All Roads Lead to Rome Is a Proven Strategy

How to build a multi-source traffic strategy and grow your business

As a newbie floundering around the SEO world, I’ve tripped over my fair share of pebble sized hurdles and stubbed my toes on large-ish rock like problems. Right now I am staring at a boulder sized challenge across my path. To be honest, I’m discouraged. The boulder challenge seems too big for little ol’ me to tackle, so I turtled and doom scrolled Tiktok for some mind numbing escape. Yes, this habit needs to be replaced by something better like running 10km instead *hahha*.

While in the rabbit hole that is Tiktok, I come across this trend — #RomanEmpire. This hashtag has been viewed over 1.6 billion times as of today (Oct.12/2023)! In the trend, women ask men in their lives how often they think about the Roman Empire. Many men respond that they think about it quite frequently, sometimes even multiple times a day.

Image by Ralph from Pixabay

When I heard the words Roman Empire, two things instantly popped to mind. One — Asterix, my all time favourite comic strip! And two — the saying ‘All Roads Lead to Rome’. After a bit of digging, thanks Google! You saved me a trip to the library. It turns out that saying “All roads lead to Rome” is a proverb from the Middle Ages that refers to the vast network of roads built up during the course of Rome’s history.

The modern meaning of the saying “All roads lead to Rome” often means that there are many different ways to achieve the same goal. It can also be used to describe a situation where all of the different options available lead to the same place.

And this was my “Aha!” 💡lightbulb moment. The boulder across my path at the moment is how to increase traffic to my blog. I need traffic to churn the water wheel to produce ad revenue. But at the moment I have one weak stream flowing past the water wheel.

How do I increase that water flow?! Welp! All roads lead to Rome is how! I need MORE little streams to merge with the current little stream so that it can become a larger stream with a stronger water current! And this is what diversifying one’s traffic source is all about.

Diversifying your traffic sources means getting visitors to your website from a variety of different channels, such as search engines, social media, and paid advertising. When you diversify your traffic sources, you reduce your risk. If one traffic source dries up, you’ll still have other traffic sources to rely on. One stream dries up. No prob. There’s other streams feeding the main artery.

All these different traffic sources have the added benefit of attracting different types of visitors. So, by diversifying your traffic sources, you can reach a wider range of potential customers. Think biodiversity in the microbes in the water flowing past your water wheel.

A Single Stream of Traffic

Solopreneurs, like you and me, often build our online presence around a particular source of traffic because it was an approach we were familiar with when we started. It might be a specific social media platform, search engine optimization, email marketing, or paid advertising. While that initial source can bring us some early success, sticking to it long term with no other plans is just plain risky. We are just one algorithm change from being in deep doo-doo.

What’s the worst that could happen in a drought?

Seriously, what’s the worst that could happen if either of us only rely on that one single stream to bring enough water flow to churn the water wheel? Well, for one, climate change will kick our a$$es.

• a. Climate Changes and Tectonic Plates Shifts
  Social media algorithms change all the time, and platforms evolve. Our once-reliable traffic source could dry up overnight, leaving us scrambling to adapt.
• A recent example of algorithm changes and platform shifts is the September 2023 Google algorithm update, which featured an “improved classifier”3. This update changed how websites were ranked and impacted their SEO ratings.
• Keep in mind that drastic algo changes hit social media platforms more frequently than search engines. Think Tiktok’s and “X” (aka Twitter)’s algorithm shifts this past year alone.
• b. Those D@mn Beavers
  Competitive pressure is like the flow of time. It just never stops. There will always be some hunger bugger nipping at your competitive edge. Relying on a single source (“stream”) of traffic puts you at the mercy of others who might outbid you or outperform you. Like those pesky beaver dams that cut off water flow.
• c. It’s All Starting to Taste the Same
  Even our most loyal customers will tire of seeing our content in the same place repeatedly. Can anyone say ‘reduced engagement and brand fatigue’? Yes, Posh Spice can eat the same meal for 27 plus years and never tire of it. But for the rest of us, we need to taste something different to keep our taste buds alive.

Waterbend Like Aquaman

Only the flow of water can erode the boulder challenge across my path. Not only one stream but several. But how do I waterbend like Aquaman? How do I direct more streams of traffic to my water wheel? I need more little streams to merge together. That way it will be like having a safety net for my business.

1. Multiple Streams Merging
What do these streams of traffic look like? Remember, we want more water flowing because it then expands our presence across various social media platforms. When we’re on more than one platform, this makes our brand visible to more eyeballs.

Not all water sources are equal. Each platform has its unique strengths and demographics. Here are some examples of how businesses and creators can use different social media platforms to their advantage:

• YouTube:
  YouTube is a great platform for sharing video content. Businesses and creators can use YouTube to share educational videos, product demos, and customer testimonials.
• Instagram:
  Instagram is a great platform for sharing visual content, such as photos and infographics. Businesses and creators can use Instagram to share behind-the-scenes photos, product photos, and lifestyle content.
• Twitter:
  Twitter is a great platform for sharing short-form content, such as news articles, blog posts, and thought leadership. Businesses and creators can use Twitter to share industry news, promote their content, and engage with their followers.
• LinkedIn:
  LinkedIn is a great platform for networking with professionals and building relationships with potential clients and partners. Businesses and creators can use LinkedIn to share industry news, promote their services, and publish articles.

A quick search engine query using “social media platforms” threw up 22 different word wide platforms that had millions of MAU’s

2. Variety is the Spice of Life
Content variety is important. It keeps our audience interested but it tires out our creative brains. People learn and consume information in different ways. When our audience only gets fed the same style of content all the time, they get bored and might wander away.

Some people prefer to read, while others prefer to watch videos or listen to podcasts. By incorporating a variety of content formats into our content marketing strategy, we can hit a wider audience and hopefully have some meaningful engagement with them.

What do different content formats look like? Well here are a few examples:

• Blog posts:
  Blog posts are a great way to share your knowledge and expertise with your audience. You can use blog posts to share tips and advice, industry news, and product announcements.
• Videos:
  Videos are a great way to engage your audience visually. You can use videos to create product demos, tutorials, customer testimonials, and behind-the-scenes content.
• Podcasts:
  Podcasts are a great way to engage your audience aurally. You can use podcasts to share interviews, industry news, and stories.
• Infographics:
  Infographics are a great way to present complex information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand way. You can use infographics to share data, statistics, and trends.
• Ebooks:
  Ebooks are a great way to share in-depth information on a particular topic. You can use ebooks to share your knowledge and expertise with your audience, and to generate leads and sales.

3. Send Letters
Emails are a great way to nurture relationships with our audience. It is a reliable and personable way to stay in touch. I personally hate ‘selling’ but telling stories? Heck, I love that! So, I send out emails weekly retelling tales I’ve heard and collected during the week. In the middle of it all my readers are reminded that I’m around.

4. Oil the Cogs in the Water Wheel House
The water wheel can’t generate ad revenue if the wheel doesn’t turn. The wheel is SEO. It’s It’s not easy but also not hard to stay on floating near the top of the SEO game. It just take work to optimise your website for search engines to drive organic traffic. Research keywords, create high-quality content, and keep up with SEO trends. This takes effort and time. Like taking out the trash. Unless you have a housekeeping service, you are going to have to schedule a time to take the trash out. Meaning scrub out old SEO and refreshing those long-tail keywords

5. Artificial Boost
Use of paid advertising can boost your traffic when needed. Make sure to target the right audience and not rely on it as the sole source of flow.

6. Make Friends With People Up and Down Stream From You

Think partnerships with similar businesses in your niche or with other solopreneurs in a different field even. Collaborate and do cross-promotion or be a guest contributor to their creative output can be a powerful traffic driver.

Water Wheel Actually Turns

This brave new *digital* world still runs using old world principals. Embrace the variety of opportunities available and remember that adapting to change is the key to thriving. This has not changed since Caesar’s time and it still applies today.

As a solopreneurs, we choose how we react to the rocks/ boulders in our path. There’s no shame in doom scrolling. Look at how the universe provided a unique way to deliver the solution to my challenge. Just be alert and sensitive to these unique solutions as you go about your day.

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