Analyzing and Understanding Web Traffic Sources in Analytics Reports
Understand where your website traffic comes from and which channels drive the most value through traffic source analysis.
Traffic sources show how visitors find your site, whether through search engines, social media, email, or direct visits. This information helps optimize your marketing efforts and improve ROI.
Available Traffic Data by Plan:
- Personal & Basic Plans: Visit data only
- Business, Commerce, Core, Plus & Advanced Plans: Revenue, orders, conversion rates, and campaign tracking
Main Traffic Channels:
- Direct: Visitors typing your URL directly
- Email: Traffic from email marketing campaigns
- Search: Organic search engine traffic
- Social: Visits from social media platforms
- Referral: Links from other websites and blogs
- Paid channels (varies by plan):
- Display Advertising
- Paid Search
- Paid Social
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):
- Visits
- Revenue
- Orders
- Conversion rate
- Revenue per order (RPO)
- Revenue per visit (RPV)
Traffic Source Attribution:
- Based on "last click" before purchase
- Subscription renewals excluded
- Historical data available from January 2014
Analyzing Traffic Data:
- Access Analytics dashboard > Traffic > Traffic Sources
- Select date range
- Filter by desired KPI
- View breakdown by channel
- Expand channels for detailed source information
Important Considerations:
- SSL settings affect referral tracking
- Campaign traffic attribution varies by platform
- KPI discrepancies may occur between Traffic Sources and Sales reports due to timing differences
- Direct traffic may include your own non-logged-in visits
Use this data to:
- Identify most valuable traffic sources
- Optimize marketing spend
- Improve conversion rates
- Track campaign performance
- Make informed marketing decisions
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