Definition

Paid traffic is website visits generated through paid advertising — you pay the platform (Google, Meta, LinkedIn) when users click or view your ads.

Detailed Explanation

Channels: Google Search/Display/YouTube, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, TikTok, programmatic display.

GA4 medium values: cpc, paid_social, display. Measure efficiency with CPC, CPA, ROAS — not just volume.

Nepal Context

Dollar-card billing and minimum budgets shape channel choice. Google Search for high intent; Meta for awareness; test ROAS before scaling spend during festival seasons.

Key Takeaways

  • Pay-per-click or pay-per-impression — stops when budget stops
  • Faster than SEO but requires ongoing spend
  • Track with UTMs + platform pixels for full attribution

Common Mistakes

  1. No conversion tracking — optimizing for clicks not revenue
  2. Scaling spend before proving unit economics
  3. Ignoring organic/paid overlap on branded terms