Why Your Website Goals Are All Wrong

Most business owners believe their website’s primary goal should be conversions and growing sales. And hey, that totally makes sense! After all, sales keep the business running, right? But here’s the thing: if you’re only focusing on conversions, you’re not going to actually hit those sales goals.

The truth is, your website’s number one priority should be getting as much traffic as possible. Let me explain why this small goal shift can make a huge difference for your business.

And before I even go into the details, I need to hold your hand and gently tell you that not everyone who comes to your website is going to buy from you. You are not for everyone, and that is OK.

fractional-marketing-director-web-design

The Reality of Website Conversions for Your Goals

Let’s break down a real-world example. One of my clients, in January of 2025, had approximately 1,000 people visit her website (she is a service-based business).

Here’s how those numbers shook out (approximate numbers rounded up):

1,000 website visitors
75 people clicked through to her booking page
20 people booked a consultation
10 people showed up for their calls
5 people signed up for her services

That means for every 5 sales she made, she needs 1,000 visitors to her website. That’s a conversion rate of just 0.5%—which, honestly, is pretty standard across most industries.

Now, if she was only focused on conversions, she might have stressed over small tweaks to her website or rewording her call-to-action over and over again. But the reality? She didn’t need a better sales funnel, she needed more people in the funnel to begin with!

Why Traffic is the Ultimate Goal for Your Website

Conversion Rates Are Predictable – No matter how great your website is, only a small percentage of visitors will actually convert. Instead of stressing over squeezing out an extra 0.1%, the best way to increase sales is to simply get more eyes on your website.
More Traffic = More Opportunities – If my client had doubled her traffic to 2,000 visitors, she could expect 10 sales instead of 5, without changing anything else.
Organic Growth Over Time – Focusing on foundational and organic marketing strategies means long-term, sustainable growth without having to throw more money at ads every month (although ads can be a great traffic source for the right strategies).

Ok I Get It, Now How Do I Get More Traffic to My Website?

If you want to increase your sales, your website strategy needs to shift towards increasing visibility. Here’s how:

Content Marketing: Create blog posts, guides, and resources, and free lead magnets that your audience actually finds useful.
SEO Optimization: Make sure your website ranks for the keywords your ideal customers are searching for that also generate a good amount of traffic.
Social Media: Show up consistently and engage with your audience on more than one platform - have you ever considered Pinterest and LinkedIn(instead of just posting and hoping for the best)?
Backlinks & Partnerships: Get featured on other websites, blogs, and media sources to increase your reach, this is where networking, guest blogging, and doing some freebie work for other brands comes in really handy.
Email Marketing: Encourage past website visitors to give you their email (a free lead magnet is a great way!) and then keep engaging past visitors via emai marketing so they return again and again and then eventually take action.

Stop Chasing Conversions, Start Chasing Traffic

At the end of the day, I get it, sales matter. But stressing over conversions before you have the traffic to support them is like trying to squeeze juice from an empty orange.

Instead of fixating on tiny percentage changes, focus on getting more of the right people to your site in the first place through investing in strong organic marketing strategies.

The businesses that win online aren’t just the ones with the best sales funnel, they’re the ones that get the most people into the funnel. When you shift your focus to driving more traffic, the conversions will naturally follow.

Keep growing -