A Definitive Guide to Referral Traffic In 2022. Any web page or online business is only active if there’s enough website traffic. Traffic on a website is what makes sales go up and increases the evolution of the site. And, hence, the business in general. This is why companies all over the world spend a good part of their budget on digital marketing. Marketers use various digital marketing strategies to achieve a business goal. Such as Search Engine optimization, Pay-Per-click, Blogging, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, and Mobile Marketing. All to drive up and increase the percentage of traffic visiting their clients’ websites every day.
While a lot of the investment goes into SEO (search engine optimization), it always takes time to get results. On the other hand, PPC (pay-per-click) ads can be relatively more expensive. And a million various blogs on the same topic are presently flooding the online. So, what can a marketer do to enhance website traffic when the standard methods aren’t getting the results they are wanting to? This is where referral traffic comes into the picture.
What Is Referral Traffic?
When a possible customer achieves some task that shows them to your business site, that visitor makes up referral traffic.
Referral traffic usually works by using the backlinks technique i.e. leading website visitors from external — but authorized — websites to yours. When web traffic visits your website without glancing you up on the Search engine Google.
Google Analytics counts such visits as referral traffic.
Online businesses themselves can track where the website traffic is coming from by using UTM codes. That pinpoint the exact websites that are leading said visitors to your domain.
Importance of Referral Traffic
Once you understand what referral traffic is, you will understand that it comes with a range of perks.
And the Search engine optimization benefits you get from it are just the tip of that iceberg.
Search engines like Google and Bing see referral traffic as a good factor. I.e. a positive aspect when it comes to ranking on search engines. This is because, when someone clicks on a link on an external website or social media platform, the fact that an authorized website is directing viewers to your domain makes your website look good. And equally trustworthy.
Benefits of referral traffic
There are various benefits of referral traffic you might get. We made a list with some of them down below:
- Since search engine Google feasts backlinks from authorized sites as a positive sign, referral traffic can enhance your website’s SEO. If you make constant use of backlinks from authorized websites.
- It can drastically boost your brand’s recognition and exposure.
- Since web users that make up referral traffic are visiting your website from trusted sites, they´re more likely to trust your brand. And the products and services you offer.
- Referral traffic also lets you gain more openness to an audience that you may not have targeted before. But one that is equally willing to buy products or services from you.
How to View Referral Traffic Sources?
Once you log into your website analytics dashboard and select “Referrals” from “Traffic Sources”, you will find a graph. One listing your referral traffic stats, so you´ll know precisely which websites or platforms your referral traffic is coming from.
The typical elements tracked are the source of the website traffic. The bounce rate (how many website visitors abandon the website without interacting with anything). And the rate of new web visitors, and how much time these visitors are spending on your website.
From there, you can discover your best sources of referral traffic. By concentrating the search using the elements that are key to you and your online brand.
How is Referral Traffic Calculated?
The method of following RT (Referral Traffic) is easy enough. Since referral traffic goes via the browser of a user, the online data gets followed and relaid using the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) referrer. What this lets the referrer do is not only track the source where that visitor coming from. But also, where they are found at that moment.
Once a website visitor clicks a link to your web domain, the user’s browser forwards a proposal. Straight to the server of your website domain.
This request also contains information about where the user was before they were directed to your website. This information is then registered by GA (Google Analytics) and used to develop the report they present to you.
Tips to Build Referral Traffic
Here are a few tips and tricks that you can implement on your website and improve your referral traffic:
- List your website to the Top Online Directories One of the best ways to generate referral traffic is to list your website on top online directories. But not all directories will give you the same benefits. So, you need to choose the ones that are appropriate to your business or industry. Start by submitting your site to the top directories in your city. This is particularly vital if your shop or store has an online location in any individual city.
- Taking help from Review Websites is one of the great options to earn referral traffic. Since the visitors to these sites are already glancing at the reviews of products or services. We can say that they´re not only mindful of the product. But that they have also passed through the thinking stage and are now choosing what to buy. If your product is in front of the users at the decision-making pinpoint of the brand funnel, it exponentially improves the chances of your lead getting converted into sales.
- Guest blogging is a popular way to get referral traffic through other websites. These guest blogs contain CTA´s (call to action), external links, and author bios — all of which help generate referral traffic. But, while guest blogging is an appealing great way of developing referral traffic for your website, not all articles are made the same.
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!