Website traffic is often a bullsh*t metric

I consider most TOFU metrics that are flex’d in digital marketing as just vanity metrics - bounce rate, open rates, and CRO conversion rates for example - but website traffic is by far the one I take the least seriously. Sure, it may mean a lot for brand marketing (insert WOM buzzwords), and especially be worth something to dissect further in B2C or eCommerce, but for most B2B SaaS, there’s no business for that metric being a key KPI to be optimized.

Traffic is no indication of any other metric. I’ve seen 1M+ Monthly Session affiliate websites resulting in 100s of clicks on a CPC model, and I’ve seen 10K monthly session websites for a productivity software generate a 10+% conversion rate from signup to purchase. Traffic stats have no indication on their quality, and its’ one of the easiest metrics to inflate by throwing money at with sub-standard ads to draw in clicks and shitty traffic.

Sure, trickling down traffic to derive CVRs of real metrics with business-value are the “natural” expectation, but I’ve seen too many marketers report it as a core KPI and track MoM % growth on just traffic, which in many cases, means nothing.