If you’ve ever looked at your website analytics and thought, “Is that… good?” – you’re not alone.
You’ve got numbers flying at you – users, sessions, bounce rates, click-throughs – but what does any of it mean?
More importantly, how do you know if your website is working for your business?
Let’s look at what “good” website traffic looks like for a small business.
Jonny's advice
Google Analytics 4, Aka GA4 (the tool you use to track data about a website) is not very user-friendly and full of issues. As well as that, changes to privacy laws, cookieless tracking and consent mode mean that getting completely accurate traffic numbers is now a thing of the past. This is a bit of a blow for small businesses, as you have less access to the data you collect.
The emphasis in 2025 and beyond has to be more than just how much traffic your site gets. That metric alone tells you very little; it is what’s known as a vanity metric. Traffic may look great, but it does very little good if it doesn't lead to anything.
Engaged traffic, now that's a different story. Engaged traffic tells you that you're reaching the right people and your site is meeting their expectations. These are users who will sign up, get in touch, and become customers.
Need more expert advice?
What Is Website Traffic?
Website traffic simply means the number of people visiting your site. But not all traffic is created equal. You could have thousands of visitors a month, but if none of them are booking, buying or enquiring, that traffic isn’t doing much for you.
So when we say “good” website traffic, we don’t just mean lots of it. We mean the right kind.
Quality Over Quantity (Always)
Let’s say you’re a heat pump installer in Brighton. Would you rather have:
2,000 visitors from all over the UK with no real intent of getting a heat pump installed by you because you are too far away.
Or 50 local homeowners who are actively looking for a heat pump installer near them?
We’d take the second option every time.
Good traffic is made up of people who:
Are in your service area
Are genuinely interested in what you offer
Are likely to take action (get in touch, buy, book, or share)
It’s not about big numbers. It’s about the right people landing on your site at the right time.
What Numbers Should You Be Looking At?
Let’s talk about some realistic, useful metrics for small businesses:
Users (aka how many people are visiting)
There’s no magic number, but for most small businesses, even just a few hundred users per month is a solid start – especially if your traffic is local and relevant.
Returning users vs new users
New users is a useful metric to look at to understand the power of your awareness campaigns, things like social media campaigns or your advertising efforts for example. Or, if you have posted a blog, you can see how many new users are discovering you for the first time through that article by checking the number of new users landing on it.
Returning users will tell you how many people are familiar with your brand and who keeps coming back. These are often your best customers or brand advocates. Understanding where returning users are arriving on your site should help you tailor content to either convert them (if they haven’t already) or upsell them.
Traffic Sources
Where are people coming from?
Google (organic search)
Social media
Referrals (from other websites)
Direct (typing in your URL or business name)
A healthy mix is great, but ideally, a good chunk should be coming from search engines – that means people are actively looking for what you do.
Bounce Rate
This shows how many people land on your site and leave straight away without clicking anything else.
A high bounce rate might mean:
The content isn’t relevant
Your call-to-action isn’t clear
Your site is loading slowly
Aim for a bounce rate of under 50%, but this can vary depending on your industry and what your site is for. If you need users to take on a lot of information, for example, you would want a lower bounce rate and a higher engagement rate.
A word on bounce rate
Bounce rate is a bit of a "funny" metric. Some pages may not need to be “sticky” and require the user to click through to another page. Maybe the user found what they were looking for and left. Does that mean the page is a failure? Maybe not.
In GA4, Google introduced engagement rate, which factors in events and time on page. This makes it a more useful metric to monitor when checking actual page performance. We still like to keep an eye on the bounce rate, however, particularly on pages that act as navigational “hubs” or category pages.
Time on Site
This shows how long people stick around. If they’re spending over a minute or two, they’re probably reading, browsing, or considering taking action. That’s a great sign.
Conversions
This is the big one: how many people are doing what you want them to do?
Booking a call
Making an enquiry
Making a purchase
Signing up to your mailing list
Even a small conversion rate (2–5%) can make a big difference, especially if the leads are good quality. To understand more about engagement, check out our blog about understanding how users engage with your site.
What If Your Website Isn’t Getting Much Traffic?
Don’t panic. Most small businesses start small. If your numbers are low, it just means there’s plenty of room to grow. Success doesn't happen over night, and we all have to start somewhere!
Here are a few simple things that can help:
Blogging about topics your audience is searching for.
Improving your local SEO (adding your town/city to page titles, content and meta descriptions, doing local PR etc)
Sharing your website on social media and email
Getting listed on relevant directories and local websites
Creating useful landing pages that answer specific questions
It doesn’t need to be fancy – just helpful, consistent and focused on your ideal customer.
Final thoughts
“Good” traffic is about quality over quantity. And remember, a holistic digital marketing plan for your small business can tie all these efforts together to drive even better results.
If you’re getting steady, relevant visitors who convert into enquiries, sales, or bookings, you’re doing just fine. And if not? There are plenty of simple, affordable ways to improve things.
Do you want help attracting the right traffic?
We help small businesses figure out exactly what their customers are searching for and how to get their website in front of them.
Whether you need help with keyword research, blog planning, or improving your visibility on Google, we’ve got your back.
Fill out the form below and let’s turn your website traffic into real results.
