Organic Traffic
Visitors who find your site through unpaid search results. The metric most SEO campaigns are measured by. Unlike paid traffic, organic traffic doesn't stop when you stop paying.
Why It Matters
Organic traffic is the primary goal of SEO. It's free (after the investment in creating and optimising content), it compounds over time, and it doesn't disappear when you pause your budget. A page that ranks well can drive traffic for months or years.
But organic traffic alone is a vanity metric. What matters is whether that traffic is qualified - do these visitors match your target audience? Do they take desired actions? 500 organic visitors who convert are worth more than 50,000 who bounce.
In Practice
Track organic traffic in Google Analytics, segmented by landing page and geographic region. Compare month-over-month and year-over-year to account for seasonality.
Dig deeper than total numbers. Which pages drive the most organic traffic? Which keywords bring visitors? What's the conversion rate of organic vs other channels? Use Google Search Console alongside Analytics for the full picture.
When organic traffic drops, diagnose why: algorithm update, lost rankings for specific keywords, technical issues, or seasonal patterns. Don't panic at every fluctuation - look at trends over weeks and months, not day-to-day noise.
Related Terms
Glossary
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Improving your site's visibility in organic search - an ongoing system, not a project.
Glossary
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who take a desired action - the metric that actually matters.
Glossary
Google Search Console (GSC)
Google's free tool showing how your site actually performs in search - essential data.
Glossary
Keyword Research
Finding what your audience searches for - the foundation of every SEO strategy.
Know the Words.
Now See Them in Action.
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