What is organic search traffic?
Organic search traffic refers to the visitors who land on your website by clicking on unpaid search results from search engines like Google or Bing. This type of traffic is driven by SEO (Search Engine Optimization), where pages rank based on relevance and quality, not paid ads.
💡 Organic traffic vs Direct traffic: Organic traffic comes from search engines after users search for keywords related to your products or content, while direct traffic comes to your site through direct URLs in users’ browsers or saved bookmarks.
Here’s how natural search traffic works:
- User search: A potential customer enters a query (e.g., “sustainable clothing brands”) in Google.
- Algorithm match: Search engines match the query to high-quality, relevant pages.
- Ranking: Your site appears in the organic search results based on SEO efforts.
- Click-through: The user clicks your link and visits your site, generating organic traffic.
For example, a customer searches “best wireless headphones” and clicks on your blog post on search results.
This traffic type is preferable for every brand because they can:
- Cut cost: No ad spend required – long-term traffic through SEO.
- Grow sustainably: Builds consistent traffic over time.
- Build trust: Users trust organic results more than paid ads.
How to increase unpaid search traffic?
Driving organic traffic on the search page involves refining your website, content, and user experience to align with search engine best practices. Here are 6 practices you can try:
- Optimize Product and Category pages: Use target keywords in product descriptions, meta tags, and URLs.
- Create high-quality content: Publish blogs, guides, and FAQs that address customer pain points.
- Improve site speed and mobile-friendliness: Google prioritizes fast-loading, mobile-optimized sites.
- Build backlinks: Gain links from reputable sites to boost domain authority.
- Focus on user intent: Create content that aligns with what users are searching for (informational, transactional).
- Use long-tail keywords: Target niche, less competitive keywords to drive specific traffic.
What percentage of web traffic originates from organic search?
Knowing the average percentage of traffic from organic search helps you benchmark your performance against industry standards.
- 47.8% of all web traffic comes from organic search. (Source: Oddball)
- At least 43% of e-commerce traffic originates from Google’s organic search results. (Source: Statista)
💡 Pro tip: If unpaid search traffic makes up less than 30% of your total traffic, it’s time to reassess your SEO strategy and invest in content optimization.
