building internet traffic...is it by luck ?
ever since i discovered the internet, i would always fantasize about creating a site or online service that can reach alexa rank of 1000. that would be a LOT of traffic.
with coding, there are clear problems you can solve. you can break them down into each processes, and write codes accordingly. then once it's done, its done. You can sell the software for money (of course debugging, providing support etc)
with websites, it doesn't matter if you spent 2 months on developping the most wonderful application, when no one knows it.
Hence the necessity for marketing.
Now, assuming "content is king". Assuming, that the application or website has content which is not junk, but useful, and informative.
What then now? You comment on blogs, do some onsite SEO, do backlink building (no blackhat seo). Years pass, and your domains are still in the millions of pages stuck on alexa ranking or google ranking. You get disappointed and shut it down.
But then, what about the sites you really built without even trying, and seeing that surge into alexa ranking?
It's really frustrating to create a website that generates lot of traffic, because your efforts may not come favorable (disappearing on google SERP for instance). Unlike coding, results are not immediate, and may never materialize.
So, looking at hundreds of successful sites ranking above 1000 on alexa, one can't help but wonder, is it largely due to chance ?
What are your thoughts?