Web Traffic Sources Explained

When looking over your Google Analytics or Squarespace dashboard reports, have you ever wondered what it all means? For instance, what's the difference between organic and referral?

Many business owners understand that web traffic is good for business, but they don't fully understand the various web traffic sources. It's important to understand, however, as this information helps you analyze your marketing efforts.

Use this guide to learn more about the different types of web traffic for businesses.

The Different Web Traffic Sources

Google Analytics will separate the web traffic you get from referring channels and the traffic you get from search engines.

Visitors that reach your website from the default search engines are part of your organic traffic. Organic traffic is when someone searches for something such as a service or product. Around 51% of all web traffic comes from organic searches.

So how do you land your business website on the front page of the Google search results? In order to land in the top results, you'll need to focus on your SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)

Traffic from search engines not on the default list falls into the referral category.

Referral traffic is visitors you get from other websites or through paid advertisements. For example, this could be when another website links to your business site.

Breaking Down the Data: Google Analytics

You can discover important data when you look over your report, as long as you understand what it all means. Here's how Google Analytics breaks it down.

Traffic source refers to the origin. This might be a referring search engine like Google, or it might be "direct," which is when users type the URL into their browser. Bookmarks also count as a direct source.

Medium includes organic searches (unpaid), referrals, emails, cpc (cost-per-click), and none (direct).

Campaign refers to either your custom campaign or a Google Ads campaign.

Keyword refers to when you use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) search. You'll see the keyword value.

Content helps you understand which link or content item provides better results. Content values can help you determine which CTAs (call-to-action) links work better.

Squarespace Analytics

Compared to Google, Squarespace Analytics is a little easier to use but may not provide as much information. However, here's what you can find on a Squarespace Business plan.

Visits refer to how many browsing sessions occurred during the specified time.

Unique visitors are the number of people that landed on your website within the time described in the report.

Pageviews is the report of how many pages on your website were viewed.

You can change the timeframe to get a better idea of when you had the most traffic.

Squarespace also breaks down traffic by source. These include organic search, referral, email, direct, and social (social media networks).

Display ads refer to traffic from ads, and paid search comes from advertisements.

Understanding where the traffic comes from helps you pinpoint where your target audience spends time and where you can focus your marketing efforts. You can also view visits by device type, such as mobile or desktop.

For example, did you know 56.75% of all web traffic comes from mobile phones? You'll likely see this reflected in your reports.

Use Web Traffic to Grow Your Business

Now you know what each part of your report means in relation to the different web traffic sources. Use this information to better understand where your traffic comes from, and focus your efforts on what works.

That's where COASTR Marketing comes in. We can help your business thrive using online advertising, SEO, and website conversion optimization.

Book a consultation today to discuss your business's marketing needs.