In 2023, the worth of the SEO industry has grown in excess of $50 billion. You might be wondering how that gargantuan number came to be. The answer is simple: organic traffic.
Organic search traffic is responsible for 53% of total website traffic. And 49% of marketers agree that organic search traffic has the best ROI of any digital marketing strategy. That said, ROI is only one part of what makes organic traffic important.
So, what are the other benefits you can expect from organic SEO? Keep reading and we'll fill you in on how organic traffic can elevate your business in more ways than one.
See Related: Understanding The 3 Pillars Of SEO: Authority, Trust & Relevance
Organic traffic refers to visitors who land on your website as a result of finding you within search engine results pages - that is, not amongst paid search results. Organic search results are the opposite of paid search ads and typically garner more clicks than paid advertising.
The first organic search result on Google gets 28.5% clicks on average. In comparison, Google Ads have an average CTR of 3-5%.
While paid traffic might offer more immediate results than organic traffic, it's clear to see which strategy wins out in the long run. Not only are you seeing a significant decrease in your CTR with paid traffic. You're also only receiving that measly CTR for as long as your paid ads run.
So, how do you increase organic traffic? The trick to getting more organic traffic is through search engine optimization (SEO).
When you optimize your website with search engines in mind, they'll be more likely to reward you by boosting your rank within search engine results. On average, moving up just 1 spot in the search results can increase CTR by 2.8%.
Plus, when you direct your SEO efforts toward organic traffic, you can snag those top-ranking spots for longer.
49% of digital marketers claim that organic search traffic has the best ROI of any digital marketing strategy.
And with numbers like these, it's clear to see why. Suffice it to say that dominating organic traffic in Google is a prized commodity among marketers and business owners alike.
We're not saying that paid ads should be avoided at all costs. In fact, paid search ads can actually enhance your search engine optimization efforts so long as they're strategically placed.
But consider this statistic for a moment:
Around 70-80% of paid ads go ignored by users.
Even if those ads show up at the top of all results across search engines, there's no guarantee that people will click through if you don't have an organic strategy to back your business up.
Only through organic rankings can you establish yourself as an authentic authority. Anyone can buy a paid ad, but how many businesses earn their rankings through organic searches by virtue of high-quality content and web optimization?
Fortunately for you, not too many, which means that there is ample room for you to dominate organic traffic and establish your business as the top organic search result.
Bonus: 7 Reasons Why Customer Experience Matters
Organic traffic isn't the only type of traffic out there. In fact, understanding all traffic sources will help you maximize your search engine optimization efforts as you keep track of all traffic coming from a variety of sources through your analytics tools.
Direct traffic refers to visitors who do not come from a referring website. Instead, they arrive directly on your website without having clicked a link from any referral information.
Many people confuse direct traffic with users physically typing your website's URL into the search bar or perhaps users clicking on a bookmarked link. But instead, direct traffic comes from an unknown source and therefore gets categorized as "direct."
Generally, you should expect to see anywhere between 5% and 20% of direct traffic within Google Analytics.
That being said, an experiment conducted by SearchEngineLand and Groupon revealed that as much as 60% of traffic considered to be "direct traffic" was actually "organic traffic" in disguise.
In this way, direct and organic traffic seems to be closely linked. But the mystery of direct traffic remains, even to SEO experts across the board.
In your Google Analytics account, you'll come across a designated traffic source described as "email traffic." These traffic sources refer to any traffic generated from email campaigns you've properly tagged with email parameters.
Email marketing accounts for 19.8% of all transactions.
So, don't think that email can't similarly feed into your SEO strategy altogether! While email campaigns may not help you get organic traffic, they can maximize your optimization efforts while building relationships with customers via personal communication.
Referral traffic is any traffic that comes to your website from another referring website. Most often, referrals occur in the form of hyperlinks that any other website has included on either a blog post or their web page.
In the SEO world, referrals are also known as backlinks. Especially when paired with relevant keywords, backlinks can do wonders for your overall search engine traffic.
Generally speaking, the more backlinks a page has, the more organic traffic it gets from Google.
So, as you go about crafting a search engine traffic strategy, you'll want to make sure to include high-quality backlinks that generate more traffic to your site. This will also signal to search engines that you're an authority on the subject of these search terms.
Social traffic refers to any traffic you generate from your social media accounts whether that be Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram. Additionally, some direct traffic can be linked back to social accounts, leveraging both your direct traffic efforts as well as your social efforts.
In fact, 75% of marketers agree that social media marketing has driven an increase in traffic.
Not to mention the numerous benefits that social marketing can have for your overall SEO strategies. (If you're really interested in organic social tactics, read up on our recent post here!).
Any other traffic your website receives will be filtered into the "other" category in your Google Analytics tool. Like direct traffic, it is unclear where these traffic sources are, but you can rest assured that there's no danger in receiving "other" traffic.
Much like publicity, all traffic is good traffic!
Organic traffic is more important than ever in today's digital world. Sending positive signals to a search engine, organic traffic can garner you credibility both amongst SEOs and website visitors alike.
But building a credible and trustworthy reputation isn't the only benefit you reap with organic traffic.
61% of B2B marketers stated that SEO and organic traffic generate more leads than any other marketing initiative.
With proper keyword research and website optimization, you can actually profit off the search terms you're optimizing your site for. And that kind of organic strategy offers far more benefits than any other paid campaign can.
Take it from us. As a leading SEO company in Los Angeles, we've managed to boost clients' organic traffic while establishing them as the top brands within their niche markets.
From 2020-2021, we managed to 35x one luxury beauty company's organic visitor growth, resulting in 605 unique organic sales in 10 months and ranking them for 6,500 keywords in Google's Top 100 results.
Suffice it to say, we know our way around a search engine. With the right SEO team by your side, you can similarly enjoy the benefits of these organic efforts.
So, before you spend all your money on a paid campaign, consider what organic SEO can offer your business and more.
As an SEO company, we've seen firsthand how businesses can woo search engine after search engine with their organic efforts. No matter your market, we're the SEO team who can help you see the organic results you want to see.
Keep Reading: 8 Benefits Organic Social Media Can Offer You
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Up Inc. eCommerce Agency is a digital marketing agency based in Los Angeles, CA. Founded in 2021, Up Inc. specializes in eCommerce, generating growth for brands by focusing on visibility, customer loyalty, and digital revenue. For more SEO tips and industry insights, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
