What is organic traffic and why it is essential to your online strategy

What is organic traffic?

All the visits that a digital channel (like a company’s website or blog) receives are called traffic.

The organic traffic is nothing more than the spontaneous visits earned without using ads.

Usually, this kind of traffic comes from search engines like Google and Bing.

You can’t say, exactly, that organic traffic doesn’t involve any cost because the strategies to attract visits cost money and take time.

But the main difference between organic traffic to paid traffic is that, in the first one, you spend money once to harvest results for a long time.

A blog article you produce will take time and cost money, but it can generate results continuously. Meanwhile, an ad only lasts as long as you pay for it.

What other types of traffic can you generate?

If you’ve ever accessed the Google Analytics panel, you must have seen several different traffic names. What do they mean?

Basically, traffic is divided between paid and organic, as explained above. But the terms used help to understand more specifically how a particular visitor came to each page.

In addition to organic traffic, see what each of the other names means:

• paid: attracting visitors by placing ads on Google or sites your audience usually accesses;
• direct: it is when a person accesses your site directly, without coming from another site. It’s still a form of organic traffic — since it doesn’t come from paid sources;
• social: it is the access from social media, something common in the case of shared links in these channels, which direct traffic to a site;
• reference: when someone visits a page from any site that is not a search engine. That’s what happens with backlinks to an article on your blog, for example.

What are the benefits of investing in organic traffic?

Earlier in the article, we said that organic traffic had become the main interest of many companies that decide to invest in Digital Marketing.

Now is the time for you to understand the reason behind this fact. Check out the benefits that this strategy can bring to your business!

Cost-benefit

First of all, organic traffic contributes to the cost reduction of your marketing strategy, if compared to the use of advertisements.

As a consequence, the profit margin on sales is higher. Thus, one can say that the cost-benefit ratio of organic traffic is unbeatable.

Scalability

Ads are not scalable. From the moment you stop spending on them, your traffic will decrease.

Also, the cost of attracting a large number of qualified visitors may be unfeasible. With organic traffic, the opposite happens: the more you get visits, the lower is your cost.

Relevance

Google shows to the user when a result is paid advertising. Thus, users already know that the page in question is trying to sell something to them, diminishing trust.

The organic result, in turn, is considered genuine and gains greater credibility right from the beginning.

Duration

An organic strategy has no expiration date.

A single blog post can generate millions in sales over a long period, which borders on the impossible if compared to the cost of keeping a paid traffic campaign running continuously.

Relationship building

The paid traffic has its value, but it is more suitable for those who want to make an immediate sale. To build close relationships and walk customers through the buying journey, organic traffic is the best choice.

Just consider what we said about cost, user confidence, and the possibility of escalating efforts.

What are the best strategies focused on organic traffic?

If you are already convinced that organic traffic is a good strategy to invest in, the only question on your mind at this time should be: “how to get visits organically?”.

And the answer is: with appropriate strategies, like the ones we show below!

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is one of the pillars of Digital Marketing. Today, the generation of organic traffic hardly happens without some type of content that interests the persona.

So, if you want to attract qualified visitors without resorting to paid sources, learn how Content Marketing works and what you need to do to apply it consistently.

SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the optimization of search engines. This means making your website easier to be found by Google.

SEO, like Content Marketing, is an excellent strategy, but it takes time and requires discipline. Depending on how your site looks today, a lot will need to be changed.

But do not doubt that the effort is worth it: a site well regarded by Google is a strong candidate to generate organic traffic.

Email marketing

Building a relationship with the people who access your content is the only way to turn simple visitors into leads and, later on, into customers.

Email marketing is one of the best channels to nurture the interest of your loyal audience with updated and relevant content.

And, with an email list, it’s easier to direct visits to your content.

5 basic hacks to boost your organic traffic generation

Besides, to complete strategies focused on acquiring organic traffic for your website or blog, other smaller approaches are also essential for success.

Check below the 5 basic hacks you need to follow to boost your company’s qualified organic traffic generation.

1. Total focus on the buyer persona

It’s no use producing content thinking about what Google considers relevant and forgetting about the buyer persona.

Remember that those who will consume what you produce are people.

Think about what your ideal customer wants and needs, learn how they search for answers and shape their planning based on this knowledge.

2. Create a strategy for your keywords

Keywords are still essential to rank well in search engines because they help these sites determine what the user is looking for and what content best meets the demand.

No matter the size of your blog, make it a priority from the start.

3. Create good content descriptions for Google

Google allows content to appear differently on the search page to attract users’ attention.

You can customize the title of an article or page, as well as the meta description that appears on the SERPs.

Optimize your content with copywriting techniques to persuade the user and increase the click-through rate.

4. Publish the same content in different formats

Your content must be of high relevance to the public, but this does not mean that it needs to be distributed in one format only.

In fact, it is recommended that you modify a piece of content to publish it in different formats. The same material can be used as:

- blog post;

- infographic;

- slide show;

- video;

- ebook.

Each of these formats can be published on channels that generate organic traffic.

5. Spend as much time on promotion as on the production of content

The above tip has everything to do with this point, as it is a great effort to promote the same content in several different traffic sources.

Do this with every piece of content you produce. If you create a video, why publish it in only one place? Post it on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, IGTV, and on your own website.

Invest time promoting your content. The more you do this, the more people will find your message and get in touch with your brand — without using ads.

Organic traffic requires time, research, and regularity in producing content that generates value for the buyer persona. But all the effort is worth it because it brings consistent, scalable, and long-lasting results.