THE 7 DIFFERENT TYPES OF WEBSITE TRAFFIC
The internet is swarming with traffic and opportunities, whereby businesses can implement smart marketing techniques to drive targeted traffic to their website. Business websites rely on high-quality traffic to reach their conversion goals. Conversions are actions taken by website users such as phone calls, messages, and product purchases. To drive traffic to a website, one must understand the most popular forms of traffic available, and the various approaches to deliver this traffic to your website. This article is going to discuss the 7 most popular forms of traffic online:
1. Organic Traffic
2. Paid Traffic
3. Social Media Traffic
4. Direct Traffic
5. Referral Traffic
6. Email Marketing Traffic
7. Video Traffic
ORGANIC TRAFFIC
Organic traffic is the natural placement of your website on search engines like Google and Yahoo. When someone types a keyword into a search engine, the search engine will display search results of the most popular and relevant websites online. Websites that appear in the top 10 positions of the search engine (1st Page of Google) will receive the most traffic and leads. The higher the website’s position, the more traffic the website will receive. To appear in the top positions of Google, one needs to implement Search Engine Optimization. There are two types of SEO:
A. On-Page SEO
B. Off Page SEO
ON-PAGE SEO
On-page SEO is the process whereby an SEO company will assess a website and make essential changes and optimize it for Google. These changes can include:
• Adding, Editing and Removing Web Pages
• Adding, Editing and Removing Content
• Adding, Editing and Removing Media (Images, Icons, Graphics, Videos)
• Website Structure Changes
• Meta Tag Optimization
• Sitemap Installation
OFF-PAGE SEO
Off-page SEO is increasing your website’s exposure by linking to other high-quality and relevant websites. SEO Specialists will link to websites that contain:
• High Domain Authority (DA)
• High Page Authority (PA)
• High Traffic Volumes
• Low Spam Scores
Your SEO company should send reports every month of all the websites that are linking back to your website.
TOP ORGANIC WEBSITES
• Yahoo
• Bing
PAID TRAFFIC
Paid traffic is paying for website visitors to arrive on your website. The paid advertising model usually works on a Cost-Per-Click (CPC) basis. Every time a user clicks on an advert, the advertiser will have to pay for the click, regardless of what happens after the click. Paid advertising is a fast but expensive method of driving traffic to a website. The 2 most popular paid advertising methods include:
A. Search Engine Ads
B. Social Media Ads
SEARCH ENGINE ADS
Search Engines Ads are paid advertising listings at the Top of the search engine results. Search engine adverts are text ads that contain titles, descriptions and website links. Every time someone clicks on your advert, the marketer will have to pay for that click. The success of search engine ads depends on Ad construction, spending budget, and Landing Page.
AD CONSTRUCTION
Setting up an advert requires writing experience and search engine knowledge. An SEO Specialist should incorporate keywords naturally into the titles and descriptions and capture the audience’s attention with an eye-catching information. Some coding knowledge is required to install conversion tracking codes in your website’s HTML to track leads and sales.
SPENDING BUDGET
Spending budgets have become a major role in the quality of traffic a website can receive. To take advantage of search engines’ new AI systems, big spending budgets allow the AI to explore, learn, and capture more leads. Limited budgets will restrict the progression of AI.
LANDING PAGE
High-quality landing pages contain simple navigation, fast loading speeds, mobile-friendly interface, SSL Certificates, and informative content. Websites need to create trust with web users to find success.
TOP SEARCH ENGINE ADS
1. Google Ads
2. Bing Ads
SOCIAL MEDIA ADS
Social Media ads are displayed on popular social media platforms in the form of texts, banners, and videos. Social media ads can target a precise audience when marketing a product or service, due to the available information on existing social media profiles. The success of Social Media Ads depends on the Ad Creation, Ongoing Optimization, and the Audience Targeted.
AD CREATION
Social media Ads are composed of a Title, Description, and Image. Finding the best combination of the 3 elements is the key to your success. Use high-quality images, with professional logos, eye-catching titles, and enticing descriptions.
ON-GOING OPTIMIZATION
Social media advertising requires a lot of A-B testing. Marketers should make constant changes to an advert title, description, and image, by viewing analytics and tracking the best combination of elements that delivers the best results.
TARGETING OPTIONS
Social media Ads allow marketers to target a group of people based on their age, ethnicity, gender, education, income, and interests. Knowing your audience is the first step to success, always do audience research before launching a paid advertising campaign.
TOP SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. Twitter
SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC
The social media traffic is supplied by social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media contains business profiles whereby businesses can display information about their products and services to the public. The main purpose of social media is to create high-quality content and grow your followers. The more followers your account accumulates, the more traffic you can drive to your offers or website. Here are common methods to grow your Social Media Account:
HIGH QUALITY CONTENT
Content is key in social media marketing. People who find your content interesting or entertaining will Like, Share, Subscribe, and Comment on your video. Likes, Shares, and Comments drive up the organic ranking positions of Videos on Social Media Accounts such as YouTube. This will result in additional traffic. High-quality content has the potential to explode on the market and go viral. Going viral can drive hundreds of thousands, or millions of web users to your social media accounts.
REGULAR CONTENT
It’s important to post content regularly on your social media accounts. Experts recommended posting 2 times per day per account. Regular posting can improve your organic positions on social media accounts, every time some searches for a specific product or service on the search bar, the business profile that shared the most content and received the most Likes, Shares, and Comments, will appear at the top.
FACEBOOK GROUPS
Join Facebook groups in your niche and share content regularly. Do not post a Sales Page, but rather focus on providing valuable content and tips about your industry. People who enjoy your content will follow your account and share your content, which will lead to more followers and opportunities. Make sure you read the Facebook Group guidelines as they may have restrictions on certain content and may not allow regular posting.
DIRECT TRAFFIC
Direct traffic is when a user remembers your website address and types it into their browser. Direct traffic usually comes from offline sources. Users remember your brand from some marketing campaigns such as outdoor advertising (Flyers). The most popular ways to drive direct traffic to your website include:
BILLBOARD ADVERTISING
Billboard advertising is the means of placing a banner advert on a elevated structure in a busy area. People who walk by or drive by will notice your billboard sign. The success of billboard advertising relies on several factors:
BILLBOARD LOCATION
Displaying your business on a billboard in a busy location will drive more direct traffic to your website. Billboards should be set up in areas where their target audience will be based. Research the demographics of the surrounding areas before setting up.
BILLBOARD SIZE
Bigger billboards can reach a broader audience as the advertising message can be viewed from near and far distances. Bigger billboards are the most costly, and advertisers can pay as much as R100 000 per month for this type of marketing
BILLBOARD DESIGN
The billboard design and message must reach the user internally. Providing vital information or adding humor to the design can stay with passing users and remain in their minds. The message must also resonate with your target audience.
STREET ADVERTISING
Street advertising involves displaying your business adverts on street poles. Street pole advertising is affordable, but the amount may vary on different streets due to the amount of exposure available.
FLYERS
Flyers are A5 size papers displaying your Business and the Specials you are currently running. People hand out flyers in various locations in South Africa. The most popular ways of distributing flyers include restaurants, coffee shops, petrol stations, and traffic lights.
DIRECT MAIL
This includes sending business flyers directly by mail to people’s homes and offices. Sending direct mail to people’s homes has higher Open Rates and Conversion rates than email marketing.
WORD-OF-MOUTH
When you go above and beyond for your clients, the word gets around. Word of mouth is regarded as the most powerful form of advertising, as positive reviews from close friends and family create trust around your brand.
REFERRAL TRAFFIC
Referral traffic is when users are referred to your website from another website. If your website appears on another, high-traffic website, you will receive traffic from the linking website. The most popular forms of referral traffic include:
1. Guest Blogging
2. Press Releases
3. Email Marketing
GUEST BLOGGING
Guest blogging is the means of writing high-quality articles for a blogging website. If the guest blogging site is popular, and the article contains quality information, a website can receive a ton of referral traffic.
PRESS RELEASE
A press release is a news statement released by a company publicizing a specific event, service, or new product. Well-written press releases can lead to a lot of shares which can drive more referral traffic to your website.
EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is the process of enrolling people to join your mailing list. Once people have agreed that you can send them emails, you can send them information about your products, services, or current promotions.
EMAIL MARKETING TRAFFIC
Email marketing is the process of sending information, or offers, directly to your email list. Successful email marketing includes growing and building a relationship with your email list. To grow your email list, you first need to encourage users to subscribe to your email channel. Here are several methods to launch a successful email marketing campaign:
ATTRACT NEW SUBSCRIBERS
Sharing high-quality content on your social media accounts and encouraging people to subscribe to your email list to receive more valuable tips. One way of getting users to subscribe is to offer them a Free eBook or Free course in exchange for their subscription.
EARN THE SUBSCRIBERS TRUST
You need to build a relationship with the people on your email list if you want to succeed with email marketing. You should send your list valuable content on a continuous basis. Do not send them offers within one month of joining your services. Build the trust first.
USE AUTOMATIC RESPONDERS
Some companies allow you to send a sequence of emails in a desired period automatically. These are known as autoresponders. Autoresponders save email marketers time by automating their emails and providing analytical feedback such as:
ACCEPTANCE RATE
This is the percentage of emails that were accepted by your list of email server providers.
OPEN RATE
This is the number of people who received your email, with the number of people who opened your email.
ENGAGEMENT RATE
This indicates how much time an individual spent looking at your email and how he/she engaged with it.
EMAIL CLICK RATE
This is the number of people who clicked on links, CTA or images in your email.
VIDEO MARKETING TRAFFIC
Video traffic is sending traffic to your website from popular video platform sites such as YouTube, TikTok, and Twitch. Due to the audio and visual nature of Videos, they can deliver a personal and powerful message to the viewer. There are paid advertising options for video marketing, and most times, the advertiser is charged once a viewer interacts with the video, or watches the video for some time. Here are the advantages of Video Traffic:
HIGH INFLUENCE
Videos can influence viewers more than any static advertisement can. Studies have shown that faces create trust when it comes to marketing, as people like to deal with people in business. Have an owner or manager explain their services and face the camera for amazing results.
AFFORDABLE
Video creation can be expensive, however, many websites offer affordable video creation services for R2000-R3000, or there are video creation software programs, such as Canva, to do it yourself. YouTube only charges once a video has been watched for longer than 30 seconds or when a viewer has performed an action on the video.
POWERFUL REACH
Video marketing comes to the quality of the video content. Professional video content that offers valuable information, or entertainment, has the potential to be shared and spread to thousands of people. Videos can be viral, which means you can receive maximum exposure ONLY from the quality of your video.