Traffic & conversion assessment

This is where we shift from story to signals. If the first chapter was about narrative context, this one is about the numbers that feed your funnel—volume, structure, and intent.

When I run growth for B2B companies, this is the first place I look to validate whether the inputs are strong enough to justify any kind of scaling effort. If you’re only getting a trickle of the right traffic—or worse, a flood of the wrong kind—no downstream funnel optimisation will save you. Equally, if you are getting traffic but nothing’s converting, then the problem isn’t input—it’s capture.

This is a surface-level pass over what I call the demand capture system: traffic in, leads out. We’re not diagnosing channels or rewriting copy yet. We’re just mapping what exists.

‍

What are the top traffic sources?

Start here: what channels are actually delivering traffic?

Break it into categories—paid, organic, outbound, referrals, partnerships, direct. The goal isn’t just to log visits but to understand how these users arrive. Are paid campaigns doing the heavy lifting? Is organic search working? Is outbound driving any return?

In one audit, I found 80% of a B2B company’s traffic came from a single branded search. That’s not a growth engine—it’s a brand lookup. Without diversification, growth stays fragile.

Are any channels overperforming or underperforming?

Once you’ve mapped the traffic sources, look for outliers. What’s working surprisingly well? What’s a money pit?

A common one: paid traffic performs well in Google Ads but not in Meta. Or LinkedIn gets clicks but no conversions. Or SEO pages drive traffic but not the right intent. Don’t get too deep yet—just flag the outliers.

Are there neglected channels that have potential?

Sometimes what’s not in the mix is more interesting than what is. No outbound motion? No partner traffic? No retargeting? These are flags.

One company I worked with had decent SEO and okay paid search, but no mid-funnel nurture. Adding one simple lead magnet and email flow changed their conversion profile in weeks.

What is the volume of weekly/monthly traffic?

Here we look at raw inputs. Are you driving 1,000 visitors a month? 10,000? More?

You need a baseline to assess whether it’s even possible to hit your lead targets. A great conversion rate on low traffic still results in flat pipeline. Use this step to get a sense of your input ceiling.

‍

Where is traffic landing? Is it structured around intent?

This is one of the most common weak spots.

Traffic that lands on a generic homepage or blog index is usually wasted. What you want is traffic routing to pages that match their intent—solution pages, product overviews, use-case LPs.

Check your top landing pages in GA4. What do they tell you about user flow? Is your content aligned to buyer intent?

Are there clear, consistent CTAs across key pages?

Now we shift from where traffic lands to what it sees.

Are there strong calls to action on every high-traffic page? Are they above the fold? Are they relevant to the content? Or are users left with nothing but a "Contact us" link buried in the footer?

Consistency matters. If every CTA leads to a different form, or if your CTAs disappear on mobile, you’re bleeding conversions.

What is the site-to-lead conversion rate? How does it benchmark?

This is where you bring it together: how many visitors turn into leads?

For B2B service sites, 1–2% is average. If you're under that, you likely have messaging or UX issues. If you're above 5%, that’s great—look at traffic quality.

Track both macro conversions (contact form, demo request) and micro conversions (newsletter sign-up, resource download). Together, they give you a full picture of capture health.

Are there any obvious quick wins?

This is where you list the low-hanging fruit. Things like:

• Broken forms
• Duplicate or missing CTAs
• Slow load times on mobile
• Unoptimised landing pages

You don’t need a CRO project yet. But if someone could double conversion with an hour of work, note it here.

This chapter helps you assess whether your lead generation system has legs. You’re not deciding what to scale yet—you’re deciding if it can scale.

You’re looking for two things:

1. Do we have enough of the right kind of traffic?
2. Are we converting that traffic into leads effectively?

If either one is broken, your funnel is leaking. And no matter how good your sales team is, you won’t grow sustainably.

Later, you’ll dig deep into individual channels and conversion strategies. But here, you’re building a clear view of the system as it stands. Keep it simple, stay high level, and look for leverage.