Study: Facebook and Twitter ineffective for generating website traffic

A recently conducted website traffic survey has revealed some unexpected trends in the effectiveness of traffic-building techniques.

The survey, conducted by website training and software company Intellimon in cooperation with the University of Bradford, suggests that social networking may not be as effective a tool for website traffic generation as many had previously thought.

Over 4,000 online businesses were surveyed as part of the study, which was conducted earlier this year.

Among its unexpected results, the study found that although 67 percent of businesses make use of Facebook to promote their websites, just 29 percent found the platform effective in any way for bringing traffic to their sites.

Businesses that use Twitter responded similarly, with just 27.2 percent claiming any significant effect on website traffic.

Paul Smithson, CEO of Intellimon, said that the researchers themselves were surprised by many of the survey’s findings. “We were genuinely shocked by some of the results across several areas”, he said. Even for people experienced in online marketing, the survey’s results are “a real eye opener”.