What Are the Best Strategies to Increase Traffic Through Advertising?

The best strategies to increase traffic through advertising start with a clear goal: turn paid clicks into email subscribers you own. Send every ad to a one field squeeze page, pick channels whose audience matches your offer, buy enough clicks to get real data, track every visitor, and follow up fast so the traffic keeps paying you.

I have been selling solo ads for 12 years to about 4,000 buyers. Solo ads are my business, so I am biased, and I will say so up front. But I also watch buyers use other paid channels alongside mine, and the strategy that works is the same no matter where the clicks come from. This article lays it out for people building an email list.

What is ad traffic?

Ad traffic is any visitor who reaches your page because you paid for an ad. You pay a channel to put your message in front of people, and the ones who click become your ad traffic.

That covers a lot of ground: search ads, social media ads, display banners, video ads, sponsored newsletter placements, and solo ads. The common thread is that you are paying to borrow someone else's audience.

Ad traffic is different from organic traffic, which arrives on its own from search results or shared posts, and from owned traffic, which comes from your own email list or followers. Ad traffic is the fastest of the three, because you can switch it on today. It is also the one that stops the moment you stop paying, which is why the smartest use of it is turning visitors into subscribers you can reach for free later.

Why should ads send people to a squeeze page?

Because a squeeze page turns a paid visitor into a subscriber you own. Without it, every ad dollar buys one visit and nothing more.

This is the most important strategy in this whole article, and it applies to every channel. If you send paid clicks straight to a sales page, the people who do not buy today are gone for good. If you send them to a page that trades something useful for an email address, you get to follow up for months.

Keep the page simple: one promise, one email field, one button. No menu, no social links, no long story. Visitors from ads are often on a phone and in a hurry.

Ideas for what to give away are in Best Lead Magnets for Solo Ad Traffic. The same ideas work for any paid channel.

Which paid channels work best for list builders?

The best channel is the one whose audience already behaves like the subscribers you want. For list builders, that usually means channels where people are used to reading emails and opting in.

Here is how the main paid channels compare:

Channel	How you pay	Speed	What you need to manage
Search ads	Per click	Fast once approved	Keywords, bids, ad approval
Social media ads	Per impression or click	Depends on testing	Targeting, creative, learning phase
Display and video ads	Per impression or view	Varies	Creative, placement, budget control
Sponsored newsletter placements	Flat fee per send	One send	Finding a matching newsletter
Solo ads	Per click	Clicks within 24 hours on my orders	Your page and follow up

Each one has a place. Search ads catch people actively looking. Social media ads can reach very specific groups if you have time to test. Solo ads put your offer in front of people who already read marketing emails, and you pay per click instead of per impression.

I compare email traffic with the others in Solo Ads vs Other Paid Traffic.

How much should I spend to test an advertising channel?

Spend enough to get viable data, not just a feel. A test that is too small gives you numbers you cannot act on, so you pay twice.

For solo ads, that means 500 clicks. It is the minimum that gives you viable data on both your opt in rate and your sales. I do not recommend 100 click tests. On my order page, 500 clicks of Mixed Tier traffic is $225.

For any channel, decide in advance what you are measuring: cost per click, opt in rate, cost per lead, and sales from those leads. Then set a budget that gets you enough visitors to see those numbers clearly. The math is in Solo Ads ROI, and it works for any traffic source.

How do I track whether my ads are working?

Track every click and every opt in, by source. If you cannot see where each subscriber came from, you cannot tell which ads to keep.

Use tracking links for each channel and each campaign. Watch unique clicks, not just total clicks. Compare opt in rates between sources. Then follow each group of leads through your emails to see which ones buy.

On my orders you get a live stats page showing delivered clicks, unique clicks, and geography while it happens. That is the baseline I think you should expect from any paid source. More on what to watch for is in How to Track Solo Ad Clicks and Catch Bot Traffic.

What happens after the click matters more than the ad?

Yes. Your follow up decides whether ad traffic pays for itself. Mail new leads twice a day for the first 30 days, then keep mailing.

Fresh subscribers are warmest right after they opt in, and they cool fast. A list you mail once a week turns into a list of strangers. Mix stories, useful tips, and offers. Let the people who were never going to buy unsubscribe early.

This is the part that makes ad traffic compound. Every subscriber you keep can see your next email for free. My template is in The Solo Ad Follow Up Sequence.

Where do solo ads fit in an advertising strategy?

Solo ads fit as the fastest way to put an offer in front of email readers, priced per click. They work well alongside slower channels while those ramp up.

I write the email for every order myself, clicks start within 24 hours, and you watch them land on a live stats page. Product creators Frank Calabro Jr and Neil Guess have endorsed my traffic, and 85% of my buyers reorder.

New to them? Start with What Are Solo Ads?. Then read How Effective Are Solo Ads for Building an Email List?, What Should I Look For in a Reliable Solo Ads Provider?, and, if you promote other people's products, How Do I Start With Solo Ads for Affiliate Marketing?. For the bigger picture of paid, owned, and organic channels, see What Strategies Do Traffic Builders Use to Increase Website Visitors?.

When you are ready, here is how to buy solo ads, or go straight to the order page and pick 500 clicks.