How to Drive Organic Traffic (And Sales) To Your Ecommerce Site in 2025

In 2024, CAC for ecommerce brands increased by 30%. 

If your brand relies on paid traffic, this is a problem.

The solution? 

Organic traffic that compounds over time, bringing you customers without burning through ad spend.

Paid ads are, and always will be, table stakes. Even Coca Cola runs ads. You’ll never get to the point where you stop running ads altogether.

But organic traffic (and sales) are the ideal hedge, keeping you afloat when your ads’ performance dips, or the cost spikes.

Organic traffic is one of the most important diversification plays for ecommerce brands in 2025. Keep reading and we’ll explain why, as well as everything else you need to know to start driving valuable and scalable traffic to your store.

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Why Organic Traffic Matters (More Than Ever) in 2025

Organic traffic is the lifeblood of sustainable ecommerce growth.

It’s how you reduce reliance on paid ads, build long-term brand equity, and acquire customers at a lower overall cost. 

Unlike paid acquisition (which stops the moment you turn off spend), organic traffic compounds over time, creating a flywheel of recurring visitors, brand trust, and higher LTV.

Here are four points that illustrate why organic traffic is a worthwhile play in 2025:

Paid ads are more expensive & less reliable than ever

Everyone in DTC knows that CAC is higher than it's ever been.

With platform saturation, higher competition, plus privacy changes (iOS 17+, Google’s cookie deprecation), profitable push-button traffic from Meta/Google is becoming harder to rely on.

The potential is still there – and paid ads are still the backbone of any multi-million dollar brand – but keeping all your eggs in this basket is a risky move.

Margins are getting tighter

It’s not just paid ads that are putting the squeeze on. There’s also increased shipping costs, tariffs, and more economic conditions that are leading to tighter profit margins.

Brands need a cheaper source of sales to provide some breathing room.

Organic traffic converts better, with higher retention

Though not all organic channels are exactly alike, most organic customers are valuable, high-intent shoppers.

Someone scrolling through social media is not necessarily in “buy mode” right then. Your brilliant copy and creative may have stoked their interest, but they didn’t set out to spend money.

Organic visitors are usually those who are actively searching for a solution, or actively engaging with your brand.

That leads to higher conversion rates, and higher buy-in from the customer, which makes them more likely to come back and shop again.

Long-term ROI of organic is unmatched

Your competitors are thinking short-term.

It’s not their fault. It’s human nature to put more value into what’s right in front of you. And short-term success is necessary if you want to stay in business.

But businesses built for long-term success think long-term. And investing in organic traffic is just that – an investment, that pays off down the road.

What is Organic Traffic, Anyway?

There’s no universal definition of “organic” traffic.

Some would say that organic is just a synonym for SEO. Other would say that organic means passive traffic – customers who come to your store without any kind of direct communication or marketing.

The simplest way to define organic traffic (in our opinion) – If you stop spending money on it today, will the traffic still come in?

This excludes channels like paid ads and influencer marketing, while including channels like:

• Search traffic
• Product listings
• Owned platforms

We could sit here for hours discussing what is and isn't organic traffic. But we won't.

Read on below and we'll get right into how to leverage organic channels to grow your sales.

Best Organic Traffic Channels (and How to Use Them)

SEO

The first thing that comes to mind when we talk about organic traffic is SEO (more accurately, Google SEO).

It can be a goldmine for ecommerce.

“But isn’t SEO dead?”

Not at all.

There are still more than 8 billion searches on Google each day.

Some traffic is being eaten up by AI overviews and AI search engines. And there’s certainly more volatility on Google these days.

But it will be a long time before it’s no longer a viable acquisition channel.

People still Google things, and you want your brand to be there when they do.

And the playbook for showing up in ChatGPT searches (and other AI tools) is very similar to ranking on Google.

SEO is becoming more effective for ecommerce

It may be easier for ecommerce brands to get visibility in Google search now.

Part of Google’s algorithm changes in recent years has been prioritizing real businesses, and reducing the visibility of affiliate websites and product review sites.

That means, if someone searches for “running shoes”, Google will show more product or category pages from brands’ websites than roundup articles on affiliate sites.

Fantastic news for DTC brands with a strong focus on SEO.

There could even be more opportunity for brands to generate top of funnel SEO traffic, too.

The higher volatility and stricter ranking criteria is making many affiliate sites (or those monetized by display ads) no longer viable.

That means lower competition for mid/top of funnel terms… which you could swoop in on to build brand authority in your niche and generate leads that can ultimately turn into engaged buyers.

Playbook:

• Ensure your product and category pages are optimized for SEO
• Build links to your site, and put investment/effort into growing your website’s authority
• Create content for informational queries your customers are searching for in Google
• Optimize your funnel to turn top of funnel search traffic into email opt-ins, and bottom/mid of funnel traffic into clicks to your product pages

See how 21 Seeds creates recipe pages for tequila-based cocktails to generate search traffic that serves search intent while also promoting their product:

Or how Naked Nutrition creates informational fitness & nutrition content to draw ICP search traffic to their website:

Social Media (Instagram/TikTok)

Organic reach on social media is not what it used to be.

But that doesn’t mean organic Instagram, Facebook, TikTok etc is not a viable channel for your brand.

It just requires a less direct, long-term approach, and focusing on creation rather than marketing.

You can’t just post your ads as organic posts and expect them to drive free sales.

This kind of content gets no visibility, and doesn’t attract followers.

At the same time, you can’t just post random content and expect to build an audience of potential buyers.

Post the kind of content that people actually want to see in their feeds.

A few types of content that work:

• “Try-On” & “POV” Content – Show products in real-life scenarios (not just polished studio shots).
• Founder/Team Videos – If your founder is charismatic and wants to get in front of the camera, leverage their face and voice.
• UGC Loops – Repost customer videos with compelling captions to reinforce social proof.

Bugaboo’s Instagram is a great example of using organic social effectively, and putting real faces at the front of your content.

Additionally, build content that generates engagement.

Social platforms reward posts that get a lot of likes, comments and shares. So if you want to grow your reach, create the type of content that attracts user engagement.

See how Glossier does this – inviting comments on that post that build a sense of community, as well as growing their organic reach.

Ultimately organic social is more difficult, but the rewards are still there for brands willing to put in the work.

Playbook:

• Create useful content (not just content blatantly promoting your brand)
• Tailor content to the platform (don’t post the exact same content on Insta/TikTok/Pinterest)
• Leverage UGC – put real people in your content
• Stimulate engagement as much as possible
• Make your followers feel part of a community

YouTube

YouTube is an underutilized channel for brands.

It’s part SEO, part social media.

YouTube isn’t just a video platform. It’s the second-largest search engine in the world. 

And with Google integrating video results into search more than ever, brands that invest in YouTube build an evergreen traffic machine.

It’s like Google, in that you can generate passive traffic once your content begins to rank.

But the advantage is that YouTube content is much more engaging. It’s typically easier to get someone excited about your product with a video than a written blog post.

Another benefit is that you can easily repurpose videos into content for other channels.

Create the full video for YouTube, then cut down and post on YouTube shorts, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.

The biggest reason more brands don’t make a killing with YouTube is generally one of the following:

• They don’t have the resources to (or don’t want to) create good quality video content
• They don’t create the right kind of content (boring, ad-style content that gets zero engagement)

It’s true there’s a higher barrier of entry for YouTube. But that just means more opportunity for those who do the work.

See how Ridge Wallet creates educational videos showing off their product while also generating engagement.

YouTube is also the backbone of Luxy Hair’s marketing strategy, with a channel boasting over three million subscribers, and videos generating hundreds of thousands of views.

Is it easy to create engaging content for YouTube, and grow a channel like this? No.

But that's why it's such a big competitive advantage for those who do.

Playbook:

• Play the YouTube SEO game (long-tail keywords = free traffic)
• Make product-focused content (without feeling like an ad)
• Leverage YouTube shorts for discovery and organic reach
• Drive traffic to your site with strategic links & CTAs

Retail Marketplaces

If we’re talking about search traffic, Google is not even the #1 player when it comes to ecommerce.

Only 21% of product searches start on Google. The majority – 56% – come on Amazon.

Amazon (along with other online marketplaces, like Walmart), can be a goldmine for organic sales.

You’re putting your brand in front of buy-ready shoppers, and piggybacking off their brand name, social proof and CRO, leading to higher conversion rates than DTC websites.

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows.

• There are lower margins, as the marketplace takes a cut
• You don’t own your traffic; it’s difficult to follow up with customers and drive LTV
• The marketplaces can boot you off at any time
• There’s a lot of competition – many marketplaces are hard to get traction without spending on ads

Yet as long as Amazon is as big a name as it is now, the benefits of being on Amazon outweigh the downsides for most brands.

And, with some effort to build your SEO specifically for the platform, they can be powerful sources of organic traffic.

Just don’t make marketplaces your only business.

Playbook:

• Expand to marketplaces like Amazon after growing your DTC business (or, if you start on Amazon, expand to DTC as soon as you can to negate the platform risks)
• Invest in SEO for the platform to grow your organic reach and sales

See how Boka leverages both Amazon and their DTC site; getting Amazon’s Best Seller badge (and selling over 300,000 units) for their fluoride-free toothpaste product.

Mobile Apps

Every brand has a website – but not many have a mobile app.

With mobile shopping becoming more and more popular, mobile apps are becoming a powerful traffic channel.

App sales are organic sales. Every time someone pulls out their phone, opens your app, and makes a purchase, that’s an organic sale.

It’s a powerful retention tool. There’s a reason some brands generate as much as 700% LTV from their app users.

You won’t get as many visits to your store as you do on your website, because of the extra friction required to download it.

But those who do shop in your app will convert at a higher rate, spend more, and spend more often, all in a channel that you have 100% control over.

See BoozeBud, a liquor retailer who drives 10% of their total revenue through their app, with 4x higher ARPU and 5x higher LTV from app users.

$90 million brand Obvi is another great example – 21.8% of their total revenue comes through their app, with 2x the conversion rate in the app and 15.2% higher AOV than their website.

Having an app also opens up push notifications as a low-cost traffic channel.

You’ll be able to benefit from the high open rates and engagement rates of push, to drive traffic to your site quickly and easily, and offset the rising cost of paid acquisition.

Playbook:

• If you don’t have an app already, convert your website into a mobile app to launch in less than a month, without hiring developers
• Promote your mobile app on your website, to your email list, and on social media
• Use creative strategies such as app-only discounts and exclusive product launches to encourage people to download your app
• Once you have people in your app, use push notifications to build a habit of regular engagement

If you want to launch your own mobile app, without spending 6 figures+ on developers, check out MobiLoud. As long as you have a mobile-friendly website, we'll help you to live in less than 30 days, with a high-converting, overhead-free mobile app.

Keen to learn more? Book a free consultation now!

Email/Push

Some would argue that email (and other direct marketing channels, like push notifications) don’t count as “organic”.

But these channels have much of the same benefits as truly organic channels.

You can use these channels to get traffic to your site for basically no cost. Emails cost virtually nothing to send, and clicks from automated email campaigns fit the definition of passive traffic.

These passive email campaigns are even shown to perform better.

According to Omnisend, automated emails (such as abandoned cart emails, welcome messages, and browse abandonment emails) have:

• 52% better open rates
• 332% higher click rates
• 2361% better conversion rates

than manual email campaigns.

And while the overall reach of email is declining, Omnisend reports that click-to-conversion rates grew by 27.6% in 2024 (so those who engage with your emails are more likely to lead to a sale).

Email is still a high-ROI play, and requires little investment to get results.

The bigger your list, the more you can profit.

Push notifications fall in this category as well.

Though it's harder to get subscribers (an app download is a lot more friction than an email signup), push notifications are much more effective on a user by user basis, thanks to higher visibility).

Like email, automated push notification campaigns are particularly powerful - such as abandoned cart notifications, which passively recover sales that would have been otherwise lost.

Top brands make owned channels like these a key part of their marketing strategy, in order to take more control over their audience and offset rising acquisition costs.

Playbook:

• Focus on building your email list and push subscribers
• Set up automated sequences that drive traffic on autopilot
• Regularly message your list
• Constantly test and optimize your campaigns to increase engagement

Learn more about the best ways to use push notifications for ecommerce, including real examples from real brands making a killing with push.

Converting Organic Traffic Into Sales

Traffic, of course, is just the first part.

If you choose to make organic traffic a key part of your marketing strategy in 2025, it’s important to spend the time to plug up any leaks in your conversion funnel.

Key website optimizations to turn organic traffic into sales:

• Fast, mobile-first pages (soon, if not already, the majority of your traffic will be mobile)
• Product detail pages that follow CRO best practices
• Intuitive navigation, making it easy for customers to get to your money pages
• On-site search optimization (so customers find what they want)
• Consistent branding and voice on your website as whichever channel the customer arrived from
• Trust signals (getting a click to your site is easy; to give someone the confidence they need to buy is another story)

Why It’s Not Buy or Bust (Or, Nurturing Low-Intent Organic Traffic)

CRO should be nothing new. If you’re running paid ads, you’re aware of the impact a strong conversion funnel can have.

But the difference between organic and paid traffic is that organic traffic can have varying levels of intent.

Some – like someone who searches for “guatemala coffee beans” and lands on your product page – are high-intent.

But those who come from top of funnel keywords, or who find you from a viral Instagram post or a YouTube video, may not have the same buying intent.

The biggest difference you need to make with organic traffic is to cater to customers at different awareness stages, and nurture those who are not yet holding their credit card in front of them.

• High-intent traffic: send to PDPs, show product recommendations
• Medium-intent traffic: offer discount codes in exchange for email signup or app download
• Low-intent traffic: offer free content – ebooks, tutorials, video courses, etc – in exchange for email signup

Just getting someone on your email list from an organic Google/social click is a big win. That’s now a customer you can contact directly, and potentially sell to, basically for free.

With low-cost traffic, you can afford to play the long game, unlike paid traffic where you need to convert in order to make your money back.

Don’t make the mistake of going all out for the immediate sale and ignoring everything else.

Final Takeaways: The New Organic Growth Formula for Ecommerce

The days of easy, profitable paid acquisition are over. With rising CAC, tighter margins, and the ongoing unpredictability of ad platforms, organic traffic is no longer optional… it’s a necessity.

DTC brands that win in 2025 will prioritize a multi-channel organic growth strategy that compounds over time, reducing reliance on paid while increasing long-term profitability.

Focus on:

• SEO – taking advantage of the fact that Google has made the affiliate site model more or less unfeasible in 2025.
• A content-first social media strategy, building community with human content on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
• Leverage marketplaces to drive buy-ready organic traffic (while maintaining DTC as your primary channel).
• Owned channels like email and push (automated campaigns are, functionally speaking, another form of organic traffic).
• Mobile apps – your secret weapon to drive more engagement from your best customers and increase LTV.

Understand that organic growth is an investment, not a quick win. 

Organic doesn’t necessarily mean free. It costs money, time and effort to grow these channels; whether it’s creating Instagram content, building links to your website, or promoting your mobile app.

But like any good investment, organic pays off over time.

Brands that commit to it will build sustainable acquisition channels, lower their CAC, and outlast competitors who are still addicted to expensive, unpredictable paid media.