter]

Links are still the #1 ranking factor for SEO. No matter what SEO gurus, bloggers, and others say, LINKs are still the #1 ranking factor. Do what @Phenom states about the 3:1 ratio, if not more. You need links and creating content that's worthy of being shared and linked to. I like newbie guides to an industry as a great start for ideas. Example, anyone looking to get into SEO, I'd create newbie guides on the basics of SEO, a checklist, and then start going into more advanced topics while do outreaching after each article is published.

SEO can be a waiting game if you let it be, and with zero backlinks, you'll be waiting a LONG LONG LONG time, think years, unless you get more aggressive with your strategy. Aggressive doesn't mean spam and nonsense, aggressive means hustle. Hustling means outreach, traffic leaking, and creating content worthy of being LOVED.

 

[Ryuzaki]

I agree with the fellows above. Links are #1. The worst content in the world can rank with links. The best content in the world will never rank for any terms that are of value without links.

As mentioned, I have made some posts here and there about the power of on-page SEO. @stackcash shared some impressive results from on-page only.

But in the end, on-page is like building the frame of a car and slapping four wheels on it. You might push this car partially up the hill before you can't push any more. But link-building is putting the engine inside that car. It can then go on it's own, and even tow a ton of other pages up the hill with it, and keep driving without your constant intervention.

"I don't know how" isn't going to get you any where, especially when there are countless guides out there. We have one here detailing tons of "easy wins" that can easily multiply your traffic x10 within 3-4 months if not more: Day 11 - Off-Page SEO

There's also the walkthrough step by step on performing outreach: Day 20 - Outreach Better Than (Most) Professionals

Otherwise, like Phenom & Trank said, get on Reddit, Facebook, and wherever people hang out and get your content in front of hundreds of thousands of eyeballs. The social signals will help you rank and a portion of those people will link to you from their own sites or go on to share the post on forums, etc.

 

[OrangeSmash]

Thanks to everyone for the cool replies!

What you guys say really makes a lot of sense, I need to create much better content and hustle to get it out there. I did a couple attempts at traffic leaking but it always sucked, i'll have to learn more on that in order to get more success.

I'm still not sure what 'better content' means in my niche but i'll try to figure it out. Same with the backlinks. Imo it's going to be super hard to get decent links with lists like 10 reasons xyz so i'll try to come up with decent posts that are worthy of being linked to.

Thanks!

 

[Phenom]

"Top 10 banks where the 1% keep their money"
Seen WSJ, Marketwatch, and INC link to a list like that. It can be done, just think outside the box

 

[Sutra]

My most linked to articles are Top 10 lists. But they have actual content. Between 1000 to 2000 words.

 

[Krass]

A shortcut I always use is to just buy a domain in your niche that already has good links and start from there. Since you're new you don't have to worry much about branding now so just use this first project to learn.

Depending on your niche you can also do giveaways to attract links. These don't have to be expensive, just stuff your audience really wants. This is also a shortcut I always use to get the ball rolling in terms of building links.

Once you get those two in place you can start learning how to market aka manipulate the masses. Read up on traffic leaking by CCarter. People will share your stuff if you master the art of riling them up. It works because people love drama.

All the best, mate.

 

[OrangeSmash]

A shortcut I always use is to just buy a domain in your niche that already has good links and start from there. Since you're new you don't have to worry much about branding now so just use this first project to learn.

Depending on your niche you can also do giveaways to attract links. These don't have to be expensive, just stuff your audience really wants. This is also a shortcut I always use to get the ball rolling in terms of building links.

Once you get those two in place you can start learning how to market aka manipulate the masses. Read up on traffic leaking by CCarter. People will share your stuff if you master the art of riling them up. It works because people love drama.

All the best, mate.

Hi thanks for your reply!

In the future I would LOVE to buy websites and have a portfolio of many sites in many niches and make a living from that, probably the ultimate goal/dream for now. But before that, I'd like to make a profit with my current site which is a long way ahead it seems.

For the giveaway, this is something I could try for sure, could work out. Just have to find something to give away which is kinda tough to do since there's no specific niche.

I'll also re-read CCarter's Traffic Leaks post as this is to be the best solution for me right now. This and finding a USP for my site.

Thanks a lot!

 

[thehobbster]

However, I haven't done any backlink building

There's your problem. On-Page recommends to Google what you should rank for only if they deem your site is worthy. Worthy means it's validated by links and social signals.

Is it possible to get good search traffic ONLY using on-page seo optimization

Sure, on a domain that already is validated with links and social signals.

You're trying to drive a car that has no gas in it. I don't care how nice of a car it is. It's not going anywhere without some gas FIRST.

 

[knownerror]

I'll say this, if you are even considering to turn away from building backlinks, you need to at least buy a solid domain that has a strong past already. At least with that, new pages will shoot up rather quickly. Combine that move with links and well.. the results are glorious since the domain is boss in Google's eyes right off the bat.

 

[OrangeSmash]

There's your problem. On-Page recommends to Google what you should rank for only if they deem your site is worthy. Worthy means it's validated by links and social signals.



Sure, on a domain that already is validated with links and social signals.

You're trying to drive a car that has no gas in it. I don't care how nice of a car it is. It's not going anywhere without some gas FIRST.

I'll say this, if you are even considering to turn away from building backlinks, you need to at least buy a solid domain that has a strong past already. At least with that, new pages will shoot up rather quickly. Combine that move with links and well.. the results are glorious since the domain is boss in Google's eyes right off the bat.

Yeah honestly I wish I had read posts like yours earlier. So I could have started my project with an established site.

Well, I'll keep hustling and focussing on social traffic for now, at least organic traffic is growing and is now around 20-25 per day, much better than before.

Now I'll have to hustle to start getting some facebook traffic and visitors.

Thanks for your posts!

 

[Ryuzaki]

Yeah honestly I wish I had read posts like yours earlier. So I could have started my project with an established site.

It's not too late to buy one (the more relevant the better) and 301 redirect it. You can even resurrect and port over content too so you can keep inner page 301's working too. You don't have to do them all, just the worthwhile pages with the good links.

 

[ddasilva]

To answer your question OP....no. Trying to rank with on-page alone is like trying to get a girl pregnant without having sex.

On-Page SEO is going to tell google what you should be ranking for, but as TheHobbster said, you have to give them the validation in terms of links and social signals. Links essentially count as votes for your site in the eyes of Google, so if no one is voting for your content, why would they rank it high?

 

[bopeep]

Let me add my stuff.

I have always been greedy and have this habit of buying domain names for future development.
Not niche, but all semi large categories/topics.

And one thing good that I, at least do, is to order about hundred articles (or more) on the topics.
And just like you would do any big sites, and then add some the content and drip/schedule, do onpage etc. I add a very few links.
And then I forget about the sites, this is what I call slow cooker.
I don't do anything at all for about a year. Legacy of my sandbox mindset that I still haven't changed.

I do this on several sites, and some sites have been brewing for over 3 years due to laziness, and lack of interest.
And you know what, I have never got 1000s of visitors accidentally lol.

I do get a lot of boiler template emails from SEOs. And the odd comment asking me google for some junk keyword on blogspot promoting HYIP

 

[LinkPlate]

In the future I would LOVE to buy websites and have a portfolio of many sites in many niches and make a living from that, probably the ultimate goal/dream for now. But before that, I'd like to make a profit with my current site which is a long way ahead it seems.

Focus on making 1 EPIC site rather than 20 good sites.