When we talk about driving traffic online, social media and Google are often the first things that come to mind. But here in Malaysia, there are other platforms that can work wonders for reaching a larger audience. Being a co-founder of two internet platforms, I’ve tested a few, and these alternatives are not just effective—they’re game-changers. I can’t just rely on Google, LinkedIn, X, Facebook and all to get traffic because they are just too expensive long term. Here are four platforms I’m also using to diversify my strategy in getting more internet traffic to my own websites.
Flipboard. It is a content aggregator that organises articles, blog posts, and multimedia content into visually appealing “magazines.” The best part of Flipboard is that I can copy-paste links to my content, here. That’s it. Flipboard then displays the content directly from the original site. The other good thing about Flipboard is that it has a global audience although a majority of them are in the USA and Europe. The not-so-good part about Flipboard is that my content is being drowned in so much content available on the platform and to find true readers can be very hard. Nevertheless, my content link available on Flipboard helps to improve my off-page SEO better. I use Flipboard basically to get traffic from the USA and Europe to my platforms.
Newswav. It works pretty similar to Flipboard. Newswav is a Malaysia-based aggregator that focuses on news and blogs. The best part of Newswav is that it is easy to get my content onboard. All I had to do was to reach out to the platform via a form and the rest of the work could be done in less than 24 hours. The only not-so-good part about Newswav is that it is limited geographically within Malaysia only for now. I use this platform to acquire more traffic from Malaysia to my platforms.
300th. It is a content platform that focuses on stories, blogs, micro-content and news. The platform encourages users to register and upload their original, high-quality content there. To bring traffic from 300th to the user’s website, all they have to do is insert backlinks into their content before publishing it on the platform. The best part of 300th is that it offers internet traffic from Asia. This is a bit rare as many global content platforms have audiences mostly from the USA and Europe. The not-so-good part about 300th is that the platform is still new. It’s only two years in its existence and the traffic is still growing. FYI, I’m using 300th to bring traffic from Asia to my other platforms.
Medium. Now, this is a well-known platform for long-form content. It offers a great way to attract traffic back to my platforms. That’s the best part of Medium. Thanks to its global presence. There are a few not-so-good parts that I don’t quite like. Medium only offers good organic engagements to its paying members. If I upload my content on Medium as a free user, there will be no traffic at all—almost zero. The other thing about Medium I don’t quite like is that much of its audience is limited to the USA and Europe, and less in other continents despite the fact it is an established global platform. For now, I’m using Medium to bring traffic from Western countries through my paid subscriptions.
What I’ve learned from experimenting with these platforms is that diversification is crucial. Relying solely on social media and Google is not a good idea at all. Because I’m serious about growing my platforms, I’ve aggressively used this strategy with patience since a year ago. Today, I can clearly see my traffic is gradually growing.
This article is originally published on AAR & Company.
