Should cheap traffic be trusted?

[Jason76]

Often, such traffic comes as pop-unders and its price is incredibly affordable. Nonetheless, though, many would call it garbage and a waste of precious time. Well, one reason it appears bad to people is because it's cold and cold traffic doesn't convert very well. However, this type of traffic might do well for other uses which could lead to a buy later.

Of course, when I mean cold, I am speaking of traffic that doesn't want to buy cause they're not actively seeking a buy at the moment.

 

[Kaitlin]

I think it's alright to use whatever means you can to at least get them to your site. Once they are there, as long as there is even a remote possibility that one day in the future they might (maybe, probably...) be interested in what you're selling - then it's not wasted traffic as long as your site is well set up and you are providing value.

 

[Mallard]

I'm always slightly suspicious that cheap traffic will be bot traffic or otherwise discounted by search engines as low quality (coming from known bad IPs), which means you won't get any sales as the traffic is just clicking through to get the agreed number of hits. If you can guarantee it is real visitors though, it might be worth it.

 

[Britney]

Cheap doesn't always mean bad. Especially when it comes to online traffic. Sometimes it makes it cost effective when you're able to get the visitors for that little rather than paying more for leads.

 

[Jason76]

This sort of traffic is possibly better for adult advertising. For lack of a better comment, I have to say that excited guys would respond better to really low-quality ads. On the other hand, though, if your trying to sell something outside of adult material, then it would be tougher. Does anyone agree with this statement? The whole cheap atmosphere of certain ads could drive away people who might sign up for your list - which is a primary goal for many marketers.

 

[marsh]

I like that comment about adult content and traffic; there might be some truth to it. Personally, I think that cheap traffic isn't really beneficial, at the end of the day. There's nothing as bad as having bot traffic. I think affordability isn't necessarily equivalent to being cheap.

 

[Jason76]

I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather not go with the cheap traffic. Instead, I'd rather go with banners because at least I know where the source is. Note, though, banners, like the cheap stuff I had been describing, is also a form of cold traffic. Nonetheless, as I mentioned, at least it's real and it's less annoying to visitors than popunders. It also can be fairly inexpensive and the cold traffic isn't totally useless.