If you want to buy web traffic then you have a ton of options. There really is no hard and fast rules for what “the best” traffic is because it all boils down to conversions and ROI. While many advertisers buy traffic for branding purposes, we want to buy traffic to make money. Think of it as a funnel. you throw traffic into the top, it moves through your webpages and money comes out at the end. Its really quite simple. If you make more than you spend, its good traffic.

Testing different traffic sources is really important to continuously expand your reach and to find new markets. Every traffic source can potentially help grow your business. Some will be good, some will be bad while other will blow it up or bomb out completely. Test, test and test some more. That is the key. Lets quickly look some of the main sources where you can buy web traffic.

Search Traffic:
Search traffic is probably the oldest form of traffic you can buy and the big daddy of search traffic is Google Adwords where you can buy sponsored ads based on search terms. Its commonly referred to as PPC (Pay Per Click) and is one of the most expensive traffic source because of how focused and how targeted it is. Search traffic is generally considered high quality because it is so targeted to specific search terms.

Contextual Traffic:
As the name implies, contextual traffic is usually sponsored words or phrases that appear “in context”. The majority of contextual traffic sources offer hover ads that appear when a user moves their cursor over the sponsored phrase. Its generally considered a low quality of traffic because clicks are generally quite low although with the right targeting you can get some decent conversions. Contextual traffic is cheap which makes up with low conversions and you can see great volume with this.

Web/Banner Traffic:
This is probably the most important and most popular way to buy web traffic. You can buy banner positions from virtually any website and with more advanced targeting available, its a great way to reach specific demographic markets. Standard IAB banner sizes are available on most high traffic sites and you can either buy direct or buy through an ad server. Google Adwords serves banner ads and so does thousands of other networks. Its usually priced bet CPM which is a price based on the amounts of views your banner gets.

Pop Traffic/CPV/PPV:
Pop traffic as its commonly known is based on a cost per view (CPV) basis and you can serve your ad as a pop-under or pop-over based on certain targeting criteria. This traffic is also known as Pay Per View (PPV) and the 2 biggest networks are TrafficVance and MediaTraffic that allow you to target website URL’s as well as keywords to trigger your pop. This is “cheap traffic” but the quality is not always up to scratch. It can potentially be a huge source of traffic and will allow you to reach a very specific audience.

Social Traffic:
Social networks are dominating the internet at the moment and if you want to buy website traffic from some of the most high traffic sites on the web, then Social Networks is the way to go. Facebook is now the most popular website on the planet and when you buy traffic through their self-serve network you can get very specific in your targeting – which means that your ads are very focused and the results are often a very good ROI.
.

For the last 5 to 10 years Google Adwords was the number one choice to buy website traffic. It was the number one source for paid traffic and the combination of quality and ease of use made this the “one stop shop” for quality traffic. While it is still a great source of traffic, its become rather expensive and if you are an affiliate then you’ve probably felt the full wrath of Google’s slap. They can be a nightmare to deal with (to say the least).

Marketers seemed to have their eye flaps on and became too complacent with Google traffic. The truth is that Adwords accounted for less than 30% of paid traffic. Those who broadened their horizons really reaped the rewards and today most of us are forced to find new traffic sources. Here are 5 great places to buy website traffic from.

1. Yahoo/Bing
While Google is still “the beast”, the recent partnership between Yahoo and Bing means that they are becoming a real competitor to buy traffic from. Click costs are generally much lower and the conversions are typically much higher. In many cases you can just copy your Adwords campaigns and see a better ROI.

2. Facebook
Facebook is now the most popular website on the planet and even kicks Google’s butt in terms of traffic volume. If you want to buy website traffic from Facebook then you’d be happy to know that their self serve advertising platform is really easy to use. The best part about Facebook advertising is the level of targeting and you can really get your ads to the right audience and the fact that its popular worldwide means an even greater reach.

3. TrafficVance
Commonly known as “pop traffic” or Pay Per View traffic, TrafficVance is the king and has massive user base. Ads get served through their GameVance installs and are usually full screen pop ups. The bidding system is similar to AdWords but much more targeted in many ways. Full screen ads also means much higher response rates and although it can be an unforgiving traffic source, you can see huge returns.

4. MediaBuys
If you are serious and want to buy website traffic in volume then you have to start looking at media buys. Its basically buying banner space direct from website owners and many of the biggest websites in the world have media buys available to marketers. There is potential for huge volume but the costs are usually much higher. The best way to get started is to use self serve networks where you can buy “portions” and networks like Adbrite is a good start.

5. AdMob
AdMob is the biggest mobile advertising network and it has a massive reach worldwide. With mobile phones becoming more and more geared towards internet use, its bound to be a very important traffic source in the future. You can get ridiculous amounts of traffic from AdMob but you need to monitor your campaigns closely as you can burn through your test budget really quickly.
.