Assuming that you're doing a good job with your SEO, you should see a pattern like the one above: some dips and peaks, but overall a steady upward climb. What do the dips and peaks mean?
The example above is a site directed toward teachers, and it shows a slump at the end of school and the Memorial Day weekend. Following that spell when teachers don't want to think about school, it gets back onto its upward path.
This example, a recent redesign, has a much spikier pattern, both because the total number of visits is smaller, and because there's more variation in the number of visits each day. But we do see a gradual upward trend. As time passes and the traffic continues to increase, we'll see a clearer pattern.
What if you're not seeing that pattern?
This example shows a site that recently launched a redesign. We see on the left the typical few visits a day the site has had for years. After the launch, we see some peaks -- and valleys. The average number of visits per day has more than doubled since the launch, but it's not yet showing the consistent upward trend we want. In this case, too, there are real-world factors: this is a business affected by weather, and the troughs coincide with rain.
We'll keep an eye on this. If, at the end of the month, we don't see an upward trend, we'll know that we need to give this some more juice to keep the improvement in traffic coming.
The thing to look for is that upward trend. You may want it to speed up, and you may want to fine-tune the type of traffic you're getting, but the rising line is the sign that all is well with your site.
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