*I’d be remiss to not mention that depending on your business model (primarily ad-based or selling display ads), you could theoretically benefit from this traffic. Clicking on your PPC ads, causing you to directly lose money.Slowing down your website for actual users.Eating up your hosting plan bandwidth for no legitimate reason.The margins your agency or SEO freelancers would be operating at if they were buying traffic are much higher than you should be comfortable with.įinally, it can potentially be dangerous or harmful by: It is extremely cheap to buy this traffic. This kind of traffic is not valuable traffic and will not create any additional revenue for your business* (as I mentioned before, bots won’t buy your product or start using your software - until they become sentient, which at that point, you will obviously need to disregard everything I have said here).Įven if you believe that user signals like time on page could be boosted by these bots and as a byproduct, improve your overall rankings - is it worth what you are paying? There is also no direct evidence to indicate this is the case there have been industry studies showing correlations but no proof that should motivate a decision to continue buying bot traffic.Of course, if you are unknowingly buying this traffic through an agency, it is likely that just a small fraction of your monthly spend is even going to this, while most is being pocketed or used in other potentially unscrupulous ways. Typically less than one cent for the person or company buying directly from the bot owner this is somewhat variable, but it appears that this is a reasonable cost to expect if you are the direct buyer. I am sure there are plenty of others unbeknownst to me, or so rare that I wouldn’t be able to guess them, but the above three are certainly more common than you might think. Site owners that monetize through ads, so impressions will increase dramatically while their costs of buying the traffic are comparatively very low. Supposed white-hat SEO agencies that are desperate to claim increased traffic or results without putting the real work in to generate them.Īgencies wanting to demonstrate increased CTRs but have to resort to doing it in this manipulative fashion. I can, however, explain who tends to use it and how dirt cheap it tends to be. I haven’t yet infiltrated the underground network of traffic bot buyers and owners, so I can’t outline exactly where this traffic tends to originate or who the ultimate sources are. This traffic bot isn’t illegal unless obtained through illegal means (this is rare), but I am going to cover why and how you should look out for it - especially if you are paying a marketing agency expecting real, genuine traffic. After all, bots won’t convert on your site or buy your products. The risks aren’t particularly high, but they are there nonetheless, and in most cases, you won’t see any benefits. Paid bots and traffic tend to lie somewhere in between the above. Then, of course, we have directly malicious bots (scrapers, spambots, DDoS bots, and more) that won’t be the focus of this article today, but you should always keep in mind the potential of being targeted by these, even though the likelihood is low. This “regular” traffic falls under a few main categories: search engine crawlers, other crawlers from SEO tools, copyright bots, and more.Īn example of Googlebot crawl stats for one site. What is Bot Traffic?įirstly, it is essential to establish that not all bot traffic is the same. You should be able to feel confident when engaging with an agency, but if you suspect foul play, keep reading, and see if this may be happening to you. From PBNs and outdated paid link networks to bot traffic and other illusory tactics, it is better to be safe than sorry when dealing with an SEO agency.īelow is just one example of a shady, albeit rare, SEO agency tactic. You have just been contacted by what appears to be a great up-and-coming SEO agency, promising guaranteed traffic and results, and the price is finally within budget.Īlas, things are rarely guaranteed in the marketing world - especially in search marketing. Imagine this: Your company needs help securing higher organic search rankings, and it is perfect timing.
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