A few DROPSE of secret sauce to boost your web traffic

Last month, I was in a service review meeting with partners in one of our practices and my team who manage BD for the group. One of the lawyers rightly bemoaned the decreasing level of visitors to the web pages of her flagship service offering. As I listened to the discussion, it struck me that we had diligently tried a variety of techniques to improve matters but had not stood back and audited our approach using a structured methodology. So, I proposed that the team use the DROPSE framework to tackle the problem.

DROPSE stands for Direct, Referred, Organic, Paid, Social, and Email – perhaps the six key sources of website traffic. This checklist is a simple and quick ‘ready reckoner’ to audit use of marketing channels for driving users to a website. It stretches across ‘OEP’: owned, earned, and purchased options. It does not, however, seek to tackle the thorny issues of visitor quality, progression through the sales funnel, or return on investment. Rather it is a starting point for brainstorming ideas to drive volume, which is, of course, only one measure of website results.

Before I describe the model in more detail, it’s worth diving a little deeper into the three OEP categories of channel mentioned above. Owned are those that your firm has full control of, such as your publications, digital tools, or listings on online platforms. Earned are those provided to you without cost, such as media coverage, employee or third-party shares on social, or gratis speaking slots at conferences. Purchased routes are those provided commercially, whether through sponsorship, subscription, or pay per click etc.

Below I will briefly outline each element of the DROPSE framework. For all, at a simplistic level, I will suggest some of the potential sources of traffic. I will also touch on some techniques for optimization that could be considered in an audit. These observations are necessarily brief and are unashamedly narrow. They are primarily based on personal experience of best practice and ‘missed opportunities’ in day-to-day marketing efforts, both at the firms I’ve worked for and in the not-for-profit organizations I have the privilege of supporting.

Direct. These are visitors typing in your website URL. There are a myriad of sources, including word of mouth and visibility of wider marketing efforts, both online and offline. Tracing the origin of such users is notoriously difficult. Digital marketers often review data from analytics tools to identify trends amongst such hits. Tactics available to improve visibility include registration or landing pages and short URLs (e.g. via Rebrandly). The latter two should be used both in owned channels, e.g. brochures, and on paid collateral, e.g. conference flyers.

Referred. These are visitors gleaned through links on other websites. Often earned (or purchased) via placing content or from PR efforts. Benefits are twofold as not only will traffic result, but backlinks on sites with a strong reputation will improve your rankings in search engines. Options are vast, ranging from directories to review sites, trade media, and national newspapers. Surprisingly many marketers distribute material only on owned channels and hesitate in pushing either earned or purchased tactics, which would drive referred users.

Organic. These are visitors from unpaid listings on search engines. Clearly, ranking first on Google is better than appearing on page 100. Volumes rest heavily on the ‘dark arts’ of search engine optimization. Good quality articles and relevant keywords are common tactics for SEO, as are looking at page titles/H1 tags, URL naming, and both experience or performance areas such as sitemaps and loading times. Many marketers focus heavily on producing content but stop short of optimizing some of the more technical backend points mentioned above.

Paid. These are visitors from purchased adverts, whether on search engines, social platforms, or other media. Both branding and contextual text-based ads are used by many, with the latter being more likely in B2B professional services to drive relevant hits. Most marketers will naturally look at ROI metrics on purchases which reputable suppliers usually provide. However, there is value in cross-checking data provided by vendors with your own analytics to ensure users aren’t lost and promised value is actually delivered.

Social. These are visitors from social media platforms. There are many to select from, but LinkedIn is the choice for most firms. Traffic can originate from owned channels (a firm’s pages/posts), earned routes – where items are shared by influencers, whether employees or those outside the firm, and paid promoted posts. Timely content with relevant hashtags are favoured tactics for many marketers. Despite the regularity of posting on social, most firms only use generic material, ignoring the benefits of ‘chunking’ or tailoring for audiences, e.g. specific LinkedIn groups.

Email. These are visitors originating from messages sent by or on behalf of the firm. Owned channels include both marketing emails and footers/signatures on employees’ emails. Branded email promotion is the oldest and perhaps most cost-efficient measurable digital channel. Every marketer in the industry has no doubt used it regularly and is hopefully cognisant of rules around GDPR/PECR. More, however, can often be made of options for purchased emails, e.g. messages sent by conference organizers after events have concluded.

DROPSE is intended only to be a quick and straightforward checklist tool, and other similar, more complex frameworks do exist. Some methods extend into progressing users through the sales funnel (or what I call the Favourability Journey), and others provide for detailed evaluation of return on investment beyond visitor volume. Whichever model you choose, periodically taking a step back and considering the full range of channels is helpful in creating a few DROPSE of secret sauce to boost your web traffic!

Once you’ve considered options, it’s important to set your findings in context. Above I mention the Favourability Journey. This is an approach designed to enable consideration of where your target clients currently are in relation to your firm. It articulates four steps: Recognition, Reputation, Relationships, and Revenue. For each, tactics are outlined for progressing clients to the next stage. Before embarking on a substantial change program using DROPSE or any other toolkit, looking at the wider picture can be helpful to ensure efficacy and efficiency.