Website Traffic Sources

A company website can be accessed in a variety of ways. Your website visitors will have come across your brand in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Let’s look at how people reach your website by looking at traffic sources.

What is direct traffic?

This is traffic that hasn’t been routed through any other channels and hasn’t had the referrer info taken from the browser. A webpage URL that is immediately put into the browser or stored and used as a bookmark or favorite page is an example. Almost all site analytic tools track and analyze these visits, and if you notice an increase in direct visitors, that’s a positive sign! It implies that more people will recognize you by name and will not have to use a search engine to reach your website.

What is organic traffic?

This is where all of your SEO efforts will pay off! Organic traffic has arrived at your site after looking for one (or more) of your keywords, finding your naturally ranked website, and clicking on it. This source does not apply to any visitors that arrived via PPC or any paid method to boost your website’s ranking — thus the term “organic.”

Many programs can display organic traffic to your site, but only a few can provide detailed information on the precise keywords used to boost your organic position. This isn’t as straightforward as it previously was due to Google encryptions, but applications like Lead Forensics can still provide this information.

What is paid traffic?

This refers to traffic that comes to your website as a result of pay-per-click advertising, which is utilized to get your website to the top of search engine results. Many programs can measure this source, just like organic traffic, but only a handful can provide the actual term used in the initial search. Monitoring this traffic is crucial since PPC campaigns may be costly, and you want to be sure that the clicks you pay for coming from companies that meet your sales criteria, giving you the best opportunity of turning them into customers.

What is referral traffic?

This source name encompasses a variety of traffic drivers that several technologies can distinguish. In general, it refers to all traffic directed to your website via an inbound link. Some of these involve social media, while others do not. Some refer to subdomains and landing pages hosted by other companies (such as Unbounce) — in many respects, defining what “referral” means is very dependent on your company goals and the service you utilize. Others simply have a large referral pot, making it more difficult to decipher specific channel success. Some tools have an array of sourcing “pots,” showing you exactly which ones come from social media, for example, while others simply have a large referral pot, making it more difficult to decipher specific channel success.

What is email traffic?

Most email campaigns sent out by your marketing teams will include at least one link back to your website, allowing you to analyze your email marketing success using data from your web analytics platform. Many online analytics solutions can track this source (even some email services can track clicks on links to your site), but others go one step further and supply PURLs to their users (personalized URLs). This means that each email sent contains a URL that is personalized for each recipient, so that when they visit your website, the web analytics tool can recognize the PURL and cross-reference it with the email send list, allowing you to identify the exact person who visited your site – very exciting!

What is social traffic?

Your social media networks have brought in social traffic, as predicted. Whether it’s from Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, all social media traffic counts toward this traffic source. Not all web analytics tools can measure social media-driven visits and categorize them as “referrals,” but those that can provide firms a better understanding of their social media success. It’s thrilling to observe the influence a positive social media presence can have on your website traffic because social media attracts such a large audience.

What is display traffic?

Display traffic is a more advanced traffic source that has arrived at your website via a display (picture) based advertisement, such as a banner, button, or similar. Fewer web analytics systems can track this traffic, which is commonly categorized as “referrals,” but those that can get significant insight into the traction obtained by sponsored display ads and better comprehend the total return on investment.

Other campaigns

This source includes visits from any other marketing efforts in which you’ve included a URL. Understanding the traffic generated by other marketing activities, despite its hazy definition, may provide you with valuable insight into how your marketing efforts generate product interest.