Organic vs Direct Traffic: What's the Difference?

Ah, traffic. Here on the internet, everyone talks about it, but not everyone knows what it is or how to get it. Don’t get left out of the conversation! Here’s our guide to distinguishing between organic and direct traffic, and everything in between.

What is “traffic”?

Generally speaking, traffic on the internet is a lot like the traffic on the street: It’s the data that’s sent and received across the internet. When you have a TeePublic shop, “traffic” indicates the number of visitors to your site, and how they find your shop. Simple!

But here’s where things get interesting...

What is “direct traffic”?

“Direct traffic” refers to the traffic that visits your shop by heading to it directly. They can do this in a number of ways: by clicking on your store link on Instagram, searching for your link on Google, or even clicking on an image of your design on the internet which carries them to your shop.

How can I improve direct traffic?

This is an easy one: By sharing your designs on your social networks! As you probably already know, your network wants to support you! So nothing is as powerful as leveraging the power of your own social following.

What is “organic traffic”?

“Organic traffic” refers to the traffic that stumbles across your work, either by visiting TeePublic first or just by stumbling across your work on your preferred search engine.

How can I improve organic traffic?

Organic traffic is huge on our site! With that in mind, we’d love to help you improve your chances of getting your work discovered and purchased by new fans :)

People generally find your designs by searching for words and phrases associated with your designs. With that in mind, optimize your tags and improve your descriptions and titles, especially!

And...of course...create designs people want to buy!

We've found over the years that our audience responds to designs that are high-quality and are true to your particular design niche. So lean into your style and draw away! We welcome all kinds of original art on the marketplace.

(Pssst! Not sure what your style is? Take this quiz!)

How can I track my traffic?

It’s 2019: We track our steps, our sleep, and our plays on Spotify. Curious about how to track your TeePublic store traffic, too?
Here are two blog entries to help you on your way:

• How To Set Up GA4 - A beginner’s guide to linking Google Analytics to your store

Pro-tip: It’s a great idea to set goals for improvement by using your Google Analytics data as a benchmark by which to compare over time!

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Hope these tips help you on your quest to conquer the traffic game! If you have any questions, let us know at [email protected].