The Bus to Nowhere: The Quest for Traffic

Hi reader,

I get asked this question all the time.

"How do I generate more traffic to my website?"

And I always respond with a few questions of my own. Why do you want traffic? What type of traffic are you looking for? Where do you want them to go once they get there? And what do you want them to do when they arrive?

Most of the time, those questions haven't been thought through yet. And that's okay. It's a natural place to start. We all hear "you need more traffic" so often that it starts to feel like traffic is the goal. But traffic is really just the beginning.

Without a destination and an experience waiting on the other end, chasing traffic is like getting on a bus to nowhere. You're moving. You feel like something is happening. But when the ride stops, you're not any closer to where you actually want to be.

Let me break down how I think about this, because I think it might help.

Traffic Without a Plan

Here's what I see a lot. A business owner builds a website, and then the immediate next thought is: I need people to visit it. That's a fair instinct. But the focus tends to land entirely on getting eyeballs, without much thought about what happens next.

You could have thousands of people visit your site this month. But if the experience once they arrive doesn't give them a clear reason to stay, engage, or take the next step, those visits don't really translate into anything meaningful.

I've talked about this before. Traffic doesn't equal sales. The two are related, sure. But one doesn't automatically lead to the other.

What matters is the full picture. How people find you, what they experience when they get there, and whether that experience brings them back.

Building the Roads

So how do you actually drive people to your site? The quick answer is usually social media, and it falls into two categories.

Paid ads are the fastest route. You invest money and you see results quickly. Facebook, Google, Instagram, wherever your audience is. The challenge is that the moment you stop spending, the traffic stops too. It's like renting space on someone else's highway.

Organic content is the other path. It takes more time and consistency, but if you don't have a big ad budget, it's a great way to start building an audience. You're creating content that speaks to the people you want to reach, and over time, that builds momentum.

Both approaches work. But here's something I want you to keep in mind, and I think it's really important.

That audience you're building on social media? You're renting it. You don't own those followers. You don't own the platform. And you don't control the algorithm that decides who sees your content.

We've seen this play out over and over. Facebook slashed organic reach for business pages years ago. Instagram changes its algorithm regularly. TikTok's future in some markets is uncertain. Vine was massive, and then it was gone.

Any audience you build on someone else's platform can disappear. Not because you did anything wrong, but because the rules changed or the platform itself did.

That's why the conversation has to go deeper than just traffic.

Own the Road. Own the Bus. Own the Destination.

This is the shift I really want to talk about.

Instead of just driving traffic, think about what you actually own and control. Your website. Your email list. Your newsletter. Your customer database. These are yours. No algorithm decides whether your email gets delivered. No platform change can wipe out your subscriber list overnight.

But owning the destination is only part of it. Once people arrive, you need to give them an experience worth having.

Think about what that looks like for your business. Maybe it's content that helps them solve a problem. Maybe it's a clear path to understanding your services. Maybe it's a way to get a quick win, like a free resource or a helpful guide. Whatever it is, the experience is what turns a visitor into someone who sticks around.

And the best part? When you control that experience, you can keep improving it. You can bring people back. You can build something that compounds over time, rather than constantly chasing the next wave of visitors.

Here's how I think about the full picture: own the road, own the bus, own the destination, control the event, control the experience, and bring them back for more.

A Note on Platforms Like GoHighLevel

I want to touch on something here because I think it's relevant to this conversation.

A lot of people are hearing about platforms like GoHighLevel right now. It's positioned as a white-label, all-in-one marketing solution, and on the surface, it sounds great.

But here's something worth knowing. If you're a small business owner, you're actually not the ideal customer for GoHighLevel. The ideal customer is the small business advisor or consultant, the person who white-labels the platform and then sells it to businesses like yours as part of a consultancy package.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that model. But I think it's worth understanding what's happening. The consultant's goal is typically to sell you a short to medium-term engagement, and the lock-in is the platform. Your data, your workflows, your customer relationships, they all live inside a system you don't fully own.

I've always believed that you need to own your own data, your own audience, your own customer relationships. That includes the tools you use to manage them. When your business depends on a platform someone else controls, you're back to renting again. Different context, same problem.

Think About the Customer, Not the Tool

This is the part I keep coming back to. And I think it's where a lot of us can make a real shift.

Instead of asking "what tool should I use?" try asking "what does my customer's journey look like from start to finish?"

Where do they first hear about you? What makes them want to learn more? What do they experience when they visit your site? Is it easy for them to understand what you offer and why it matters? What's the next step you want them to take? How do you follow up? How do you deliver your service? How do you support them after the sale? And how do you bring them back?

When you map that out, the right tools become obvious. They serve the journey. They don't define it.

I know this can feel like a lot to think about. But you don't have to figure it all out at once. Start with the questions. Get clear on what the journey looks like right now, and where the gaps are. That alone puts you ahead of most.

The World Has Changed

One more thing. We're in a different place now than we were even a couple of years ago. The way people search, the way platforms work, the way AI is reshaping how businesses reach their audience, it's all shifting. What worked in 2023 isn't necessarily going to position you well heading into 2027.

And on the topic of tools and platforms, that industry is going through some big changes. The services and platform I now provide through Vervology look totally different from where things were a year ago. But that's a conversation for another day.

For now, here's what I'd leave you with.

Stop thinking about traffic as the answer. It's part of the equation, but it's not the whole thing. Focus on building something you own, creating an experience worth having, and giving people a reason to come back.

Own the road. Own the bus. Own the destination.

And whatever you do, don't get on the bus to nowhere.

Best

Jono