Online communities drive traffic to your site

Online social networks attract a lot of traffic – in fact, the sites with the most traffic growth in the past year have all used social media to boost visitor numbers. An online community will increase the frequency of repeat visits and boost your overall numbers by attracting new customers. This can have all sorts of added benefits, from increasing brand awareness to stimulating sales.

Case Study: Tripadvisor, the travel community

Tripadvisor is a travel information website that features 200,000 websites in over 30,000 destinations. Most of you have probably visited it at some point in the holiday-planning process. It enjoys over 15 million visitors each month, who read and write hotel reviews and book their accommodation through the site. What most people don’t know is that Tripadvisor is owned by Expedia and the site produces over one-third of all Expedia sales. Clever, eh? We think so too. Tripadvisor is a perfect example of how an online community that attracts a huge amount of traffic can produce significant sales for its owner company.

Community results at a glance

• Over 15 million visitors per week.
• 10 million reviews and opinions posted.
• 80% of UK consumers research hotels online before booking.
• 50% have chosen not to book because of a negative peer review.

Want to know more? Click here to see the site in action.