Think Big Blog

Back in the day, when many towns and communities around the country centered around a Main Street – the quintessential small town hub where mom and pop shops catered to the retail needs of their neighbors – foot traffic was an important commodity. It meant that those who were passing by on the street – and were perhaps attracted by something they saw in the window – took the time to stop into the store. And, in most cases, such a decision to stop led to the purchase or goods or services. Foot traffic once accounted for much of a store’s business.

Today, of course, things are a bit different – as communities have experienced significant urban sprawl. Now, in order to find something that we need we more often than not need to take a drive. And if we’re going to take a drive, we want to know where we are going. This has significantly cut down on foot traffic, as it far less often that we will simply wander into a store because we happen to be in the neighborhood. Indoor malls and outdoor shopping outlets still offer that opportunity but with so many people shopping online, the Internet has adopted the need for foot traffic that small town business once relied so heavily upon.

The Internet is in fact a place where people wander and where they may “happen” by a website that they didn’t know existed. Foot traffic online refers to the web site traffic that is led to a website through a series of steps – most often instigated by the search engines. By engaging in comprehensive search engine optimization techniques websites are in a better position to attract the attention of “passerby” online and increase web traffic exponentially. And just like businesses once changed their window displays to attract attention and keep things fresh, so must websites stay committed to changing things up to keep things fresh for visitors.