Uncovering Early Signs of High Quality Traffic

With revenue, resources and even reputation on the line, digital advertisers need to quickly identify which marketing campaign traffic sources drive quality leads. Being able to identify high quality traffic within three days after receiving orders can dramatically increase return on interest (ROI).

But how can advertisers quickly determine if a traffic source will garner high or low profit margins? It doesn’t have to be guesswork — several critical leading performance indicators can tell you if you’re on the right track. Read on to discover top metrics to track and best practices to earn high quality traffic on your ecommerce website.

Key Metrics for High Quality Traffic

Keep an eye on these ecommerce metrics to ensure your campaigns are working effectively to garner high quality traffic.

Average Fraud Ratio

Merchants gain so many valuable insights when an ecommerce platform includes anti-fraud solutions, such as being able to reject certain orders that appear to be fraudulent based on configurable rules and/or leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). For example, if one out of 100 orders is rejected on average because of suspected fraud, then you see that ratio jumps to 15 out of 100, this change could indicate that something is awry with the new traffic source. Keep an eye on the average fraud ratio to ensure your traffic sources are not driving orders from consumers using stolen credit cards, fake accounts or otherwise engaging in fraudulent activities.

Day-Zero Cancellations 

As it relates to subscription offers, one of the strongest leading identifiers of poor quality is day-zero cancellations. This happens when a customer cancels within 24 hours of signing up for a subscription. It’s clearly not an ideal scenario, but it can quickly alert advertisers to trouble so they can pause or cap the traffic source responsible for these types of customers. In addition to day-zero cancellations, advertisers should also check the cancellation percentage on days one, two and three to ensure new customers are not rampantly cancelling a few days after purchasing. Most egregious fraud situations present themselves within 24 hours of ordering, but it’s good to spot-check days one, two and three to ensure quality doesn’t quickly degrade.

Other Ways To Spot Quality Traffic

While tracking the metrics within your analytics dashboard should be a top priority, there are several other traffic sources to keep an eye on for important insights.

Call Center Conversations

Tune into call center conversations to collect valuable information that can indicate traffic source quality early on. Too many customers calling to say they didn’t order the product could spell trouble. Sometimes this indicates an affiliate advertised some other deal, like “win a free smartphone,” and the customer unknowingly opted in for the trial while trying to get the smartphone.

When a high volume of customers contact a call center claiming they did not know the offer was a trial, this could also indicate affiliates are using alternative copy when advertising your offer. It may be quicker to check average fraud ratio and day-zero cancellations to determine traffic quality early on, but don’t rule out the value of call center findings when reviewing traffic sources.

Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing campaigns can offer valuable insight into web traffic quality through key metrics, such as:

• A high click-through rate (CTR) signals engaged, high quality leads.

• A strong conversion rate indicates effective user actions post-click.

• High bounce rates can mean email list issues and low quality leads.

• Time spent on the site and page views showcase user interest and interaction.

Gathering feedback from users arriving through email campaigns aids in understanding satisfaction and preferences, contributing to continual improvement in the quality of web traffic. Regular assessment of these metrics can help guide your campaign efforts.

More Tips for High Quality Traffic

Here’s what to do once you have determined the caliber of your traffic sources. 

• Hold off on certain traffic sources — Don’t be afraid to cap or pause poor traffic sources until their lead quality improves. 

• Combine metrics for more insights — Get creative with reporting. For example, add chargeback and refund data within a certain time period to take a deeper dive into traffic quality. 

• Know your benchmarks — It’s impossible to see if your average fraud ratio, day-zero cancellations or other important metrics are deviating from the norm without knowing your benchmarks. Understand average traffic performance to quickly identify when there’s an issue. 

• Continuously review metrics — Make it a habit to review a traffic quality dashboard every day and consider switching ecommerce platforms if your current provider does not include early and late traffic quality reporting. 
  

Discover how sticky.io enables digital advertisers and merchants to gauge traffic quality and boost campaign performance. Click here to discover our robust data and analytics capabilities.