One of the misnomers in the web world is that all traffic is good traffic; it simply isn’t true. In the retail world, the more shoopers in your store the better chance you will sell something. In that world the shopper has chosen your store from the look of the sign and windows outside, and is perhaps a little bit qualified. In the web world you may be bringing in traffic that is not geared toward sales. For example, for many years we were #1 for the search phrase: “web design portfolio”. Initially I thought this was a good phrase, and it was bringing in traffic, so it must be good right? Truthflly people looking for a portfolio are likely looking for ideas, not to hire a web designer.
Think about the traffic you want coming to your site, and how you want them to find you. If you sell widgets, and they are mid to expensive grade, do you want people finding you with the search “cheap widgets”? This would be bad traffic, in my opinion.
Another example for you… If a searcher is using google with the search phrase: “car” google will tell you there are more searches per day on the word car than “hybrid car”. But if you sell hybrids, wouldn’t you rather the people coming to your site actually know what they want, and are specifically searching for exactly what you have to offer? The answer is that qualified traffic is MUCH better than just random unspecific keywords that although may drive traffic, are not bringing good traffic.
-s
