Revenue by Referral Traffic is a metric calculating the total revenue coming from your referral channels. This metric highlights the most valuable referral sources that are directing purchasing customers to your eCommerce site.
It is important to note we are withdrawing social media traffic (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) in this metric, meaning a referral must consist of visitors who visit websites through external links placed on other domains.
The metric was popularized by Google Analytics, but can be found in other tracking tools.
How to calculate Cost of Revenue by Referral Traffic:
As long as you are tracking revenue on your store, you will be able to view eCommerce transactions in your analytics tool. So to collect eCommerce data from your website, you need to add custom code to your site that sends your analytics tool the transaction and product data.
Once this technical step is complete you can simply filter all revenue by your referral sources.
- In Yaguara Revenue by Referral Traffic can be tracked when creating a Key Result:
Why Revenue by Referral Traffic is important:
Revenue by Referral Traffic is a bit different than the other traffic channels in that it is extremely black and white on what is driving sales. Source display the most revenue, making it an easy decision on where to invest more resources. Learning which referrals drive sales can help in future outreach campaigns.
In addition referral traffic improves your search engine rankings. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) puts heavy weight on linking, so the more verified places that your website is linked to, the better your chances are at securing higher positions in search results.
Overall, this metric reveals where your customers found intrigue and their buying intent when they arrive on your site.
How to improve Revenue by Referral Traffic:
Guest appearances
Easiest one to get your website referrals is to write guest posts. Find the top blogs and publications for your niche, then ask to write a guest blog for them. But be prepared for them to not let you add a link to your site within the post. However, you’ll more often than not get a link to your site in the author bio. That link counts the same no matter where it is on the page.
Direct Directories
Directories sole purpose is to highlight a series of people, places, or things. Almost all of them are designed to link out to the individual selections. Some directories are endless, and some have a hard cap such as a “Top 10” which will mean you will need to prove your submission over time.
Comments and communication
This tactic is tricky and must be done right otherwise bridges could be burned. Most blogs and publications offer some type of forum for readers to comment and ask questions. It takes time to build a reputation on the blog, but with enough thoughtful, genuine engagement you can earn a mutual partnership. When the topic is relevant enough you can submit a response to content on your site that contributes to the conversation. Remember to always ask for the permission of the author before you present a link taking readers off their site. Avoid being bucketed with SPAM.
Target acquired
Rather than just asking publications to link to your homepage, present a targeted landing page that is more relevant to all parties involved. This could be done before you approach the publication, but often presenting the idea before building the page is a better option in case your offer is neglected.
