Insufficient Website Traffic

Businesses often measure success by turnover. But everyone knows that it’s not turnover that counts. What matters is profit – and not pre-tax profit either, but net profit. The kind that fills the coffers, appeases shareholders and provides golden handshakes and parachutes. Website traffic is just like turnover: the numbers may seem impressive, but they are often irrelevant. What counts is where traffic originates, how it is shaped and how many leads or conversions it generates.

Of course, website traffic can serve as a useful indicator as to overall interest in a product or service. A YouTube video that is viewed five million times may not be especially good, but in terms of exposure it is clearly a success. Website owners often look at traffic in the same way: the greater the number of visitors, the greater the perception of success.

The main benefit of increased exposure is that brands can target a smaller proportion of leads or conversions. If a website attracts 500,000 unique visitors a month, for example, a conversion target of one per cent would aim for 5,000 sales. This could be sufficient for some firms. If the website were to suffer a decline in traffic, falling to 50,000 unique monthly visitors, the conversion target would need to be increased to ten per cent in order to maintain sales performance. Increasing traffic is far easier than increasing conversions; indeed, it is the quality of traffic that makes traffic relevant. But therein lies the problem: increasing high-quality traffic (the kind that tends to increase conversions) can be a difficult process, and poor traffic is merely a symptom of a much wider issue for business owners.

Most companies invest in paid search (PPC) and other forms of advertising, but the most valuable conversions are generated organically; that is, through non-paid search traffic. Unfortunately, competition on Google is beyond fierce. The most popular, lucrative keywords are dominated by PPC ads and established websites, many of which have been omnipresent since the dawn of the internet. There are very few niche areas left on Google, so companies have no choice but to compete for position against countless others.

Traffic can dip for all kinds of reasons. Changes made to search algorithms invariably alter the pecking order, while competitors might invest in long-term content strategies, causing rivals to fall behind over time. Dominance in low-volume keywords that are not entirely relevant to the product or service offer can be another reason. In fact, this is one of the main causes of a poor conversion rate. Moreover, a poor ranking in SERPs for high-volume keywords can be disastrous. Failing to maximise the potential of social media platforms can also reduce traffic.

To increase conversions or leads, businesses must compete for the top positions on Google for the keywords that are most relevant to their brand, product or service. Formulating a content strategy and hiring a professional company to improve results are essential steps. The focus must always be on increasing high-quality targeted traffic.