More visitors to your website, who also buy something

• More traffic is only valuable if the traffic matches what you sell.
• Targeted traffic comes from seven routes: SEO, visibility in AI answers, Google AdsGoogle Ads Google Ads is Google's advertising system, formerly known as AdWords. This allows you to place advertisements in search results, on YouTube, and on other websites.More about this term, local discoverability, social media, remarketing, and good mentions elsewhere.
• You only know the value of a route if you measure how many enquiries or sales it generates per source.
• If visitors come but don’t buy, the problem lies with the site itself. In that case, increasing conversion helps more than even more traffic.

A visitor only counts if they do something that benefits your business. This could be a purchase, a quote request, or a phone call. Visitor numbers only show that people found your site, not that they found what they were looking for there.

Suppose an online garden furniture store gets a lot of traffic from an article about garden inspiration. Those readers are looking for ideas, not a lounge set. A search query like “buy lounge set” generates fewer visitors, but those people are closer to making a purchase. On a dashboard, the first group looks more impressive. At the till, the second group makes the difference.

I start with the question of which traffic generates your revenue, and only then move on to how to get more of it.

The visitors who are worthwhile are looking for something you actually provide, in an area you serve, and are close to a decision. Search intent is the tool for this: you look at what someone types or asks and whether they still want to orient themselves or are ready to buy.

Someone who asks “what is an SEO audit” wants to learn something. Someone who searches for “have an SEO audit performed” is further along in their choice. Both are useful, but you approach them differently. The first wants a clear explanation. The second wants to know what they will get and how to start.

Keyword research identifies which search termsKeyword A keyword is the word or phrase that someone types into a search engine to find something, such as 'plumber Zaandam' or 'best savings account'.More about this term relate to your offering and what intent lies behind them. The result is a list of topics in order of value, and you build the rest upon that.

You get targeted traffic via seven routes, each bringing in a different type of visitor. Which routes suit you depends on your offering, your market, and how quickly you need results.

How do you attract visitors via SEO?

SEO generates traffic from people who ask Google a question themselves. You don’t pay per click, but it takes time. In my experience, it can take one to four months to see results, depending on factors such as the domain’s age, content quality, and the number of quality links to the site. It starts with an SEO audit that shows what is holding the site back, such as technical errors and missing pages. Improvements then follow in order of impact. More about the approach can be found under SEO and GEO.

How do you get mentioned in AI answers?

According to the CBS, in 2025 more than half (57 percent) sometimes used chatbots. In my experience, a good positionPosition Your position is the place your website holds in the search results for a specific keyword. Position 1 is the top organic result.More about this term in Google does not mean an AI answer will mention you. Google shows AI Overviews with links to supporting pages, only if they add something. GEO optimisation makes your content understandable and citable for AI systemsAI Assistant An AI assistant is a chat program such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity that you can ask a question in natural language and receive a written answer.More about this term. It is a supplement to SEO, not a replacement.

When is paid traffic via Google Ads and Meta worthwhile?

In my experience, Google Ads provides targeted traffic fastest, but it can be expensive, especially if the site does not convert optimally. Paid trafficPaid traffic Visitors who arrive at your site through an advertisement.More about this term is only truly worthwhile if the site converts well. How to focus on revenue rather than click price is explained under increasing conversion and on the page about SEA and Google Ads.

How do you get found locally?

If you serve customers in a specific region, you want to be visible for searches with a place name and in Google Maps. This works differently from national SEO. Complete and accurate business details make a local mention more likely, and more reviews and positive ratings can help.

What does social media do for your traffic?

Social media primarily builds brand awareness and trust. It also brings traffic to your site, but the visitor is less often already looking for a solution. In my work, I see that what your target audience clicks on themselves works best. Also, ensure that the page where the visitor lands aligns with the post.

What does remarketing do for your traffic?

Remarketing shows ads to people who have already visited your site. Visitors often don’t buy on their first visit. By reaching them again later, you stay top of mind when they are ready to choose. For advertising cookies, you request consent via your cookie banner. Remarketing works best with a message that matches what they have viewed, for example, the product they left in their shopping cart.

What do links and mentions do for your traffic?

Google uses links as a signal for page relevance and to find new pages. Links also send visitors themselves. Quality takes precedence over quantity. Google calls buying or excessively exchanging links to influence rankings link spam. A mention on an industry site or an article that others genuinely want to share is therefore a better investment than a pile of paid links.

You measure it by recording how many conversions come from each source. Without that link, you manage by numbers and not by results.

Measuring starts with Google Analytics 4Google Analytics A free measurement tool from Google that tracks how many visitors your site has and what they do.More about this term. In Google Analytics 4, conversions are called key events; in Google Ads, they are called conversions. Set what such an event is for your business, such as an order or a submitted form. Then you will see per channel not only how many visitors came, but also how many of them did what you wanted. Google Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console A free service from Google that shows how your website is performing in search results.More about this term supplements this with what people searched for before they found you.

You compare channels based on what they yield per visitor and per euro. It may turn out that a channel with few visitors generates the most enquiries, and that a channel with many visitors does hardly anything. Then you shift time and budget.

A free website scan provides an initial picture of where your site currently stands. The terminology associated with this can be found in the glossary.

More traffic works if the site already converts well and you gain visitors from the right target group. Then every extra visitor yields just as much as the visitors who are already there.

Extra traffic yields nothing if visitors arrive and immediately leave. Common reasons:

• The page where visitors land does not match their search query.
• The site is slow. What that costs can be calculated with the load time-revenue calculator; how I measure load time is explained under technical measurement.
• The next step is unclear: no clear button, a form that asks too much, no trust signals.
• The traffic comes from search terms without purchase intent.

Increasing conversion yields more in these cases than even more traffic. Only when the site converts is it worthwhile to expand its reach. How to incorporate these choices into a plan can be read in the internet marketing plan. How AI can help with this is explained under AI marketing.