Traffic

A short definition

Traffic (also web traffic or Internet traffic) refers to the number and frequency of user accesses to a website within a specified period of time. Generally speaking, the entire data flow on the Internet can be summarized under this term. The flow of visitors to a page counts as a ranking criterion – if a page is accessed often, it is classified as relevant by the search engine. A lot of web traffic can therefore have a positive effect on the ranking.

Meaning of Traffic

Web traffic can provide information about the success of a website and helps to draw conclusions about the reach of the site. This is because the greater the volume of users and the number of page views of the website – in other words, the higher the traffic, the greater the interest among users in the content of the website.

Traffic sources

There are numerous channels through which users land on a website. But only if a website operator knows from which of these channels the visitor traffic originates, he can also take measures to increase the volume of users.

● Paid Traffic

Paid traffic is the flow of visitors that occurs when a user accesses the site through paid search results, for example, by clicking on an ad in Paid Search.

● Organic traffic

In contrast to paid traffic, this is visitor traffic that comes in a “natural” way. The visitors do not come via a paid, but a “natural”, unpaid traffic source. Such page clicks can be generated e.g. by a search query on a search engine (e.g. Google).
Organic traffic can be divided into different areas depending on how the user arrives at the page.

The following options are available here:

• Via the SERPS of a search engine
• By directly entering the website URL (Direct Traffic)
• By calling backlinks (Referral Traffic)
• Via social networks (Social Traffic)

● Trash Traffic and Bot Traffic

A lot of web traffic does not always mean a lot of success for a website. Only real and relevant traffic from human visitors benefits the ranking of the site. However, there are also traffic sources that do not offer any added value. These are, for example, bot traffic and trash traffic generated by computer programs. These are page views by users who land on the website although they are not actually interested in it and therefore leave it again immediately. This happens, for example, when users click on misleading banner ads.

For example, a user searching for a product clicks on a banner that appears to advertise that exact item. However, he is referred to a page that does not offer the desired product at all – and therefore closes the page again immediately, since he does not find what he is looking for and expected here.

How much traffic does my website have? Measure and analyze

In order to be able to take measures to increase Internet traffic, it is first necessary to record and evaluate it in the first place. One of the best-known tools for measuring and analyzing web traffic is Google Analytics.
With the help of this web analysis tool, the total traffic can be broken down into different visitor sources.

But also other important criteria can be examined with Google Analytics :

• How did the user get to the website? (e.g. via ads or organic search).
• How long did the user stay on the website?
• Which subpages did he visit? How long did he stay there?
• Did the user visit the website for the first time or is it a returning user?

All these metrics are used and evaluated by search engines as quality criteria.

But what are the benefits of measuring and analyzing?
By recording and analyzing visitor traffic, a website operator can determine how successful organic or paid traffic is and make appropriate improvements. For example, if organic traffic is low, the site may not rank well in search results and search engine optimization measures can be taken.

Optimization – increase traffic

Once you have measured and evaluated your traffic sources, it is time to take measures to increase traffic. These measures vary depending on the origin of the traffic and should be defined individually:

• Organic traffic can be increased mainly through a user-friendly design and high-quality and unique content. The user should receive a relevant answer to his search query. In addition, a target group should be defined, which should be reached by the content.
• Direct traffic is mainly related to the level of awareness of the website.
• To increase paid traffic, it is worth adjusting ad texts or setting a higher budget for ad campaigns.
• For more referral traffic, building backlinks is the right measure.