Website traffic refers to the number of users who visit a website over a specified period. It is measured in visits, sometimes called "sessions". Traffic is a fundamental metric for determining a website’s popularity and effectiveness in attracting an audience. Analyzing website traffic involves tracking various metrics, such as the number of visitors, page views, and where these visitors originate from.
Tracking website traffic is essential for evaluating a website’s growth and identifying areas for improvement.
Website traffic is measured by adding up all the visits to a site. Metrics include users, the number of unique visitors, new users, people visiting for the first time, returning users, people who have visited before, views (or pageviews), the number of times a page is viewed, and sessions, the number of browsing periods on a site.
The three main traffic sources are direct, referral, and search. Direct traffic can also come from users who directly type the URL, referral traffic comes from users who click a link on another website, and search traffic comes from users who find the website through a search engine. Of cource there are other traffic sources, like campaigns, banner ads or paid search.
Tracking website traffic metrics helps determine the website’s direction, establish a focal point, make decisions, drive performance, and provide real-time data. Metrics also help in understanding user behavior, content performance, and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Website owners can assess user engagement and conversion potential by tracking metrics like pageviews, bounce rate, and conversion rate.
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