Based on 7 Ways to Get Website Traffic, Explained in 10 Minutes by Ahrefs. Published November 10, 2026.
Treat organic search as the foundation
The video presents search as the biggest and best traffic source, since people searching already want something and a page that ranks can keep sending visitors without ongoing ad costs. It says publishing alone isn't enough, because it cites about 96% of pages studied as getting zero traffic from the biggest search engine. These are the video's claims. A small merchant could start by picking topics customers actually search for and that a small site could realistically rank for.
Aim to be cited and named in AI answers
The video claims AI tools and AI overviews increasingly sit between a page and the click, and says the number one result loses 58% of clicks when an AI overview appears. Its advice is to be the page an AI overview quotes and to get your brand named when AI recommends products. It is worth checking how your key pages and brand show up when you ask AI tools questions your customers might ask.
Use video that answers questions well
The video claims a video that answers a question well works like a ranking page and can send traffic for years. It also says video results appear in AI answers and in traditional search. A merchant might start with one or two videos answering common customer questions.
Use short-form video for discovery only
The video's opinion is that short-form video reaches people who aren't searching yet, but that reach depends on an unpredictable algorithm and attention is brief. It warns that one algorithm change can cut reach in half overnight, so it suggests not building the whole business on it. Treat it as an extra, not a base.
Start an email list early, and use paid ads to test
In the video's opinion, email is a channel you own that converts and retains visitors won through other channels, so it suggests starting a list from day one. It also says paid ads bring targeted traffic quickly but stop the moment you stop paying, so they suit testing an offer or boosting a page that already works. Both points are the video's opinion.
Layer channels in a deliberate order
The video recommends building search, AI search and video first as the lasting base, running email from the start, then adding short-form video and paid ads as accelerators. It also suggests building referrals through PR, partnerships and forums, slowly, and reading direct traffic as a result of those other channels rather than a channel of its own. This ordering is the video's opinion.
A checklist for this week
- List five questions customers ask you that people might also type into a search engine.
- Check whether you have a page that answers each question, and note the gaps.
- Ask a few AI tools those questions and note whether your brand or pages are mentioned.
- Add an email signup to your site if you don't have one, and decide what you'll send.
- Pick one question and plan a short video that answers it.
- Set a small, fixed budget if you want to test paid ads, and treat it as a test.
What the video doesn't cover
The video gives no step-by-step method for keyword research, ranking or getting cited by AI tools. Its main example is a very large publisher, not a small store, and its data comes from a maker of an SEO tool. It says email needs a big subscriber base without saying what size a small merchant should aim for, and it offers no ad budgets or tactics, nothing on local search, and nothing on ecommerce platforms specifically. Video production also takes time and resources a small merchant may not have.
When to get help
If you want a hand checking whether your store's pages are set up to be found in search, or sorting out where to start, that is a reasonable thing to pass to a developer or agency.
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About this article
This summary was drafted with AI from the video above, checked by an automated reviewer against our notes on the video, and published by Parkdale Digital. It describes what the video recommends; it isn't affiliated with or endorsed by the video's creator. More articles.