Ever noticed how almost everyone is obsessed with traffic when it comes to content?

Of course it’s electrifying when you look at your metrics and see all those new visitors surfing your site.

Now consider this:

For your favourite brands, you’re a loyal fan because of some emotional connection you have with the company. In short, you trust the organization.

Likewise, your loyal customers will drive the majority of your sales and profits. These fans will recommend your brand to their family, friends or even complete strangers.

And that’s the purpose of content. It’s about developing deep connections with your audience because you want them to stick with your business for the longest time.

To develop that close bond, you need to focus on…

Trust Not Traffic

First, the consumers of your content aren’t just avatars, a target audience or users. They’re human beings who might be suffering, in joyous moments or having any other experience. And these people need you. They need your content to be relevant to their problems, needs or desires.

Simply, you create a close relationship with your audience by creating content that people can trust.

Second, creating short-term web traffic is easy. For instance, you can increase web traffic by posting controversial content. Majority of the traffic will be by people who take a quick glance at your site never to return. In other words, they are like tourists to your website.

The downside?

This is a battle where the odds are stacked against you. Also, such traffic is not sustainable and may have zero effects on your bottom line. Within a short time, the traffic will probably revert back to the original point before you published the content.

Instead, focus on building a loyal following by creating content that inspires, entertains, educates and builds trust with your target audience. To put it differently, you need natives on your site—people that interact with your content because it benefits them.

That said...

It’s Your Turn

Traffic alone is not enough. Focus on creating valuable content and the traffic will take care of itself.

And no, you don’t have to shout from the rooftops because people will be naturally drawn to content that makes them better. Do it long enough and you will have a loyal following and tons of traffic to top it off.

Is that too much to ask?