What traffic channels are available
Direct
Direct traffic is when a user enters the exact address of a website in the browser bar. Direct includes pages saved in bookmarks and addresses that users remember by heart. It is for the sake of easy direct traffic is advised to choose short sounding domains, the spelling of which is easy to remember and reproduce.
Organic search
This is the largest channel of traffic on the Internet. These are users who come to your site from search results on sites like Google, Bing, etc.The moment a user searches for some information, the search engine shows pages of sites where there may be an answer.
Paid search
Search engines don’t just find information for us on the internet, they make money through search advertising.
Google has a special exchange, Google Ads, where you can pay to have your site above the other search results in the ad unit.
Referral
Referral traffic is the conversions of users from other sites to your site.
For example, you sell smartphones, and users often come to you from reviews on thematic sites.
Social networks
In social networks, traffic can be obtained from links in your community posts, from paid advertising and through advertising from bloggers.
- Posts on the official brand page. This is an example of organic social media promotion. Any brand can create a page on social networks and invite users to subscribe to keep up with news. On this page, you can post information about discounts, promotions, new products, and useful posts about how to choose a product and how to use it.
- Paid advertising in social networks. This is advertising based on user interests and demographics. We come to social networks to read a feed, and sometimes we see paid ads from brands.
- Ads from bloggers. Some users are very popular on social media. Not only people who know them personally subscribe to them, but also those who just like reading their posts and looking at photos. You can buy promotional posts from them – give them products to review and pay for it. Sometimes bloggers simply post a link to where they bought the product or mention the brand (link to their social network page).
Display
This source of traffic includes the display of banners, videos and audio ads on third-party sites through media networks.
This is traffic from emails that you send to your subscriber base. This traffic channel is designed to work with your current audience, not to attract a new one. The whole point is that we cannot send emails to customers who have not given their consent to the mailing (this is spam). To give consent, the client must go to the site and leave their details (name, email) in the form.
After that we can send letters. The customer will go from them to the site and make orders. Email gives traffic, but not new users.
Additional traffic sources
In addition to the main ones, there are additional sources of traffic. They will differ depending on the area of business you are working in. For example, online stores can receive additional traffic from the following channels:
Review sites. These are special sites where users write impressions about products and stores.
Reviews in online magazines. Sometimes journalists and just users write articles with store reviews. If you’re on the radar, you’ll get into such picks.
Price comparison systems. They collect prices from different stores and show the user where the item is cheapest. Online stores pay such sites for conversions or purchases.
Advertising articles. You can pay to include an article about your online store/website in the media your target audience reads.
Marketplaces and Marketplaces. These are directory sites where different users and stores can post their products. These platforms are well optimized for search. Marketplace audiences often go directly to the site, bypassing Google. Posting here can be a good source of traffic for a small store.
Sites with coupons and discounts. Coupon sites where discounts are placed on products in stores. You pay these sites for the action: that is, for activating a coupon or selling with a coupon from this site.
A good source of traffic can be your own blog, which will attract users from search engines for informational queries.