THE BOARD

How to get traffic to your website, and know that it came

Getting people to a website, and knowing they came. Every post here ends in something you can open today: a tracking tag, a referral report, a fifty-dollar test with a pass mark. Bought traffic gets the same treatment as earned, because a click that never converts costs the same whichever network sold it.

What is a good bounce rate: a weathered pier at first light, footprints leading halfway down the boards before turning back toward shore.
Traffic10 min

What Is a Good Bounce Rate?

A good bounce rate depends on the page, the source, and which GA4 metric you're actually reading. Benchmarks, the ten-second rule, and when to ignore it.

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14 posts
Paper lanterns drift down a dark river at night, released upstream by unseen hands, one catching briefly on a wooden mooring post.
Traffic10 min

What Is Social Media Traffic?

What social media traffic actually counts, why GA4 buries half of it in Direct, and how to pull your real number this week.

A wooden footbridge crossing a misty river at dawn: the plainest answer to what is referral traffic is a route built from one site to another.
Traffic12 min

What Is Referral Traffic?

Referral traffic is any visit that arrives through a link on someone else's site, and knowing what breaks the number is worth a Tuesday afternoon.

A brass surveyor's transit and a folded map rest on a dock rail at dawn, aimed at a harbor full of scattered, uncountable small boats.
Traffic9 min

How to Estimate a Website's Traffic

Third-party tools that estimate website traffic disagree by design. Here's how each one works, how far off it runs, and what to do with the number.

A worn dirt path cut through golden grass leads to a distant signpost at dawn, a quiet picture for what is organic traffic: a route nobody paid to build.
Traffic11 min

What Is Organic Traffic?

Organic traffic is unpaid search traffic, but three habits quietly inflate or hide your real number. Here's how to find it and grow it this week.

A single turnstile gate lit by stadium floodlights at dusk, standing for the gap between impressions vs clicks: everyone who saw it, and the one gate that actually opens.
Traffic10 min

Impressions vs Clicks, and What to Do With Both

Impressions and clicks measure different things. Here's the formula that connects them, and what to check first when one number looks wrong.

A highway interchange at dusk where several ramps merge into one road, standing for how a UTM code marks which route a visitor actually took.
Traffic9 min

What Is a UTM Code, and How to Build One

A UTM code tags a link so your analytics tool knows exactly where a click came from. Here's how to build, track, and audit one correctly.

A wooden footbridge crossing a foggy ravine at dawn, its far end disappearing into the mist, with a small trail marker fixed to the near post.
Traffic10 min

Link Building for Startups That Works

Link building for startups doesn't need an agency retainer. What actually counts as a link, what wastes money, and a 90 day plan with real numbers.

An open ledger book beside a lit desk lamp in a dark study at night.
Traffic9 min

The ROAS Formula, Explained With Real Numbers

The ROAS formula, a break-even calculation, and the industry benchmarks that actually apply once your margin is in the math.

A small wooden fishing boat moored by several ropes to different piers across a calm harbor at dawn.
Traffic13 min

How to Check Backlinks (and What to Do Next)

Check your backlinks for free in Google Search Console, then compare Ahrefs and Moz to see referring domains, anchor text, and what to fix first.

A leather ledger open under a desk lamp, one line of numbers circled in orange ink.
Traffic11 min

What Is CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC is what you actually spend to win one customer, and most founders calculate it wrong. Here's the real formula, with the numbers attached.

A brass turnstile mid click at dawn, standing in for CTR meaning: the share of viewers who actually click through.
Traffic10 min

CTR Meaning and What Counts as Good

CTR means clicks divided by impressions. What counts as good depends entirely on whether you're looking at search ads, organic results, or email.

A single toll gate blocking an empty coastal highway at dawn, with a small hand painted price sign beside it standing in for what a website visitor costs.
Traffic10 min

How Much Does a Website Visitor Cost?

Google, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok and SEO priced per website visitor for 2026, with a dated source behind every number and the math to run on your own budget.

A lighthouse beam sweeps low over dark water at dawn, reaching one small boat far out.
Traffic10 min

How to Promote a New Website in the First 90 Days

Nine ways to promote a new website, priced and dated, sequenced by how fast each one actually pays off.