ThopHayt
Elite Member
- Jul 25, 2011
- 7,012
- 2,864
Keep in mind everything that ranks doesn't "go viral" to get there. There is the slow and steady way up, and then there is the fast way up.
My point is that Google watches traffic, as well as other metrics like social chatter. And if they see a sudden verifiable surge in public interest in your website then they will rank it higher. Google used to be blind to the world except for links... this is definitely not the case anymore. The degree that they care about traffic and socials likely varies based on niche and search term... but don't dismiss the value of building traffic and a live social profile.
Why is this important to Google? For one it is a possible indication that your site itself is quality and sticky. A site that is quality should in theory get "returning customers" who come back time and time again after first finding you on Google. If Google gives two sites exactly 10,000 hits a day for a month from organic Google and only one of the sites sees an overall increased traffic trend BEYOND just the 10,000 hits, then who do you think Google will assume has the more sticky site? Some of you may think this would be impossible for them to track, but keep in mind they ALREADY do this sort of user tracking with Adwords, it's called remarketing. They can track a user that has hit your site and target them with display ads thereafter. Same principal here... all they have to do is watch.
-ThopHayt