How Do I Drive More Traffic To My Website On A Small Budget?

Traffic acquisition is expensive in 2025, there's no getting around it. UK ad costs have gone up significantly, and it's not getting cheaper. But there are smart ways to approach this. If I was looking to drive more traffic to my website, this is what I would be actioning right now:

Paid Search (Google Ads) - The Essentials:

Google Shopping is non-negotiable if you're selling physical products. Make sure your product feed is pristine - accurate titles, complete descriptions, good photos, correct pricing. Google rewards well-maintained feeds with better placement and lower costs.

Don't ignore branded search campaigns. Yes, you probably rank organically for your brand name, but if you don't bid on it, your competitors might show up above you. Protect your brand traffic - it converts brilliantly and costs very little.

Meta Advertising Reality Check:

Facebook and Instagram ads work, but you need patience and decent creative. The days of spinning up an ad with a product photo and watching sales roll in are over.

What actually works now:

1. User-generated content style videos (not polished ads)

2. Regular creative refreshes (every 4-6 weeks minimum)

3. Proper full-funnel strategy (awareness → consideration → conversion)

4. Realistic ROAS expectations for cold traffic (2-3x is fine if those customers come back through your retargeting efforts).
   

The Organic Channels Everyone Neglects:

SEO takes time (think 12-18 months), but it's the most valuable channel long-term (coupled with your GEO strategy). Start with your product pages and category pages - get them ranking for "product category + UK" searches.

Write blog content that actually helps your customers (hopefully this is helping you!). Not "10 reasons our products are great" but "How to choose the right X for Y" or "Complete guide to X for beginners". People searching these terms are perfect potential customers.

Email list building is criminally underused and something I am passionate about working on with our clients. Offer something genuinely valuable in exchange for emails - a proper discount (not 5%, make it worthwhile), early access to new products, or exclusive content. Then actually send helpful emails, not just "BUY NOW" every other day.

The Channel Mix That Works For Our Clients (UK e-commerce fashion/interiors/lifestyle):

For most UK businesses I work with, the sweet spot is:

30-40% Google Ads (Shopping + branded search)

30-40% Meta (Facebook + Instagram)

20-30% Email marketing and retention

10-20% Everything else (SEO, partnerships, etc.)

But this varies wildly based on your industry and audience. Want to work with us on your marketing channel mix for 2026? - get in touch here.