Where Does Traffic Come From?

Ok, so we all know that traffic doesn’t grow on trees. It’s a valuable commodity to be harvested, hoarded, bought, sold, begged-for and in some cases even stolen. But where does it come from?
People who know – or pretend to know the answer to that question will throw around acronyms and buzzwords like SEO, SEM, PPC, CPA, CPM, CPC, CLV, LTV, ROI, SMO, affiliate marketing, email segmentation… the list goes on, and on, and on. And yet, the answer is so simple.

Traffic comes from people. People go to search engines and other websites to find information to read and things to buy. Sometimes they get lucky and quickly find exactly what they want. Other times, they find stuff that’s not relevant or not specific enough to their needs. So they repeat the process. They go to Google and type another search, and another, until they either find what they’re looking for or they give up.

Relevance is key. In order to get people to our website we must first determine what it is that we want them to do when they get there. Do we want them to read an article and then bookmark or share the page with their friends? Sure. Do we want them to buy something and become a customer for life? Absolutely. Do we want them to determine that the page doesn’t suit their needs and bounce off to another website in the span of a few seconds? Probably not. Once we understand what our website’s visitors’ needs are, we can address those needs with relevant products and information. We give the user what he or she wants, the desired action is performed (e.g. a purchase is made) and everyone is happy.

So how do we get this relevant information in front of people? Relevance! On the website itself, we optimize pages around their actual subject matter – if a page is supposed to be about buttered pancakes, then the content should discuss buttered pancakes. Links pointed to the page we want people to land on should be relevant as well. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads should use keywords that are well-matched to their respective landing pages. If you advertise your product through affiliate channels, then it needs to be placed in the right shopping category. It’s all, all, ALL about relevance.

To learn how to develop relevant pages and content about the products that you sell, contact Consorte Marketing.