The Top 5 Types of Internet Traffic

Direct Traffic

Direct traffic occurs when someone types in your full URL into their web browser’s search bar. This type of traffic is fantastic because they have seen or heard your website URL and go directly looking for the site. Direct traffic also comes from when someone has bookmarked your site on their web browser and returns to it. Lastly, it also comes from when a URL is linked in an email without a referral code/source.

How can you get more?

• Put your URL on every piece of marketing collateral you have. Your business card, sales receipt, signs & banners, hang tag, match book, etc. This is the calling card to your site!

• Put a QR code on some of your marketing materials too! You can go to www.qrcode-monkey.com or any other service to create a QR code. Some services (usually paid) allow you to see insights about how many people have scanned your code.

• Make sure you have a short and simple URL. If your web address is www.yourstorename.myshopify.com, consider setting up a URL like www.yourstorename.com that forwards to your website.

Organic Traffic

Organic traffic happens when people search for your product or similar key phrases and then visit your website. This type of traffic is awesome because it means people are searching for the same things that are listed/described on your website! Optimize your website by spending time crafting really thorough production descriptions, using synonyms, and making the words make an impact. This process is called SEO- Search Engine Optimization, and can have a momentous effect on your website views.

Paid Search

Paid search traffic happens when someone visits your website after visiting an advertisement from Google Ads or other Pay-Per-Click platforms. For a lot of businesses starting out, these ads are often overlooked because they’re not as flashy, but check out the results next time you search for something online- you’ll see sponsored results before everything else!

• Google Adwords

• Microsoft Ads (Bing, Yahoo)

Paid Media

Advertising your website on another platform is always an option to bring in more traffic! There are so many ways that people see ads online- banner ads, social ads and videos. Each platform has a unique audience and specific way to set up an ad, so take the time to learn their best practices before spending a lot of money. And remember, don’t make any broad assumptions about your audience- people are complex and have a wide range of wants and needs.

• Meta Ads (Facebook, Instagram)

• TikTok Ads

• LinkedIn Ads

• Pinterest Ads

• Reddit Ads

• Snapchat Ads

• X (formerly Twitter) Ads

• YouTube AdsYelp Ads

• Nextdoor Ads

• Google Business Profile Ads

• Display Networks (Criteo, Adroll)

Email Marketing

Everyone needs a mailing list, everyone. Getting a new customer is so hard- keep the ones you have by building and communicating to your community using email marketing. Whether it’s Mailchimp,  Klaviyo, or Shopify’s built in email marketing tool, having a list is absolutely essential. For smaller companies I recommend emails that balance a mix of personalized flair and great photos of your product. Share your upcoming events, meaningful messages, and other great things that are happening with your business. Be grateful and see the results!

• MailChimp

• Klaviyo

• Shopify Email

• Constant Contact

• Brevo

Note: There are a handful of other types of web traffic not listed here (referral, offline, bot, other). Make sure to set up Google Analytics on your site to see the different types of traffic.

Good luck, everyone!

-Hilary