Why paid traffic matters
It’s immediate and adjustable: turn it up for a launch, down when margins tighten, and target it at exactly the shopper you want.
The catch is the meter. The moment spending stops, so does the traffic, which is why paid works best funding channels that compound.
Main paid channels for stores
- Search and shopping ads on buying keywords
- Social ads for discovery and retargeting
- Display and video for awareness
- Affiliate and influencer placements
Questions
How do you judge paid traffic quality?
By what it does after the click: conversion, order value, and repeat behavior by source. Cheap clicks that never buy are expensive.
Paid or organic first?
Paid buys learning and volume now; organic compounds later. Most stores run paid while building organic, then rebalance as rankings arrive.