How to Boost Organic and Referral Traffic Through Community Building

What’s a marketing community all about? It's more than just a group of customers; it's a thriving network of individuals who share common interests, values, and goals with your brand. These communities are fuelled by shared experiences, trust, and a sense of belonging, making them an incredible business asset.

Building a marketing community isn't just about numbers; it's about creating a loyal and engaged audience. Here's why it should matter to your business:

Enhanced brand visibility: A robust community can significantly elevate your brand's visibility and recognition.

Increased engagement: Engaged community members are likelier to interact with your content marketing, share it, and become brand advocates.

Thought leadership: A community helps you establish your brand as an industry expert and a trusted source of information.

Lead nurturing and automation: It provides a platform for lead nurturing and enables the automation of certain marketing processes.

Trust building: Trust is a precious commodity in the digital age, and a marketing community is the perfect ground for growing it.

Let's now explore how organic and referral traffic fit into the picture (that’s where my expertise lies). If you’re interested in community building from a social media perspective, you should check out Connie’s recent article. 

Organic traffic: the lifeline

Organic traffic is the lifeline of your website, coming from search engines and representing people actively seeking your offerings. It's the kind of traffic that drives sustainable growth. By producing content that answers the questions your community has, you not only attract visitors but also establish your brand as a trusted source of information. This, in turn, leads to higher organic rankings and more organic traffic.

Referral traffic: the power of community building

Referral traffic, on the other hand, arrives through partnerships and mentions on other websites or platforms. It's a testament to your community-building efforts. When you produce valuable content that resonates with your community and others in your industry, you become a sought-after source for guest blogs and collaborations. Sharing this content within your community and encouraging community members to share it further amplifies your reach.

The SEO benefits of community building are clear. By providing answers, insights, and valuable information to your community, you're not just increasing your visibility – you're becoming an authority in your industry.

When other websites notice your expertise and trustworthiness, they're more likely to link to your content, boosting your Domain Authority. This, in turn, results in higher search engine rankings, more organic traffic, and even more referrals.

To illustrate the practicality of building a marketing community, consider the case of Accountancy Cloud.

They faced the challenge of establishing themselves as the go-to financial partner for startups. Their journey involved creating a marketing community known as the 'School of Startups.' This initiative seamlessly combined SEO, content marketing, and community building to capture organic and referral traffic in the competitive startup landscape.

Through their community-building efforts, Accountancy Cloud achieved remarkable results. They experienced a 400% increase in organic traffic, establishing themselves as a trusted source of information for startups. By creating shareable content and forming collaborations, they amplified their reach, securing their place as a thought leader in their industry.

Community building goes beyond trust; it has a direct impact on your website's Domain Authority. When you become a trusted source of information, produce shareable content, collaborate with others, and receive inbound links from reputable sources, your content ranks higher in search engines, leading to increased organic traffic.