Your Success in online marketing is pretty much cemented by the amount of traffic you can drive to your domain. Additionally, the traffic sources for your website and quality of your traffic determine the conversion rate which is vital for your online endeavor.
But before we jump into the details of Web Traffic, let us understand Traffic in the first place.
What is Website Traffic?
Website traffic in general refers to the number of web users who visit a website. It is measured in visits, sometimes called "sessions," and is a common way to measure online business effectiveness at attracting an audience. Website Traffic is broadly classified into 2 categories - Organic Traffic and Inorganic traffic. Many people, on hearing terms organic / non-organic, would picture the produce section of their local grocery store. However, in online marketing terminology, this means something completely different (we will dwell further on this in the post)
Where web traffic sounds simple, what makes it complicated are the different kinds of website traffic, the pros and cons of each traffic source and costs involved.
And that's exactly what this article is about. In this post we will discuss the traffic sources for your website and more importantly what is the best way you can optimize both paid and unpaid traffic sources for your Webpages.
What are the Types of Website Traffic?
There are two main categories of web traffic,
- Free Traffic aka Organic traffic and
- Paid Traffic aka Inorganic Traffic
The main difference, as the name goes, is that one is free while the other is paid.
Traffic, whether free or paid, needs to be weighed on another scale as well; its source. Yes, you also need to consider where the traffic comes from.
Most, if not all, traffic comes from one of the two sources; Search Queries and Social Media (including YouTube). The below Traffic Quadrant gives a fair idea of the types of web traffic.
There are two subtypes of traffic, within the Free and Paid category of web traffic. Let's dive a little deeper and discuss each one in detail.
What is Free Traffic / Organic Traffic?
As the name denotes, Free traffic is the traffic that you receive without paying money. Most, organic traffic is generated through SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Social media. Organic traffic can further be divided into two categories as below:
Free Social Media Traffic
This is through social media marketing – Using social media platforms like Facebook , Youtube, Instagram, Twitter and others to steer traffic towards your website. This method is very effective given the size of these social media platforms and its large user base. Also it's free to post content and evoke interest in your audience and then divert them to your website.
Free Search Query Traffic
This is the holy grail of traffic. This is the traffic that comes from search engine queries. When people google search for any particular keyword and the results show your website listed on the first page, this gives you a tremendous edge over your competitions in terms of getting traffic. Studies show that the websites listed on the first page get 92% of the search traffic. Moreover this traffic is often high converting because people are already looking for whatever your content is offering. The downside is that due to the high converting nature of this traffic, the competition for organic search rankings is often intense.
It's all about SEO – The best thing about getting SERP (Search Engine Results page) rankings is that once you get it working and make it to the front page of google search, you can just leave it for a reasonable amount of time, and still get remarkable results. If you don't do any work on your site, it will start slipping after a while but will take months or a year before it actually falls off from the front page.
In comparing free and paid traffic, the free organic search traffic is the most valuable traffic for your website. Ironically it is also the toughest traffic source to master.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Free / Organic Traffic?
Advantages of Organic Traffic
It is Free
Organic traffic does not require any monetary expenditure. All you need is a good and working SEO strategy.
See the below example to comprehend the power of free traffic sources for your website. If you google the words "Best Led TV" , the first organic result, barring the Ads, will be for BestBuy.com. BestBuy.com ranks # 1 for the search query "buy LED TV". This is a result of an excellent SEO strategy.
Result? They get millions of visitors monthly, without paying a dime, for this keyword alone.
It is Straightforward and Less Demanding
Free traffic campaigns are not as complicated and demanding as paid traffic campaigns and therefore, does not require professional marketers, tests and trials as is the case with paid traffic.
Traffic Flow is Consistent and continues long after you have stopped the Campaign
Creating content that resonates with the search results leads to long-term traffic. So the effort you'd put into free search would keep paying off for a long time. For example, if you're doing a good SEO campaign and are successful in getting your site on first page of the search engine results, you can be assured that you'll keep getting the traffic long after you've stopped the campaign. This is probably the most significant advantage of ranking in search results.
Disadvantages of Organic Traffic
Free Traffic is Time Consuming
This is free - in terms of money, not in terms of time ! Free traffic may not cost you money, but it inevitably needs time. You would probably be required to spend a lot of time getting it to work. Time basically is money, so, free traffic costs you one way or the other working on strategies like SEO and content generation.
Free Social Media Platforms are Very Crowded
Free social media platforms are getting crowded day by day. And it is getting increasingly difficult to navigate through all the noise and get your voice heard by the right audience.
Paid Ads are Shown Above Organic Search Result
Paid ads are shown on the top of the organic search result at the front page of the search engines. So even if your SEO strategy is as good as BestBuy.com and Amazon, paid ads will be given precedence over the organic search results.
Here's an Example of how Google search results for a keyword 'Buy LED TV' looks like (the same strategy applies to other search engines):
Despite the little box next to their title reading "Ad," many searchers are unaware that these are even advertisements. The Ads feel native and fit seamlessly into the results to be less obtrusive.
How to Optimize Free Traffic Sources for your Website?
One of the most commonly asked question in internet marketing is - How to drive organic traffic to my website or How to increase Free traffic to my website. There are a lot of different methods to get free traffic, but we'd like to dilate on the ones that really work.
Content Marketing
Good content attracts audience provided it is updated, authentic and addressing the needs of your target audience—for example, the fitness niche on YouTube. Many Fitness Gurus have gained a following on YouTube by creating good workout videos and giving useful fitness related tips. People trust their recommendations and follow their videos enabling them to earn through their YouTube channels. learn More about content marketing here
Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) involves the process of optimizing your site so that it ranks higher in organic search results of the search engines.
A host of strategies are used by the people to rank their sites in the search results. The picture below shows a few of them.
SEO takes time, resources and money to optimize for search engine's algorithm. In short, you just can't pay Google to rank in their organic search results, you have to earn it.
Focus on Backlinks
Google has a complicated search algorithm that includes hundreds of variables to determine which site should rank against which keyword. One of the big variables in getting ranked is to have links pointing towards your site. Google takes your website as important if other popular sites have backlinks to your site. Learn more about backlinks here
Submit Your Content to Aggregator Sites
First, a disclaimer – don't spam Reddit and other similar sites hoping to hit the referral traffic jackpot because it's not going to happen. Members of communities like Reddit are pretty smart about spam disguised as legitimate links, but, every now and then, it's useful to put forward links that these audiences will find genuinely beneficial. Pick a good subject, write a value add post, submit your content, and observe the traffic pour in.
Examine Your Analytics Data
Google Analytics is an incredibly valuable data source on almost every plausible aspect of your site, from your most searched pages to the demographics of your visitors. Keep close tabs on your data analytics and use that information to shape your advertising and content strategies. Pay heed to the popular posts and pages, and inspect the data of the visitor to know the sources of your web traffic.
How Much Does It Cost to Drive Organic Traffic to Your Website?
Being free is what makes the idea of free traffic more appealing. The popular belief is that if you have good organic/free traffic to your website, you are making sales without any cost. That's not entirely true. Free traffic is never free of charge. There is always a cost involved which can be time or money, or both.
Let's say that you're generating traffic through SEO activities. Writing content, optimizing it, making it better than others and then resonating with the audience takes a lot of time or money (if you hire people for it). The same logic applies to social media platforms.
Hence if you value your time @ 20 an hour and it takes you 6 hours to write a blog post and additional 1 -2 hours to advertise and drive traffic to it, then your cost is anywhere between $140 to $160 for that article. If you outsource that article, then your total cost is the cost to procure that article plus the cost to drive traffic.
However free traffic is long term. Once you have optimized your article or content for SEO, the traffic largely comes naturally without any more additional cost.
What is Paid Traffic / Non-Organic Traffic?
Paid traffic or Non-organic traffic sources for your website refers to any customer who visits your website through your paid advertisements and promotions. Paid traffic is one of the most effective ways to get immediate eyes on your website or blog. This is also one of the most common methods used by entrepreneurs to launch products with an intention to make immediate returns. Many platforms offer paid traffic services, including search engines, social media platforms and media networks.
Paid Social Media Traffic
This refers to paying for traffic on the social media platform. The examples include Facebook ads, Instagram ads, Twitter ads,, Pinterest ads, and Youtube ads. All these platforms have good potential for targeting audience.
Paid Search Query Traffic
Paid search refers to paid advertisements within the sponsored search engine listings by paying either every time your ad is clicked (pay per click)v or when the ad is displayed (CPM or cost per thousand views) or when phone contact is generated, which is 'pay per call.'
Experienced or seasoned marketers specialize in PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing. It takes a lot of skill and work, but if you master it, you can make a lot of money.
What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Paid / Inorganic Traffic?
Advantages of Inorganic Traffic
It Works – You Get Traffic Fast
Paid traffic is fast, you can get views and visitors to your website right away with an option of upscaling, anytime. If you pump more money, you'll get more traffic. But before you commit more money, you must test your paid traffic campaign first.
It's Easier to Reach Your Target Audience
One of the biggest advantages of the paid traffic is the ease with which you reach your target market place as you don't have to worry about the algorithms, SEO and keywords.
Paid Traffic always takes precedence over Free Traffic
In Google search, Paid Ads are always listed first before Google SERP results and hence have a high probability of conversion. This is the primary reason you would see big brands setting up paid ads even for their own brand name.
Disadvantages of Inorganic Traffic
It is Not Free
The most obvious downside of paid traffic is that 'its paid'. In fact, it can get quite expensive. In particular, Facebook charges a good amount of money for advertising on its platform. So you need to keep track on the returns of your Ad, test it, tweak it and optimize it to get your best ROI (Return on Investment). In some instances, you might end up spending large sums of money instead of making any. This is when you get traffic that doesn't convert.
It is Risky
You need traffic that converts! If it doesn't, paid traffic can be risky. You may pump money in and get nothing if your offer isn't good enough, or doesn't resound with the target audience.
Ad Frauds and Botnets
Paid ads have a fair share of fraudulent practices that cost advertisers lots of money every year. For instance paid traffic sources for your website, may get ten thousand views without a single click. You might think that your ad sucks or people aren't just interested in your product. In reality, however, there may be a big percentage of fake views by botnets. Not only does this massively increase the cost of advertisement, but it also puts your budget and advertisement strategy off balance.
How to Optimize Paid Traffic Sources for Your Website?
Paid Ad Traffic
Ad traffic is the most popular type of paid traffic. This includes traffic generated by users clicking on banners, adverts, pop-ups, and videos. Unlike the other types of paid traffic, such as pay per click, Ad traffic is usually charged at the rate of per 1,000 impressions. It is also called CPM or cost per mile. This type of advertisement does not guarantee any clicks or traffic to your site but offers a much lower price.
Depending on the site you are advertising, paid ad traffic can be bought for as low as $0.5 per 1000 impressions.
Pay Per Click Traffic
Another fast converting form of paid traffic is PPC (pay per click). Contrary to the usual banner and ad traffic that runs on a CPM basis, PPC traffic, as the name indicates, charges money on per click basis. This type of advertising allows advertisers to generally get a better ROI, assuming that the price per click is not too competitive. People who use PPC traffic will only get charged when they get a click.
Learn more about Facebook Paid traffic here
Learn more about Google Paid Traffic here
Learn more about YouTube Paid Traffic here
What is Preferred Traffic Source for your website - Organic Traffic or Paid Traffic?
Having covered all there is to know the web traffic, we can finally answer that big question: Organic Traffic or Paid Traffic?
Generally, paid traffic is not preferred by the inbound marketers as it is viewed as more of an outbound marketing method. Still, with Social Media Ads and tools like HubSpot Ads, it is getting increasingly common for both to work next to each other. With Organic traffic, it takes around 3 to 6 months to start seeing a rise in search ranking. 6 months being a considerable wait time, majority of entrepreneurs / marketers do not want to wait that long. Paid search allows you to gain traffic to your website immediately. It also increases the speed of landing page optimization process for higher conversions, which then pays off significantly in the long run.
If you are indecisive between the organic and paid traffic for your business, the best way to reach a conclusion is by assessing your budget, objectives and timeline. If you don’t have the luxury of time and your objective is to get quick results, go for paid traffic. But if you're not in a hurry and are staring at a long-lasting influx of traffic, work to get organic traffic for your site. Organic search is generally more cost-effective in the long run.
Take a look at your goals and don't be afraid to experiment with them.
Which method do we use and recommend?
All of the methods discussed in this article! Yes, we use all the four sources of traffic on the quadrant.
- We get the free search traffic on this blog.
- We get free social traffic from our Twitter account, Instagram account, Facebook account and Pinterest account.
- We make paid ads on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.
- And we've got some small PPC campaigns going on.
Our paid traffic investments are small because our ultimate objective is to get free/organic traffic in the long run.
