HELP! My Client Watches Online PORN!

OK, I sort of tricked you into a visit. And rest assured no CSF client watches online porn because they are all universally good looking and are living very active and wholesome sex lives.

But there is actually a reason for the headline. And it comes in just one paragraph.

Years ago I worked with a partner of LifetimeTV.com and the Lifetime folks said that one of their biggest traffic drivers was the ongoing discussion/board called “Help, my husband watches online porn!”(Of course, this viewing circumstance is both common and troubling, especially for the viewers of Valerie Bertinelli movies.) I kid. Let me give a personal shout out to Lifetime TV as being the only consistent provider of Golden Girls reruns. I love my Sophia and Rose.

Anyway, the reason I used this headline is to point out how hard it is to drive traffic growth online today. I have a number of friends who work on editorial at leading sites, and when they complain about traffic issues I always suggest the “Help! My fill in the blank watches online porn.” They all poo-poo it, saying they are all about quality n stuff, and then sooner or later some actually do it. And it always works. For a day.

I salute Lifetime for making this idea endure -- after all, such a discussion is very Lifetime. But for most pubs porn talk won’t be a good driver of ongoing traffic.

But while even a day's traffic boost may be welcome to some pubs, what is more remarkable is when an edit driven site can drive sustained traffic growth – it is surely a sign of consumer engagement and passion – two traits that we definitely need more of. I love it when site partners demonstrate a long term growth trend.

Naturally we need to recognize that a large site will likely show a less steep growth curve than a smaller one, but showing growth is a great indicator of consumer passion and editorial vitality. For some site uniques will be a good measure, for others, pages. And for still others, time spent or some combination of the above. But growth is a really good indicator of quality edit. And we should reward quality edit because it will reward our brands.

So the next time you get one of those canned decks from a pub showing how they are number one in something, I suggest you ask how their traffic is doing lately. What is the trend? It’s not a perfect indicator of consumer engagement, but it probably is a very good one. After all, we can’t expect to have our ads engage if the pages they are on are largely forgettable.

Below is the space reserved for all the pubs who are growing to shout out to you. They deserve the soapbox. ;-)