👀 Why traffic doesn't matter (and what to do instead)
- John J D Munn
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Almost 50% of all internet traffic now comes from bots, and that share is growing. It used to be that traffic meant customer interest. Not anymore. Bots don’t buy.
At the same time, AI is changing how search engines work. Even if you rank #1, expect traffic to drop. SEO isn’t what it used to be.
But here’s the real issue: traffic was never the point.
When I started my first business I made a common mistake - I obsessed over numbers that looked good but didn’t actually help my business grow. I now call these vanity stats.
🪞 Some examples of vanity stats:
Revenue. Who cares if you made $900k if you only took home $20k in profit? You don’t pay your bills with revenue.
High hours worked. There is no prize for burnout. No trophy for exhaustion. Working long hours is not the same as being productive.
Traffic/impressions. I don’t care if I got 500k impressions if I got no leads. Every influencer I have ever met is broke and clueless as to why.
I know from painful experience that these metrics might boost your ego, but they won’t build your business.
Instead, you need something I like to call sanity stats - the numbers that actually move the needle.
🧠 Here are some examples of sanity stats:
Profit Margin. An entrepreneur with a 60% profit margin on $100k makes a lot more than someone with a 2% margin on $1M.
CLV (customer lifetime value). How much do people pay you throughout the entire time they work with you? Do customers stick around?
CAC (customer acquisition cost). How much does it cost you in time, energy, software, and marketing spend to land a client?
Lead-to-customer conversion rate. I’d rather have 10 qualified leads that turn into clients than 100 tyre-kickers who ghost.
When you run a business you’re bombarded with data, advice, things you think you should do. Most are distractions. Very little of it matters.
It is easy to drown in metrics that don’t matter. The most successful entrepreneurs aren’t the ones doing the most, they’re the ones focused on what actually drives growth. They know how to filter signal from noise and they’ve often got someone in their corner helping them do it.
We all have the same number of hours in the day. The winners do less, but better. More focused.
Track the right numbers. Ignore the noise. Build your business with intention.
That’s what keeps you sane - and successful.
Real LinkedIn post likes vs leads data from Dina Town. Likes and impressions do not mean customers.
Optimise for customers, stay sane.
This point came from my newsletter Work Smart Wednesday, if you would like to read the other related points I made in that email you can find it here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-june-4-2025
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