The Difference Between Organic Traffic and Paid Traffic

Although it may not seem like it, there is an important difference between one and the other.

Here you will learn why investing in paid traffic is a smart investment and the 3 main sources of traffic.

The question we have all asked ourselves at one time or another:

How can we in an accessible and easy way attract the attention of users and direct them to our website, convert them into subscribers and Customers?

The secret is in digital advertising... if you understand how it works, it can not only give you control over the flow of traffic, it can also help you sell.

‍

The Difference Between Organic Traffic and Paid Traffic

We could say that Free Traffic is always the Goal, right?... This is why many businesses opt for organic traffic in the beginning. After all, if you manage to maintain a steady flow of free traffic and make sales, the profits are all yours.

The easiest way to explain organic traffic and paid traffic is with a simple comparison: The water hose versus The Rain.

The paid traffic is the water hose. You have complete control over the direction, the amount of water coming out of it and how long the flow will be maintained. You can open and close it whenever you want.

If you are getting more traffic than you need, with paid traffic, you can slow the flow, you have control over where that traffic goes, when it goes and how fast it is served.

Organic traffic, on the other hand, is like rain. You're not sure when it will come, how much water it will bring and if it does come, how long it will last. Even if you have 24/7 monitoring of the Weather Channel, you won't be in control.

With organic traffic, you can lose traffic if Google suddenly changes the algorithm. If the competition launches a new product with a strong campaign. You also don't have full control over where the traffic goes, and even things as simple as changing your landing page URL can screw things up.

Good news.

You can enjoy full control of the paid traffic, even without paying for it. How? You can do this by building funnels that reimburse you for your ad spend.

So, in essence, you can acquire customers for free, and then, once your advertising costs have been reimbursed, use simple tactics to build loyalty and optimize the lifetime value of your customers.

Better yet, it's not a matter of choosing one or the other...

The better your paid traffic is, the better your organic traffic will be too because good advertising generates traffic and pages that get a lot of traffic tend to appear at the top of search engine rankings, it's as simple as that.

This generates a positive cycle of organic traffic acquisition and paid traffic acquisition, a win-win.

But we must also be realistic. You can't just run a traffic campaign and expect to magically deposit your millions in revenue into your bank account.

If you want a steady flow of leads and customers for your business, you have to look at this as a system.

Top 3 Sources of Paid Traffic

Some of the best paid traffic platforms are Facebook, Google, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter and the new TikTok platform.

But to know which one is right for you, you need to know where your customers engage and which platforms are ideal for the type of marketing you do.

In most cases, it is ideal to start with Facebook and Google. According to a Business Insider study a few years ago, these 3 sites generate 80% of the "Referral Traffic" more than the other platforms combined.

But as I always say... it all depends on what you are trying to do.

1) Google is like "Yellow pages"

Google is a Search Engine, that's why people start here when they are looking for information. Just like you did in your yellow pages book a few years ago.

To generate traffic from Google, you bid an amount for keywords that will help people find you and initiate a relationship that you can nurture.

‍

2) YouTube is like "Television"

The goal is to have you inside the platform consuming videos, so they operate very similar to the way traditional television operates, showing ads in the videos, interrupting the playback.

Can it be harmful? Probably, but on YouTube, your ads are always relevant.

Here you can target your ads based on the channels your audience likes, the types of videos they watch and what they are looking for.

‍

3) Facebook is like a "Billboard"

It is worth mentioning that when I refer to Facebook, I also mean Instagram.

Navigating the Facebook News Feed is like driving down a popular avenue. As you slide your finger down you will see Ads, sponsored posts as well as random comments.

And you, as a business, if you are willing to pay, your message will also appear in the news section of your target market.

With Facebook, you can spend small and still expand your reach. Because it is a social platform, and because they are in charge of collecting data on our behavior every day... they know a lot about us.

All of this information has made Facebook one of the most powerful ad platforms available today.

If you target your ads in the right way, you can be sure that you will get the customers you are looking for in your business or project.

Those are the three most popular platforms, it is true that there are more than we already mentioned TikTok or twitter, but my recommendation is that you learn from these 3 platforms that I explained to you because they are more mature and at the moment are the basis of digital marketing.

So what are the 4 main sources of traffic? Where is the best place to start with your organic and paid traffic campaigns?

Google, YouTube and Facebook: these 4 platforms will give you quality traffic from people who are interested in your offers, remember that each of these has its different networks with different strategies.

Conclusion

In general, organic traffic is a matter of time, it promotes a long term relationship of trust with your audience while paid traffic generates more traffic and well applied generates conversions in the short term.

When we talk about paid traffic and organic traffic it is not a matter of choosing black or white... each strategy generates value in its own way, it is just a matter of achieving a good balance and taking into account the main objectives of your business.

And you?... What type of traffic will you use?