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What are John Thornhill’s recommended traffic sources?
John Thornhill recommends a variety of traffic sources to help build an audience and drive conversions in online marketing. His approach focuses on both organic and paid methods, with an emphasis on sustainable, long-term growth. Here are the main traffic sources he suggests:
1. Content Marketing (Organic Traffic)
- Blogging: Thornhill highly recommends starting a blog to create valuable content for your audience. Blogging allows you to provide helpful information, share case studies, and engage with your audience through organic search. By optimizing your content for SEO, your blog can attract long-term, free traffic.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Thornhill stresses the importance of SEO in driving free, targeted traffic. By optimizing your website and content for search engines, you can rank higher in search results and attract people who are actively looking for the type of product or service you offer.
- Keyword research: Thornhill advises conducting thorough keyword research to ensure that the content you produce is optimized for the right search terms.
- On-page and off-page SEO: Optimizing page titles, meta descriptions, and using high-quality backlinks are part of the SEO strategies Thornhill promotes.
2. Social Media Marketing
- Facebook: Thornhill suggests using Facebook as a key traffic source. This can include organic efforts, such as posting regularly in Facebook groups, engaging with your followers on your own Facebook page, and creating targeted ads.
- Facebook Ads: While Thornhill advocates organic strategies, he also recommends using Facebook Ads for scaling your reach and driving targeted traffic to your landing pages or affiliate offers. Facebook’s targeting options can help you focus on specific demographics, interests, or behaviors.
- Instagram: Instagram can also be a great source of traffic, particularly for visual-based products. Thornhill suggests using Instagram stories, posts, and reels to engage your audience and link back to your offers. Instagram’s direct messaging (DM) feature can also be used to build personal relationships with followers.
- YouTube: Thornhill highly values YouTube as a traffic source. By creating video content that provides value or educates your audience, you can attract leads through organic search and video recommendations. He emphasizes the importance of building a YouTube channel and optimizing videos for keywords, similar to blogging and SEO.
- Video tutorials and reviews: Creating tutorial videos or product reviews can drive traffic as people often turn to YouTube for help and information.
3. Email Marketing
- Building an email list: Thornhill believes email marketing is one of the most powerful traffic sources. By building a quality email list, you can communicate directly with your audience, share valuable content, and promote products or affiliate offers.
- Autoresponders: Setting up automated email sequences that nurture leads and convert them into customers is a key traffic and revenue-generating strategy Thornhill recommends. This allows for consistent engagement without having to manually send emails every day.
- Segmenting your list: He also emphasizes the importance of segmentation in email marketing. This means categorizing your email subscribers based on their behavior (e.g., what they’ve clicked on, what they’ve purchased) so you can send them more personalized content and offers.
4. Paid Advertising (For Faster Traffic)
- Facebook Ads: Thornhill encourages using Facebook Ads to drive targeted traffic to your offers. Since Facebook allows precise targeting based on demographics, interests, and behaviors, it’s a great platform for scaling.
- Google Ads: Thornhill also recommends Google Ads for generating fast, targeted traffic, especially if you’re selling a specific product or service. Running search ads or display ads can help you reach users who are actively searching for relevant solutions.
- Solo Ads: Another method Thornhill mentions is using solo ads, where you pay for exposure in an established email list or email list rental service. This can help you quickly reach a targeted audience, but it’s important to ensure the list quality is good to avoid wasting your budget.
5. Forums and Communities
- Quora: Thornhill suggests leveraging Quora, a Q&A platform, to drive traffic. By answering questions related to your niche and providing value, you can build authority and include links to your offers or content.
- Reddit: Participating in Reddit communities (subreddits) relevant to your niche can be another valuable traffic source. Thornhill advises engaging authentically and avoiding spammy promotional tactics.
- Online forums: Similar to Quora and Reddit, engaging in niche forums (where your target audience hangs out) can also generate organic traffic. By answering questions and being active in discussions, you can establish yourself as an authority.
6. Joint Ventures (JVs) and Partnerships
- Collaborations: Thornhill often recommends seeking out joint ventures or partnerships with other marketers or businesses in your niche. This could involve promoting each other’s products to your respective audiences, which can drive traffic to both parties.
- Guest blogging: Writing guest posts on high-authority blogs or websites in your niche is another way Thornhill suggests generating traffic. By contributing valuable content to these sites, you can get exposure to their audience and drive traffic back to your own website or landing page.
7. Influencer Marketing
- Leverage influencers: Thornhill recognizes the value of working with influencers to tap into new audiences. Whether through affiliate deals or paid promotions, collaborating with influencers can help generate traffic to your offers, especially on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok.
8. Content Upgrades and Lead Magnets
- Offer lead magnets: Thornhill suggests offering free resources, such as eBooks, checklists, templates, or courses, to attract new leads. Promoting these lead magnets through various channels (blog, email, social media) can drive traffic while helping build an email list at the same time.
9. Podcasts
- Starting a podcast: Thornhill also encourages the idea of starting a podcast as a way to reach a highly engaged audience. Podcasts offer an excellent opportunity to build relationships, share your expertise, and link back to your offers in the show notes or through direct promotion.
Conclusion:
John Thornhill recommends a balanced approach to generating traffic, combining organic methods (blogging, SEO, social media, YouTube, email marketing) with paid advertising (Facebook Ads, Google Ads, solo ads) for faster results. His focus is on providing value through content and building trust with your audience over time, while also leveraging strategic partnerships and influencer collaborations to expand your reach. The key is to focus on long-term, sustainable traffic sources that allow you to build relationships with your audience and grow your business.