But what good is traffic if it doesn’t lead to sales? 

You can find ways to get traffic all day long, but if the traffic you bring to your site isn’t interested in your offer, you are wasting your time and money.  There are ways to benefit from traffic in terms of branding, etc., but the typical small online business needs to monetize the traffic directly through a sale.

What you need to focus on is Targeted Traffic. 

Traffic that you know will have a very high chance of buying what you are selling. 

How do you find this traffic?  This is where your Market Research comes in. 

You have to really understand your target market. 

• Where do they hang out?
• What do they think about?
• What are their concerns or issues?
• What makes them happy? 

Based on all of this target market analysis, you can start to piece together a strategy to “be in the right place at the right time” for your potential customers. 

Be there when they are searching for your product or service.
Be there when they are searching for a solution to their problem.
Be there when they are discussing their problems or concerns with others.

The key is – you need to be out where your customer are at the time when they need you.