Digital gatekeepers continue to erect barriers between ecommerce businesses and their customers, stifling organic traffic. This episode revisits why major platforms prioritize their own revenue over your organic reach and offers strategies to bypass these intermediaries, focusing on building owned audiences and direct customer relationships to ensure long-term business growth and reduce reliance on rented land.
Key takeaways
Digital gatekeepers (e.g., Google, Amazon, social media) consistently prioritize their own revenue and profit, actively diminishing organic traffic to businesses.
Building "owned" channels like email lists and direct website traffic is crucial to mitigate reliance on "rented" audiences controlled by gatekeepers.
Diversify your traffic sources to avoid over-dependence on any single platform that can unilaterally change its algorithms or policies.
Focus on fostering direct customer relationships to build brand loyalty and bypass intermediary platforms for communication and sales.
Digital gatekeepers always work to get between you and your customers. That was true five years ago, ten years ago, twenty years ago. And it’s still true today. They kill organic traffic to raise their revenues and gain greater profits. That hasn’t changed in decades, and I don’t believe it’s going to change anytime soon.
What can you do about it? How can you bypass the gatekeepers and grow your business? That’s what this repost of a prior Thinks Out Loud episode is all about.
Want to learn more? Here are the show notes for you.
Revisiting Why Digital Gatekeepers Kill Organic Traffic (Thinks Out Loud) — Headlines and Show Notes
Show Notes and Links
Why Google is the Beast That Scares Your Industry's 800-lb. Gorilla (Thinks Out Loud Episode 238)</a
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about organic & seo?
Digital gatekeepers (e.g., Google, Amazon, social media) consistently prioritize their own revenue and profit, actively diminishing organic traffic to businesses.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Building "owned" channels like email lists and direct website traffic is crucial to mitigate reliance on "rented" audiences controlled by gatekeepers.
What does this episode say about customer retention?
Diversify your traffic sources to avoid over-dependence on any single platform that can unilaterally change its algorithms or policies.
What does this episode say about organic & seo?
Focus on fostering direct customer relationships to build brand loyalty and bypass intermediary platforms for communication and sales.
