{"id":83999,"date":"2017-07-16T14:23:34","date_gmt":"2017-07-16T21:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thegood.com\/?post_type=insights&p=83999"},"modified":"2025-05-15T12:02:33","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T19:02:33","slug":"hacking-paid-traffic","status":"publish","type":"insights","link":"https:\/\/thegood.com\/insights\/hacking-paid-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"Hacking Paid Traffic: How to Multiply Your Results Exponentially"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve heard it 1,000 times: Paid traffic doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google Ads is a waste of money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook ads are a rip-off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you harbor any personal resentments against digital advertising platforms? Have you found the ROI from paid traffic sources tends to run on the negative side?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re not alone. Many of our clients have felt that way before too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll show you how to hack paid traffic, multiply your results exponentially, and begin making sure paid traffic to your website does exactly what it\u2019s supposed to do: increase conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"paid
Advertisers must continually try to manage ads better (see the illustration above), but getting more traffic is only half of the paid traffic ROI equation. Source: Google Blog<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Problem with Paid Traffic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At The Good, we often speak with ecommerce managers who want more traffic. Many believe increasing the number of visitors will lead to more sales and more profit\u2026 and that\u2019s typically true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your conversion rate is such that you earn [X] number of dollars for every 1,000 visitors to your website, then doubling the number of visitors will boost earnings to 2X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s simple math, and math is always correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the rush to get traffic, though, many otherwise sharp digital markers miss an important point. Consider this: if each of those 1,000 visitors contributes an average $20 in sales and your paid traffic campaign costs $30 per visitor, you\u2019re on the wrong end of the stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that case, the more traffic you get, the more money you lose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s when the weeping and howling begins: \u201cGoogle charges too much for clicks. Facebook draws you in, then raises the price beyond belief. Paid traffic doesn\u2019t work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On and on the story goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ecommerce manager will often try one paid platform after another, trying to find the one that will get results\u2026 but that happy day seldom arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is that there\u2019s more to paid traffic than just getting traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"paid
There\u2019s more to making sales than just getting traffic. Much more. Source: Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Two Sides to Paid Traffic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two distinct considerations in any paid traffic strategy. We\u2019ve found that many digital marketing managers focus on the first, but neglect the second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a sure path to financial stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You not only need to GET the traffic, but you have to make sure that traffic CONVERTS at a healthy rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\nYou not only need to GET traffic but make sure that traffic CONVERTS at a healthy rate <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n

A site that converts 1,000 visitors at 10 percent ends up with 100 sales. Drop the conversion rate to 1 percent, though, and that same site now needs 10,000 visitors to get 100 sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If on average, you need to invest one dollar to get one visitor, then you\u2019ll spend $1,000 on traffic versus $10,000 on traffic \u2013 for the same number of sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides of the paid traffic equation need to be optimized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the \u201cget side\u201d of traffic, you want to be sure you\u2019re targeting the right prospects with the right offer and that the amount you need to pay to get each visitor isn\u2019t more than the value you can expect to gain from each visitor (whether immediately or over the customer lifetime value).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the \u201cconvert side\u201d of traffic, you have to make sure the people you\u2019ve paid to click a link and visit your landing page find sufficient reason to become paying customers. Your sales conversion rate is the number of sales, divided by the number of visitors, multiplied by 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important formula to know is cost-per-acquisition. It varies inversely with your conversion rate. Double your rate of conversion and you cut your cost per acquisition in half.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDouble your rate of conversion and you cut your cost per acquisition in half. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n

No matter how much traffic you generate and how much you pay to get it, your business can\u2019t survive without an adequate conversion rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need visitors. You need customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"paid
The better you convert visitors into buyers, the less you need to pay for each conversion (see the cost per acquisition formula above).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Paid Traffic: Here\u2019s What to Do First<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We advise our clients not to invest in additional paid traffic UNTIL their ecommerce site is optimized for conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do otherwise is like trying to carry water in a leaky bucket. You won\u2019t get back home with much left for the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecommerce site optimization is the master key to exponential gains on your paid traffic investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We won\u2019t go into the particulars here since we\u2019ve covered ecommerce website optimization quite well in other articles, but these are the general points you\u2019ll necessarily want to consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Does the ad or offer you\u2019re using to draw traffic to your site speak to your best audience? Remember: you\u2019re not looking for traffic, you\u2019re looking for customers.<\/li>
  2. Does the landing page you\u2019re directing traffic to deliver on the promise you\u2019ve made in your ad or offer? Congruency between the ad and where the person goes after clicking on the link in the ad is especially important.<\/li>
  3. Does the journey the prospect begins by clicking on the ad or offer guide the visitor smoothly along the path from prospect to customer? Get rid of friction. Build trust and confidence each step of the way. Make the visitor glad to have found your site.<\/li>
  4. Do you have a system in place to track results, and do you have a strategy for continuous testing to get better results? Always be testing.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Online shoppers are a suspicious lot. Their antennae are finely-tuned to that famous station WIFM (\u201cWhat\u2019s in it for me?\u201d). They\u2019ve been burned too many times to put up with shenanigans. It\u2019s absolutely essential that you respect their time and money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Don\u2019t play games. Don\u2019t try to trick visitors into clicking. Speak to the right audience and deliver the right goods or services to that audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Traffic isn\u2019t your aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You need to build your customer base and get more sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n