You Met the Real Scribd, Did You Use it For a Traffic Source?
You Met the Real Scribd, Did You Use it For a Traffic Source
?
You've decided to give Scribd a whirl... but you don't want to be floundering around, trying to figure out the best way to use this powerful social networking/publishing platform while others rush past you. What you need is a "roadmap" - something to help you navigate not only Scribd's own often-conflicting rules and regulations, but all the misinformation floating around the net.
In other words, you want it to fast-track you on your way to generating serious traffic.
That's what you're going to find here.
But first, let's make sure your map is accurate, containing the most up-to-date information. The most direct route to a destination is not the only benefits roadmaps offer - they also point out natural and man-made obstacles, as well as dangers, pitfalls and alternate routes.
So let's not rush to embrace the usual optimistic traffic hype you read on many blogs and in various self-anointed guides: Before you invest time in this particular marketing strategy, we'll take time to examine some of the myths about Scribd and acquaint you with its unique advantages.
The Truth about Scribd Traffic
The first thing you need to know about Scribd traffic: It doesn't cater to the usual SEO patterns and algorithms. In fact, during 2009, Scribd deliberately and voluntarily did something no other major social networking site has ever done before - it killed 50% of its own traffic, according to an article by Techcrunch.com.
There has been much speculation as to why any company would deliberately do this. There are several reasons, but in major part, this move came as a response to Scribd realizing that a huge portion of its traffic was due to pirated works in print - works by literary giants such as J. R. R. Tolkien, Ken Follett and J. K. Rowling. In fact, CEO Trip Adler acknowledged this when he admitted Scribd was "toning down its SEO efforts and further reducing pirated content." While they were busy ruthlessly discouraging traffic, Scribd also instituted a new database of published works, to ensure the problem of piracy eventually disappears - all new works will be checked against the database, which Scribd admits is growing daily.
The massive Summer 2009 traffic loss didn't appear to concern Scribd, apparently wisely looking towards long-term goals; and their confidence now seems justified. Current Quantcast.com analysis shows their traffic easily surpassing the 5 million at its height last spring - before the "crackdown".
And that's without the benefit of J. K. Rowling's pirated Harry Potter-related content.
The recovery can clearly be seen Scribd's Quantcast graph, current as of this writing, February 2010. (Quantcast also gives an intriguing glimpse of Scribd's U.S. demographic):
Translated, it means its strongest demographic is:
55% male, with the 18-49 age group, and those who have attended Grad. School, comprising more than the average share of its users
This is a screenshot of its daily traffic:
During the Techcrunch interview, CEO Adler commented that the 2009 dip was also due to a natural traffic loss during the summer months, citing YouTube and Google Books as suffering the same fate.
What should be really interesting to internet marketers, however, is the deliberate reduction of "aggressive SEO strategies" (and if you scrutinize searches inputting earlier Scribd documents, there's some suggestion they may have started out with "Black Hat" methods - ones which they now wish to abandon). It does strongly indicate that Scribd is putting its money where its mouth is, and focusing all its efforts towards strong natural, organic traffic, as well as towards attracting traffic in a more natural, word-of-mouth way.
In other words, it's jumping on the "buzz" bandwagon, and linking with social networks to generate a major portion of its traffic... Which is good news for anyone who does not want to be left behind this tsunami of new SEO. (Even Google tried - disastrously, some say - to jump on the "buzz" bandwagon with its much-despised Google Buzz. Unlike Google, however, Scribd allows you to control which pieces of personal information you'd like to share.)
Still, as Techcrunch.com pointed out a few months ago, Quantcast has ranked Scribd as #130 in its "most visited" category - which is enough to serve notice to the top 3 social networks that they have a serious rival.
What does Scribd Do?
Will it ever replace Facebook? Not likely. The primary purpose of the two social networking sites are not in direct competition: Rather, they compliment each other. Facebook deals mostly with App sharing buzz and chatting, whereas Scribd dispenses and shares published documents and Power Point presentations.
In other words, Facebook and Twitter are the ideal arenas in which to drive traffic to your Scribd documents... and vice versa!
So if you are planning to:
Sell eBooks
Boost your web presence through article marketing
Establish your status as an expert
Boost your own traffic
Here is a wonderful, ready-made way to attract a
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