Search engine traffic is the term used for traffic that is directed to your site via the results of a search performed through Google, Yahoo, MSN or any other of the myriad search engines out there. These days, the vast majority of internet users navigate the internet and find the information they want through performing searches, so most of the traffic coming to many websites is search engine traffic. Therefore, if you can tap this market, you'll have access to that vast majority of users. Search engine traffic is much easier to cash in on then hoping someone stumbles across your web site randomly.
Many studies have been performed on search engine traffic, and all of them point to the fact that most search engine traffic is directed through links found on the first page of results. This is to say that predominantly, search engine traffic is directed through the top ten ranking sites among the vast numbers turned up by an internet search. What's more, small differences in ranking can make huge differences in search engine traffic. The fifth ranked site will garner a much greater amount than the sixth. Perhaps most staggering difference in search engine traffic is between the top ranked site and the second ranked site.
Taking advantage of search engine traffic is the entire crux of search engine optimization, and it is why search engine marketing is now such a huge industry. SEO allows you to make changes to your site that are proven to vault you up the rankings. By manipulating the keywords that search for or expanding on your links, you can garner a significantly higher amount of search engine traffic.
The reason SEO marketing is so effective is because of the popularity of search engines, and in particularly, Google. Web optimizers are constantly looking for new SEO tools and new ways to draw the attention of the search engines, because if you can draw search engine traffic, you're marketing to most of the people who use the internet. Search engine traffic draws far more potential buyers and visitors to your site than any form of advertising could. This is why search engine traffic is considered the most important market base on the internet.