Measuring the Quality of Web Traffic - What's the Difference?

Looking for quality traffic? It's complicated...

When purchasing any sort of web traffic or ad package, you'll often hear the claim that the traffic is "High Quality" or "Premium" or "Targetted." Is there really a difference? If so, how can we tell if we are getting the real thing? What do all these terms mean anyway? While it sounds complicated, the quality of traffic really only comes down to few factors. First, we need to understand how and why the end user ended up on our page. The best way to understand this is to think about it as user intent and targetting. Different traffic sources will have different combinations of each.

Types Website Traffic Intent

• Web Crawlers and Bots. The intention behind most web crawlers and bots is to search and index new content. Some are also built to give the appearance of real human traffic where none exists. It can be hard decipher real traffic from bots but a sure giveway is that bot traffic will never convert! Some are also designed for even more nefarious reasons.
• No Intent. In this scenario, the user has no intention of visiting your site at all. This could happen when a user's browser is redirected, a popup or popunder loads, or a website shows another website in an iFrame.  While this type of traffic may seem worthless, that isn't always the case it also dpends on how targetted the traffic is which we'll go into detail on later.
• Incentive Seeking. This is what it sounds like, the user is clicking on a site in order to receive some type of reward. It could be reward points, cryptos, free adversting, or just cold hard cash. Typically this type of user can convert as long as the offer aligns with what they are currently after.
• Freebie Seeking. This types of user is looking for a free product or service or perhaps a method that allows you to accomplish the same thing as a premium product. Typically this type of user will optin to many email lists to gain access to various lead magnets but it can be hard to convert them into a buyer.
• Information Seeking. The majority of internet traffic is information seeking, they are simply looking for an answer to a question or some content on a topic they are interested in. This type of traffic can be hard to monetize depending on the niche and level of traffic.
• Comparison Intent. What happens here is that the user has an idea of a type of product or service he wants, then he starts researching the best version to buy. This is very valuable traffic because the user is already far along in the process of buying and only needs a few nudges to make that final  purchase.
• Buyer Intent. The user has decided what product to buy and is now just looking for the best outlet to get it from. This is basically the best
• Untargetted Traffic. No attempt is made to match up the ad to the specific end user, the goal is simply to maximize views and or impressions. If you're using this type of traffic you'll need an offer with wide appeal across all demographics.
• Device Targetting. Device targetting allows you to only show ads to people with specific hardware. For example, you may only want your ad to show on Android phones as it is an ad for a Android App.
• Website Targetted. In this case, the ad is matched up with websites about similar subjects this ensures that the end user will be more likely to convert.
• Personalized Targetting. Sites like youtube, facebook, and adsense all offer personalized ads. This goes beyond website targetting and allows advertisers to target based off of complex algorithms and user data. This creates a much higher conversion rate than untargetted advertising.
• Search Targetting. The genius behind search targetting is that it is the only form of targetting that relies on giving the user exactly what they are looking for, exactly when they are looking for it. In practice, crafting an offer like this can be much harder than it sounds and requires a great deal of patience and testing.
• List Targetted. This is traffic that is targetted towards a certain list of individuals. It could be a curated email list or acess to someone else's list. The quality of this type of targetting is only as good as the list itself.
• Retargetting. Retagetting allows you to show your ad to users more than once. You simply install a tracking pixel on your offer, the people who see your ad will then have this tracker on their computer. you can then use that to retarget them with other ads on different platforms. This is good practice as most users don't convert after only one interaction with an offer. 
traffic that you'll ever get your hands on. Many users have had their preferred outlets for many years and won't deviate from those, so getting this traffic can be very difficult.

Types of Targetting

• Untargetted Traffic. No attempt is made to match up the ad to the specific end user, the goal is simply to maximize views and or impressions. If you're using this type of traffic you'll need an offer with wide appeal across all demographics.
• Device Targetting. Device targetting allows you to only show ads to people with specific hardware. For example, you may only want your ad to show on Android phones as it is an ad for a Android App.
• Website Targetted. In this case, the ad is matched up with websites about similar subjects this ensures that the end user will be more likely to convert.
• Personalized Targetting. Sites like youtube, facebook, and adsense all offer personalized ads. This goes beyond website targetting and allows advertisers to target based off of complex algorithms and user data. This creates a much higher conversion rate than untargetted advertising.
• Search Targetting. The genius behind search targetting is that it is the only form of targetting that relies on giving the user exactly what they are looking for, exactly when they are looking for it. In practice, crafting an offer like this can be much harder than it sounds and requires a great deal of patience and testing.
• List Targetted. This is traffic that is targetted towards a certain list of individuals. It could be a curated email list or acess to someone else's list. The quality of this type of targetting is only as good as the list itself.
• Retargetting. Retagetting allows you to show your ad to users more than once. You simply install a tracking pixel on your offer, the people who see your ad will then have this tracker on their computer. you can then use that to retarget them with other ads on different platforms. This is good practice as most users don't convert after only one interaction with an offer. 

Conclusion

Before you spend your hard earned money on any traffic or ad package it is vital to understand where the traffic is coming from. "Premium Traffic" is a subjective term that doesn't mean anything, it could be bot traffic! If possible look at the network of sites they are using for traffic and how the user is being advertised to. That way you can get not only an idea of the nature of the targetting but also what the typical intent is behind a click or view. Even if the traffic is not very targetted you can still design an offer that will appeal to the typical audience on the network. Another idea is to buy a small package and test out the traffic with a link tracker, this can show you where the traffic is originating, how long they stay on the page and even the IP Address. Even if all that checks out, low intent traffic is not likely to convert into a sale of a paid product. The best tactic for low intent traffic is to offer them something of value to join your mailing list. From there you can build trust and rapport so they will feel confident in purchasing products you recommend. You can get started with email marketing, autoresponders, and landing pages for free. Upgrade only when you have built a large list of buyers. Once you have curated your own list of leads you can market to that list on a regular basis with great results.  If treated with care an email list can be your most valuable asset and a traffic source for years to come.

What do you think? Was there anything we left out? Let us know in the comments below!

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