# Organic traffic

Organic traffic is visitors who come from the ordinary search results in Google or Bing, not from ads you pay for.

Source: https://ibenta.no/en/glossary/organic-traffic
Publisher: Ibenta (https://ibenta.no)
Updated: 2026-09-27

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When someone searches and clicks an ordinary result, that is an organic visit. If they click an ad, it is paid traffic. Both can come from the same search on the same results page, but they are measured separately.

## Why it matters to you

Organic traffic costs nothing per click. It shows that your content answers something people are actually looking for. If it falls over time, that is a warning worth taking seriously. Perhaps a competitor has taken your spot, or an important page has dropped out of Google.

Paid clicks stop the day you stop paying. Organic traffic is built up over time with [SEO](/en/glossary/seo), and it does not disappear as abruptly.

## How to see your own

In Google Search Console, the Performance report for search results shows clicks from Google for the last three months, and you can choose a longer period. Compare with the same period last year, so seasonal swings do not fool you. In [Google Analytics](/en/glossary/google-analytics) or Matomo you can also see what organic visitors do next. Look especially at which pages they land on. Those are the pages doing the work for you today.