Do you know you can make money with Digital Traffic?

 

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Understanding digital traffic is the first step to help making money online. Digital marketing allows business to attract visitors, generate leads, and increase sales through different strategies, (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013).

If you are new to digital marketing and asked to yourself how to start, this article will help you understand the main types of digital traffic, basics concepts, and much more.

 
So, what is Digital Traffic?

Digital traffic basically is the quantity (numbers) of people goes to your website, online platforms or blogs. The more visits(traffic) you have, the more chances you have to increase sales, leads, and exposure your brand (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013).

Types of Digital Traffic

In digital marketing there two main types of digital traffic: Paid Traffic and Organic Traffic, which are discussed by (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013; Pancheva & Marinova, 2025).

Below a quick video that show the difference between paid and organic traffic.

 

What is Paid Traffic?

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The PPC (Paid Per Click) works by clicking, that’s mean you invest in links that appear in search results (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013). This strategy is very useful for quick results and immediate visibility.

They are activated by a set of keywords, then more you pay for each word or term, the higher your ad appears in search results. Example includes:

•          Search ads
•          Display ads
•          Social media ads
•          Sponsored ads

It is also very effective to reach the right audience at the right time (Pancheva & Marinova, 2025).

Practical example:

If you have an online shoe store and create a term using the keyword “buy comfortable shoes’’ your ad will appear at the top very fast of the search research. Then every time someone clicks on your ad, you paid for that, increasing the chances of making a sale.

This shows how paid traffic can give fast visibility but requires investing in ads (Pancheva & Marinova, 2025).

 

what is Organic Traffic?

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It is characterized by free traffic, that usually comes from SEO (Search Engine Optimization) without paying for ads (Kritzinger & Weideman, 2013).

How SEO works to help you earn money?

Kritzinger & Weideman (2013), highlights that online search platforms such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc… analysing factors like:

•           Key words
•           Quality content
•           Links
•           User satisfaction

They also mention that all these strategies not only put you at the top of page but certainly will increase your chances of making money online. On the other hand, this process takes time and consistent effort to reach results.

Practical example:

If you have a business of shoes and someone searching for “comfortable and cheaper” the SEO helps your site appear before competitors, what increase the chance of sale.

On the other hand, organic traffic takes time but doesn’t cost per click, demonstrating the long-term is a benefit of SEO (Pancheva & Marinova, 2025).

There are a few types of SEO, such as On page, Off page, and Technical. To better understand this, watch the video

 

Key difference between Paid (PPC) vs Organic (SEO)

According to Kritzinger & Weiderman (2013), the main differences between Paid and Organic include:

Paid Traffic (PPC):

•          Speed results – ads appear almost instantly
•          Cost – you pay per click (can be expensive)
•          Sustainability – traffic stops when you stop investing
•          Control – high control
•          Easy implementation – easy to manage
•          Credibility – viewed as advertising

Organic Traffic (SEO):

•          Long term results – takes time to reach a position
•          No cost – but requires investment in time, and knowledge to optimise the content
•          Sustainability – continues generate traffic
•          Control – less control, depending on the algorithm’s changes
•          More technical – request knowledge of content and site
•         Credibility – more trusted, the users associated if your site is at the top without paying it is because your content is relevant

 

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Which one do I choose now?

 

Paid Traffic is the best option, if you want quick results, but remember you may spend some money, on the hand Organic Traffic is more sustainable and has long effect, also is free.

The best strategy is to use both together, this combination allows companies to reach consumers in different stages online shopping journey (Jansen & Schuster, 2011).

According to research on the “Sales Funnel” (Awareness, Research, Decision and Purchase) by Jansen & Schuster (2011), SEO (organic traffic) is located at the top of funnel, where is more effective to attract consumers, that are in a phase of research or awareness.

On the other hand, according to Jansen & Schuster (2011) PPC (paid per click) it is located at the end of funnel, it focuses on consumer, that are close of decision of buying, using ad based in an intention of users or strategies of remarketing.

 

Conclusion

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Understanding the difference between paid and organic traffic helps to know how both strategies work together to reach users at different stages of sales funnel (Jansen & Schuster, 2011; Pancheva & Marinova, 2025).

In my opinion if you just start now, you can start using the SEO strategy, and further with small paid ad, then you can check the best outcomes for you.

In my next article, I will be covering search arbitrage, this tool will help make money with paid traffic or not? Be turned.