Since the introduction of Google’s controversial image search engine, which effectively lists masses of individual images, there have been a number of differing opinions as to whether traffic from this image search engine should actually count towards the traffic to your overall site. Is it valid, or just passing by?

While there are many people who are deeply entrenched in their views on this one, the fact remains that a visit to your site gives you the potential to retain one more customer for the future, the chance to sell your wears. Regardless of how the visitor found your site, even if they are just there to copy one of your images they may well take a fancy to other areas of your site.

There are many who believe that these image surfers are just looking for pictures for their sites, and will not so much as take a second glance at your site, just the image they are after. While this may be true in some situations, there will also be occasions when someone likes you site and decides to stay around. So should you include image traffic when selling your site?

It would be a little unfair to claim that all of the image related traffic was going to visit you again, and were potential customers, therefore it would be sensible to give any potential buyer of your site a breakdown of the traffic. Once everything is out in the open then it is up to the potential buyer to make their own mind up, rather than receive a shock when they buy the site and see how much image traffic there is.

In the end, how a visitor found your site is irrelevant, getting them to stay and then come back is the main task ahead – and not an easy one!