website traffic essay

6 Types of Website Traffic and its impact on Conversions

Traffic is traffic, right?

Technically, yes. However, not all traffic is the same.

If you want to optimize conversions, you need to pay attention to where your site visitors are coming from. Once you know where the traffic came from, you can take steps to boost your conversions.

Understanding & Analyzing Traffic – Why Is It Important?

By analyzing different types of traffic, you can understand:

All these pieces of information help you develop a functional digital marketing campaign that attracts the right kind of traffic. You'll be able to see important trends like where your traffic comes from, who your visitors are, what people do on your website, and how often traffic converts.

In order to understand the results of your analytics, you need to have some background information about where traffic comes from and what it means for your business.

The basic types of traffic are:

Here's a bit more detail about each one of these types of traffic and how they play a part in creating conversions, plus tips on boosting conversions from each traffic source.

Organic Traffic

What is organic traffic.

Organic traffic is a kind of traffic that comes from search engine results pages (SERPs). This means that someone typed a keyword/phrase into a search engine and clicked on one of the results shown.

Ad clicks from results pages are not included, only visits to search result links themselves.

Organic Traffic Sources

Most organic traffic comes from Google. There are other search engines, but it's hardly a competitive market.

As of March 2021, Google had over 92% of the global market share for search engines.

Because of this huge gap between platforms, we're just going to talk about Google search traffic.

Organic Traffic Offers high ROI

There are a few distinct benefits of organic traffic when compared to other sources of traffic.

1. High ROI

Because of how different companies measure ROI from organic search, there's no industry average. It can be helpful to compare organic to paid traffic.

By looking at the traffic from top keywords that companies rank for versus the cost per click (CPC) they would pay for similar traffic numbers, you can see the value of organic traffic pretty plainly.

Organic traffic often requires a one-time upfront cost to develop content on a page, then a small recurring fee if you hire an SEO team to keep your content front and center. With around 28% of people clicking on the first result, 15% on the second, and 11% on the third, it pays to rank well.

If you rank well, you're likely to get consistent traffic every month.

One case study from the  Search Engine Journal  showed that the website Bankrate would have to pay around $35 million in CPC ads to attract the same amount of traffic their organic results provide.

Although organic traffic isn't always free, it usually costs far less than other traffic sources and provides higher returns for longer than any other type of traffic.

2. Scalable

You can start attracting organic traffic no matter how large or small your website or budget is. A new business with a freshly built website can start  simple SEO  for little to no cost, with room to grow as they do.

You can start SEO at any point. It's never too early or late. There is always something that you can do to work on your rankings and try to pull in more traffic.

3. Many Market Positions

There are endless ways to approach SEO. While it may not be cost-effective to target highly competitive keywords, you can pivot to focus on less competitive keywords that are still directly relevant to your business.

These aren't the only benefits you get from organic traffic, but their primary uses are availed when you compare organic and other traffic.

Boosting Conversions from Organic Traffic

Traffic ≠ Conversions

So, you're getting some organic traffic. How do you turn that into conversions?

Here are a few ideas:

1. Focus on Relevance

Just because you're getting traffic doesn't mean you're getting the right kind of traffic. Look at the keywords you're ranking for using tools like Keyword Explorer.

Are you ranking for keywords that are directly related to your call to action (CTA)?

Relevance is important. You need to provide a CTA that will appeal to the needs of your real audience, as opposed to your target audience. If your real and target audience doesn't line up, your content may not be as relevant to your target market as you think.

2. Boost Traffic to improve Total Conversions

If you can't get your conversion rate to go up, you could also focus on boosting your traffic itself. By ranking for more keywords and getting into better ranking positions, you may be able to get more overall traffic, leading to a higher number of conversions.

2% of 100 is less than 2% of 100,000. While it's better to increase your conversion rate itself, your other option is to drive as much traffic as possible to your landing pages in order to increase your total conversions .

3. Build a great Landing Page

Speaking of landing pages, pay attention to them when building a website.

Landing pages are where people enter your website from outside. It could be anything from your home or product pages to a dedicated landing page for a specific keyword.

The best landing pages have a specific USP, speak well to their audience, focus on the CTA, have concise information, and feature design elements that naturally draw visitors to your CTA.

4. Optimize for Buyer Intent  

Keywords can have different levels of buyer intent, meaning people performing searches for those keywords are more or less likely to spend the money wherever they land.

Research from 2018 showed that 53% of customers always do online research before they make a purchase.

High buyer intent keywords are those that are searched closer to the instance of purchase. This is compared to informational queries.

Optimize your content and CTA to match where your audience is in their customer journey. It's good to have a mix of content from the top to the bottom of the funnel, building links between content to lead people in a natural progression.

Make sure your content is speaking to the intention of your audience.

Direct Traffic

What is direct traffic.

Direct traffic is any traffic that has no discernible point of origin. This means direct traffic does not all come from the same source but instead lumps together all traffic without a clearly defined gateway.

Analytics platforms have specific criteria for defining traffic . Whenever traffic comes to your site that falls outside of these criteria, it's labeled direct traffic.

Examples include:

Minimizing Direct Traffic

It's easy to disregard direct traffic because it's harder to track. There are things you can do to separate out direct traffic from some sources.

A good example is a traffic that comes from a PDF lead magnet. If you don't put properly tagged links into your downloadable content, all traffic that comes from the links in your PDF will show up as direct traffic. If you tag the links, you can track the source of that specific traffic.

Boosting Conversions from Direct Traffic

Even though you can't tell exactly where your direct traffic comes from, you can still take steps to boost conversions from this traffic type.

1. Segment Direct Traffic by measurable Data

While you can't always identify the source of the traffic, you can look at other data associated with the site visitors themselves. Segment based on visitor activity, device type, pages visited, location, or the number of sessions.

All these data points can give you actionable insights about your direct traffic that helps you build a better conversion strategy.

2. Offer an Inceptive for Traffic Sourcing Information

The easiest way to know the answer to a question is to ask it.

Opt-ins are a tough sell, but you can offer a free lead magnet in exchange for information about how a visitor discovered your page . You may not capture info about every direct traffic visitor, but you can get some insights into a portion of that audience and extrapolate for a decent picture of where your visitors came from.

3. Analyze Direct Traffic Landing Page Data

One of the most essential things you can do if you want to boost conversions is to understand what's attracting people to your website in the first place. The landing page where direct traffic visitors end up can point to where they came from or what their intention is.

Referral Traffic

What is referral traffic.

Referral traffic comes to your site from another website, excluding search engines. This can be from follow or no-follow links on other websites.

Where Referral Traffic comes From

There are a number of legitimate sources for referral traffic, including:

When traffic is pointed to your site from other sources, it's often considered direct traffic instead of referral traffic. More on that above, in case you haven't read it already!

Boosting Conversions on Referral Traffic

Here are some tips for increasing conversions from referral traffic on your site:

1. Build custom Landing Pages

If you have any control over your referral traffic, you should direct visitors to specific landing pages that are relevant to the referral source.

How can you create one page that addresses everyone directly?

You can't. At least, not effectively. 

Instead, you need separate landing pages dedicated to addressing the needs of people from different sources. Create and A/B test a few landing pages to optimize engagement, whether that's direct conversions or going on to other pages and converting at a later time.

2. Manage Incoming Links

One of the easiest ways to boost your conversions from referral traffic is to ensure that traffic is coming from relevant sources. Analyze your inbound links to see where traffic is coming from.

If it's coming from something unrelated to your business, people may click away quickly and spoil your bounce rate. It's better to remove links that are creating irrelevant traffic.

When you find sites that are linking to you with relevant content, reach out and try to build a relationship. It could lead to more links in the future and the growth of relevant traffic.

3. Prioritize Opt-ins and Remarketing

What you don't want is for referral traffic to land on your page and leave again without having engaged with you in some way. If they aren't converting on the first visit, the ideal second goal is to capture user data through specific opt-ins. Examples include signing up to an email list, following your social media accounts, or giving some information in exchange for a lead magnet.

These kinds of opt-ins allow you to remarket to people who are already familiar with you. They've visited your page and may be willing to hear what else you have to say, putting you in a great position to turn them into conversions down the road.

Social Traffic

What is social traffic.

Social traffic comes to your site from specific types of apps or websites, namely social networks.

Where does Social Traffic come From?

There are two kinds of social traffic usually discussed: public social and dark social.

Public social traffic comes mainly from open social media platforms, including:

Dark social is harder to track because it comes from sources that are less open, including:

If you asked on Twitter for recipes to make lasagna and people posted links in your comments, any visitors from those links are public social traffic. If you texted your friend on Whatsapp and asked for her favorite lasagna recipe and she replied with a link, your visit to that link is dark social traffic.

Knowing the distinction is important because it can help you get a better understanding of how to deal with that traffic and increase conversions.

Note: a lot of dark social traffic may show up as direct traffic if you fail to tag your links appropriately.

Boosting Conversions from Social Traffic

How can you turn social traffic into conversions? Here are a few tips:

1. Optimize Landing Pages for Mobile Users 

Did you know that most time spent on social media platforms comes from mobile users? As of 2016, the number was 80% of time spent. And, let's face it, the numbers will definitely have changed since then, with all projections putting it higher now than it was then.

The interesting thing to note is that while a majority of social media visitors are using mobile devices, most users don't prefer to make purchases or visit websites on mobile devices. People often still do their research and final purchases on a desktop. That includes people of all ages, too, although younger people are more willing than older folks. 

This is why mobile optimization is so crucial. 

Your landing pages and entire website should provide a great experience to users on any device.

2. Use Social Proof

Social proof is when other people talk about you in a positive light, confirming the things you say about yourself. It's a great way to build trust in your brand by showing your followers that you're not just making stuff up.

It's also great for conversions.

A 2017 report  showed that 93% of people are influenced by online reviews when making a purchase.

Use all the proof available to you to show how effective your products really are. Highlight customer reviews, ask previous customers for testimonials, write up case studies, and link to other posts, articles, blogs, etc., that are talking about you.

All the satisfied customers will always voice their opinions of your business to others and have an easier time making purchases from you in the future. When you have a social media customer service offering, it will be easier to serve your customers and engage with them in their preferred communication channel.

By showing people the social proof first, you can drive more people to come to your website with a favorable opinion of you and a stronger buying intention. The result is a higher conversion rate.

Paid Traffic

What is paid traffic.

Simply put, paid traffic is any traffic to your website from paid promotions or advertising.

Sources of Paid Traffic

Anywhere that provides opportunities for paid advertisements or promotional content can provide paid traffic to your website.

Broadly speaking, paid traffic comes from these sources:

These are the broad categories of paid traffic, but not all specific sources or companies are listed here. They are way too numerous to list out completely!

Tip: For Youtube ads, you have 5 seconds before the audience hits the skip button. Use an  intro maker  to capture your audience's attention. 

The Problem with Paid Traffic

If you have a lot of paid traffic with a low conversion rate, it's a catastrophic combination. Each visitor from a paid source costs you something.

With paid traffic, you've paid upfront to boost or promote content, or you're paying per click (PPC) for every visitor to your site.

No matter how you're paying, you want to reduce the cost per conversion. For every increase in your conversion rate (assuming all costs stay the same), you're making your ads more effective and lowering the cost of acquiring a customer.

All-in-all paid traffic is one of the areas you really don't want low conversion rates.

How to Optimize Conversions from Paid Traffic

Here are some few ways to increase your paid traffic conversions:

1. A/B Test your Landing Pages

We touched on this before under “referral traffic,” but it's worth mentioning again in the context of ads and paid traffic.

A/B test your landing page one piece at a time, with a focus on the CTA, the headers, the structure of the content, and the overall messaging of the page.

Split testing is another option. It's distinct from A/B testing because you're going to test an entirely different page rather than just changing one thing on two versions of the same page.

Whichever method you choose, make sure you do it often enough to keep up with evolving user preferences.

2. Attract the right Traffic

If your ads aren't targeted correctly, no amount of landing page testing will help.

Define your target audience before you set up any ad campaigns.

You have to know WHO you want to advertise to before you try to advertise to them . It helps if you already have a target audience profile for your business. If you don't already, take the opportunity to make one.

Ask questions like:

Write down everything about your target audience. Their age range, gender, location, income level, and anything else that's relevant. If it helps, you can create customer profiles with names, their  main pain points , and a backstory to make your target audience feel more real.

Armed with this knowledge, write ad  copy that speaks to your target  audience.

3. Create cohesive Ad Copy

Ads should lead naturally into landing pages. If your ad makes people think about something completely different than the landing page provides, it's not going to work well for conversions.

A/B testing landing pages only do so much if the ad copy itself is the problem. Make sure your ads are well written to tell people the benefit they'll get from clicking.

This probably means writing a few different ad copies, and that's okay. You should expect to write different ads for most keywords you're targeting.

Email Traffic

What is email traffic.

Email traffic is any traffic that comes to your website from email marketing campaigns . These must be tagged links, or they will likely just show up as unmarked direct traffic.

Because the email traffic is one of the most valuable kinds of traffic, you really need to mark it so you can track what's happening in this traffic space.  

Tagging Email Traffic

To do anything useful with email traffic, you have to be able to record it first accurately. The simplest way to do this is with an Urchin Traffic Monitor (UTM) code.

UTM codes allow you to see that a certain portion of traffic came from one specific marketing activity. You have to generate a new code for every campaign unless you want to accidentally lump all your email traffic together into just one metric.

In its basic form, a UTM code is a bunch of specific text at the end of a normal link. This text will tell your analytics programs where people came from so they can record it appropriately.

To use a UTM code, you can either generate one manually through your analytics tools or use codes generated by an email marketing platform.

Boosting Conversions from Email Traffic

Considering the importance of email traffic, try these tips for boosting conversions:

1. Follow a logical Path

Don't send emails out randomly. Create an email marketing plan with a logical progression from start to finish. When your emails are tied to each other or have a cohesive theme, people are more likely to read them consistently.

2. Think Personal, Not Corporate

Outside of work, people like to use email as a more personal form of communication. It's not meant to be stiff and professional unless it's an official email of some sort.

If you're reading this, I'm assuming you're more interested in marketing to people rather than simply informing them their prescription is due to be refilled or their exams are coming up.

To be personal in an email, write more casually. Write in a way you're talking to a friend instead of a stranger. If you're a decent writer (or if you have decent writers working for you), start your emails with a story.

Storytelling works really well in email marketing. It's an uphill battle to inspire people to read through emails, so having a strong opener like a personal story gets your readers locked in early.

Remember: the purpose of everything you write is to get people to read the next thing you're writing. Your subject line should get people to open and read your introduction. That intro should get people to read the body of the email… You get the point. When you throw CTAs in the mix, it's a good way to increase your conversions.

3. Check a Heat Map

Want to know the easiest way to improve your conversions? Pay attention to what people are doing once they reach your site.

A heat map helps you evaluate where people go, how long they stay in a certain area, and where they get stuck. By analyzing a heat map, you can get ideas about how to rearrange your content to minimize bouncing and make it simple for people to convert.

4. Automate

Just because your emails should be personal doesn't mean you need to type all of them right as they're going out. Prepare your emails ahead of time and set them up to send out at specified times.

The other thing you need to  automate is response emails . Automated responses can be following up with leads, reminding people to continue a process they didn't finish, or telling people about other things they may also like based on previous engagement.

All website traffic is useful, but not all traffic is the same. To make the most of your traffic, you need to know where it's coming from. Once you understand the source of the traffic, you can work on optimizing conversions based on how people are coming to your website. 

Reach out to us for knowing about website traffic and dealing with conversions in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Website traffic comes in various flavors: Direct traffic occurs when people directly type your website's address, Organic traffic comes from search engines, Referral traffic arrives from other websites, Social traffic originates from social media, Email traffic comes from email marketing efforts, Display traffic results from display ads, and Paid traffic is driven by paid advertising campaigns. You won't find a single metric for “Traffic” in one place, but you can discover these different sources in various reports and tools. Understanding these traffic types helps website owners analyze how people find and engage with their site.

A website conversion is like a victory for your website. It means someone did what you wanted, like buying something or sending you a message. All websites want these wins because they help businesses grow. So, when someone clicks a button or fills out a form on your website, it's like a high-five for your online business. It's how websites turn visitors into customers or followers. So, remember, websites are like teamwork – you and your visitors working together for success!

Traffic is how many people come in, while conversion rate is how many actually buy something. It's like counting how many visitors become customers. For example, if 100 people visit your website but only 5 buy something, your conversion rate is 5%. It's important because it shows how effective your website is at turning visitors into customers. The higher the conversion rate, the better your website is at convincing people to take the action you want, like buying a product.

Google Analytics is like a super tool for checking how many people visit your website and what they do there. It's free and great for figuring out how well your website is doing. To use it, you just have to add a special code from Google to your website, and it starts keeping tabs on everything. It's like having a secret helper that tells you how many people come to your site and what they click on. This helps you understand your website's performance and make it even better for your visitors. It's a must-have for anyone with a website!

Divya Verma is an experienced content creator dedicated to crafting SEO-friendly and engaging content. As a HubSpot certified writer, she excels in attracting visitors through high-quality content creation and publication. Her passion for assisting others drives her to conduct thorough research and deliver content that effectively converts.

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Website Traffic Analysis: Metrics, Tools, and Techniques

Stuart Crawford

A Website traffic analysis is an essential strategy that comprehensively understands your website's performance and provides invaluable insights for making informed decisions. It helps identify where your traffic is coming from, the behaviour of visitors once they're on your page and the overall effectiveness of your marketing strategies. 

This article will delve into the critical metrics of website traffic analysis, the popular tools you can use, the techniques to improve website traffic, and the immense benefits of conducting website traffic analysis. With this knowledge, you can optimise your website performance and boost your digital marketing efforts.

Moreover, website traffic analysis is pivotal in enhancing your understanding of your audience's needs, preferences, and behaviour. By analysing the data, you can tailor your content and marketing strategies to meet these needs and preferences, thus improving user experience and increasing conversions. This article will provide a comprehensive guide through the world of website traffic analysis, equipping you with the tools and knowledge to excel in your digital marketing endeavours.

Understanding Website Traffic Analysis

Website traffic analysis involves collecting, interpreting, and analysing data about how users interact with your website. It allows you to understand who's visiting your site, their geographical location, the pages they visit, how much time they spend on those pages, and why they choose to leave. This level of detailed information is crucial in developing and refining effective marketing strategies, improving user experience, and boosting conversion rates.

Furthermore, website traffic analysis is essential in evaluating the performance of your website against your business objectives and marketing goals. It provides measurable and actionable insights that can help you identify successful elements on your site and areas that need improvement. For instance, if your goal is to increase conversions, traffic analysis can help you understand where your converting traffic comes from and the paths users take before converting. By understanding these user behaviours, you can replicate successful strategies and optimise the user journey to increase conversions.

Key Metrics in Website Traffic Analysis

When analysing website traffic, there are several key metrics to consider. The traffic volume, for example, measures the total number of website visits, indicating its popularity and reach. For instance, a high traffic volume suggests your website has a broad reach and attracts many visitors. However, more than a high traffic volume is required to guarantee success. You must also ensure the traffic is relevant and contributes to your business goals.

Another critical metric is the traffic sources, which identify the channels or platforms visitors visit your website. This could be direct traffic, referral traffic, search traffic, or social traffic. Understanding your traffic sources can provide insights into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts on different platforms. For instance, if most of your traffic comes from organic search, it suggests that your SEO efforts are paying off. On the other hand, if social media drives a significant portion of your traffic, it means your social media marketing strategy is effective.

Other essential metrics include page views, session duration, bounce rate, conversion rate, unique visits, and exit pages. Each metric provides a different perspective on your website's performance and user behaviour . For example, a high bounce rate may indicate that your landing pages are irrelevant to visitors, or the website design could be more user-friendly. By monitoring these key metrics, you can make informed decisions on optimising your website to improve user experience and enhance performance.

Popular Website Traffic Analysis Tools

Several popular tools are available for website traffic analysis, each offering unique features and insights. Semrush , for example, is an all-in-one tool offering traffic analysis, competition research, and SEO recommendations. It provides comprehensive insights into your website's performance and competitors', helping you understand where you stand in the market.

SimilarWeb is another popular tool that overviews your competitor's traffic and valuable channels. It gives you a sense of what strategies work for your competitors, allowing you to make informed strategic decisions for your website. For instance, if SimilarWeb shows that a competitor is getting significant traffic from social media, you should strengthen your marketing strategy.

Other noteworthy tools include Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, Serpstat , Ahrefs, and MonsterInsights. Each device offers unique features and capabilities. Google Search Console, for example, is a free tool that analyses search engine traffic and provides insights on keywords and search volume. Ahrefs, on the other hand, is a popular SEO tool that provides organic search traffic data and competitor analysis. By leveraging these tools, you can gain a deeper understanding of your website's performance and find opportunities for improvement.

Free and Paid Traffic Analysis Tools

Both free and paid website traffic analysis tools offer valuable insights, but the choice between the two depends on your specific needs, budget, and desired level of analysis. Free tools like Google Search Console and Ubersuggest provide valuable insights on search engine traffic and detailed competitor analysis. They are excellent starting points for small businesses or individuals just beginning their website traffic analysis journey.

On the other hand, paid tools like Semrush, SimilarWeb, and Ahrefs offer comprehensive traffic analysis, competition research, and additional features for in-depth analysis. These tools provide more extensive data and advanced features, making them suitable for large businesses or individuals requiring deeper analysis. However, they come with a cost, which might be a limiting factor for some users. Ultimately, your specific needs and budget should guide the choice between free and paid tools.

Using Tools for Competitive Analysis

Website traffic analysis tools can be leveraged to analyse your competitor's traffic, content marketing strategy , link building, and keyword research process. For example, Semrush allows you to see where your competitors are getting their traffic from, which keywords they're ranking for, and what their backlink profile looks like. This information can be invaluable in shaping your strategies and identifying growth opportunities.

In addition to unveiling your competitors' strategies, these tools can provide insights into their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, if a competitor has a high bounce rate, it could indicate a problem with their website's usability or content relevance. Conversely, if a competitor has a high conversion rate, studying their website and marketing strategies might be worthwhile to understand what they're doing right. By leveraging these insights, you can refine your approach to improve your website's performance and gain a competitive edge.

Techniques to Improve Website Traffic

The techniques to improve website traffic are varied and depend on your specific business objectives and target audience. Content optimisation is a fundamental technique that involves creating high-quality, relevant, and engaging content to attract and retain visitors. For example, regularly publishing informative blog posts that answer your audience's questions can help improve your website's visibility in search engine results and attract organic traffic.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is another crucial technique that optimises your website elements and keywords to improve your rankings and visibility. This includes optimising your website's meta tags, improving your site's loading speed, and building high-quality backlinks . When done effectively, SEO can significantly increase your website's organic traffic .

Other techniques include social media marketing , email marketing, and paid advertising. Social media marketing involves promoting your website content and engaging with your target audience on social media platforms. In contrast, email marketing consists of building an email list and sending targeted campaigns to drive traffic to your website. On the other hand, Paid advertising uses online platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to increase your website visibility and attract targeted traffic. Implementing these techniques can significantly improve your website traffic and achieve your business goals.

Website Traffic Analysis Reports

Website traffic analysis reports provide comprehensive data on key metrics such as traffic sources, user behaviour, conversion rates, etc. These reports help you understand how your website is performing and provide insights into areas that need improvement. For example, if your account shows a high bounce rate, this could indicate that your landing pages need to be more engaging or that visitors are not finding what they're looking for.

In addition to providing valuable data, these reports also guide you in interpreting and using this information to improve your website. For instance, if your account shows that most of your traffic comes from organic search, it indicates that your SEO efforts are practical. However, if the conversion rate from this traffic source is low, it suggests that while attracting visitors to your site, you need to convince them to take the desired action. This insight could lead you to focus on improving your website's conversion rate optimisation strategies.

Benefits of Website Traffic Analysis

Conducting a website traffic analysis can offer in-depth insight into your website's performance, user behaviour, and the effectiveness of your marketing strategies. This information can help you identify areas of your website that are performing well and need improvement. For example, suppose your analysis shows that users spend much time on your blog posts but hardly visit your product pages. This might indicate that your content marketing strategy is effective, but your product pages must be more engaging.

Website traffic analysis can also improve user experience by identifying and addressing pain points or navigation issues. For instance, if you notice that users often exit your website from a particular page, it could indicate a problem with that page. It may not provide the information users seek or need to be easier to navigate. Identifying such issues can improve those pages and enhance your site's overall user experience.

Moreover, analysing website traffic can also significantly boost your SEO rankings . By understanding which keywords drive traffic to your site and which pages are most popular, you can optimise your content around these elements to improve your search engine rankings . This can lead to more organic traffic and potentially higher conversions.

Tools Features for Effective Traffic Analysis

Different website traffic analysis tools offer various features that can aid your analysis. One such part is integrating traffic analysis tools with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, which can streamline your marketing strategies and provide more personalised customer experiences.

Other valuable features include SEO recommendations, heatmaps, session recording, market share tracking, and keyword research capabilities. For example, tools that offer SEO recommendations can provide insights into how you can improve your website's visibility and search engine rankings . Heatmaps and session recording features can give you a visual representation of user behaviour on your site, helping you identify areas of the website that are performing well and those that need improvement.

Similarly, tools that offer market share tracking can provide insights into your industry and competitors, helping you understand where your business stands in comparison. Keyword research and competitive analysis features can provide valuable data on keywords, search volume, and competitor analysis, aiding in informed content creation and SEO strategies.

Optimising Your Website Using Traffic Analysis Tools

Website traffic analysis tools can be instrumental in optimising your website's performance and improving user experience. For instance, providing heatmap and session recording features can help you understand how users interact with your website. You can identify areas of your site that users interact with the most and those they ignore, allowing you to optimise your website design and content accordingly.

Furthermore, you can use website traffic analysis tools to increase conversions and sales on your website. By analysing your conversion rate and identifying the paths users take before they convert, you can optimise these paths and remove any obstacles preventing users from converting. This data-driven approach to website optimisation can significantly improve your website's performance and boost your business's bottom line.

Website traffic analysis is a powerful strategy that can significantly enhance your understanding of your website's performance and user behaviour. It provides invaluable insights to guide your marketing strategies, improve user experience, and boost your website's visibility and conversions. Whether you're a small business owner, a digital marketer, or a blogger, understanding and implementing website traffic analysis can significantly improve your digital marketing efforts and drive your online success.

As explored in this article, you can use various tools and techniques to conduct practical website traffic analysis. Each aspect is crucial in optimising your website performance, from understanding critical metrics to using popular analysis tools, implementing traffic improvement techniques, and interpreting analysis reports. By leveraging these tools and techniques, you can make data-driven decisions, identify growth opportunities, and stay ahead of your competition. Therefore, we encourage you to dive deeper into the world of website traffic analysis and harness its power to boost your digital marketing efforts and achieve your business goals.

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How to Check Website Traffic: Analyzing the Digital Data

Free Website Traffic Checker

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Running a business is hard. Understanding how your business is performing compared to its competitors is even harder.

Your website directly reflects your company’s health and can help you determine where you stand in your market. Who is your primary audience? How are they getting to your site? Which pages are they visiting the most? Is that new PPC campaign working?

Analyzing your website traffic is the key to answering all these questions and is crucial for success in the digital world. With the right data, you can understand what users are up to, monitor market changes, size up the competition, and see how well your efforts convert.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through the ins and outs of checking your website traffic, equipping you with the tools and insight you need to navigate the ever-changing digital world and make data-driven business decisions .

How to define website traffic

Website traffic is the number of visitors a website receives over a given period and is a crucial metric for assessing its popularity. There are a variety of ways that you can analyze website traffic; however, some of the most common metrics include monthly visitors, user engagement, marketing channel performance, and new vs. returning audience split – don’t worry we’ll dive deeper into each of these in a bit!

“Website traffic is the number of visitors a website receives over a given period and is a crucial metric for assessing its popularity.”  

To check your website traffic, open Similarweb, go to Website Analysis > enter your URL > Website performance. Here, you’ll get a breakdown of traffic and engagement, marketing channels, audience demographics, search trends, and more. You can compare your website to your main competitors or similar sites.

Analyzing the traffic of a website provides valuable insight into user behavior. Understanding how and why your audience visits your site helps you enhance user experience and drive new traffic. It can also contextualize your performance compared to competitors and pinpoint areas to improve to be more effective.

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Top metrics to analyze website traffic

Various metrics are used when checking website traffic, depending on your goals, objectives, or even the team measuring the data. The ten below provide a general overview of your website performance:

• Page Views: This metric measures single-page views and calculates the average per visit or user session. Google counts each page load or reload as a page view. Therefore, average page views show how many times a visitor opens pages on your site.
• Pages Per Visit : The average number of pages visitors view within a session. Unlike page views, it doesn’t matter if a visitor viewed the page once, five times, or twenty.
• Bounce Rate: Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your site without interacting with it (for example, reading through a blog, watching a video, or clicking a CTA). According to Google Analytics, bounce rate measures the percentage of single interaction visits to your site. The user “bounces” from the same page they entered.

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• Visit Duration : A visit begins when visitors arrive at your website and ends when they exit or remain inactive for a predetermined period. As long as the visitor interacts with your site, the session continues.
• Monthly Visits: The average amount of traffic you receive each month. Average monthly visits are insightful when viewed in correlation with engagement metrics. For example, high monthly visits and low page views mean that you initially capture user attention but aren’t engaging them for long.
• Conversion Rate : The percentage of visitors to your website or landing page that complete a desired action. In most cases, this will be a sign-up or a purchase.
• Daily Active Users ( DAU ) : The number of users who engage with your website daily. DAU reflects your growth potential and indicates the stickiness of your product or service.
• Monthly Active Users ( MAU ) : The number of unique users or visitors interacting with your website monthly. It’s most useful for mobile apps, SaaS platforms, online gaming, social media, and any other online business that relies on returning customers.
• Device Distribution : Shows the percentage of visitors using mobile vs. desktop devices . Device distribution helps you identify trends in device usage for your app or web content.
• Traffic Sources : Measure where your traffic comes from, whether that be search engines, social media platforms, display networks, other websites, emails, and more.
• Unique Visitors : Unique visitors is a website metric that shows the total number of visitors to a site, counting only their first visit. If they return to the site later, these additional visits don’t count.

Your goal is to use a combination of these metrics to analyze and understand your website traffic, performance, and user behavior. Set KPIs that you’d like to meet quarterly or yearly and track any major fluctuations over time. This could be a sign to reevaluate your goals or adjust your digital strategy.

How to use Similarweb to check website traffic

Similarweb is a digital intelligence platform that enables users to track, measure, and analyze all components of their website performance – from traffic and engagement metrics to audience demographics, conversion analysis, marketing channel performance, and more. Let’s examine how our tools can help you check web traffic and analyze your online presence in real-time.

Analyzing traffic and engagement metrics:

Any KPI that reveals how visitors interact with your website, including session duration, pages per visit, bounce rate, or click-through rate (CTR), falls under user engagement metrics .

These metrics help you measure your engagement rate  or how much your audience is actively engaged with content on your site. Monitoring your engagement rate helps you determine customer satisfaction, identify potential churns,  analyze the efficacy of a campaign, and spot areas for improvement.

Here are some key engagement metrics to use when checking your website traffic with Similarweb:

1. Monthly visits:

On average, how much traffic does your website receive each month? This metric is the foundation of your website traffic analysis and can help you answer general questions about your performance vs. your competitors and the industry. Keep in mind that regular traffic fluctuations are normal and are to be expected during certain periods, such as the holiday season. You can anticipate and prepare accordingly if your monthly visits follow the same pattern each year.

Sephora.com, for example, shows an increase in monthly traffic year-over-year (YoY), growing 25% from 360.2M in 2022 to 450.7M in 2023. The average monthly traffic to sephora.com in 2023 was approximately 37.6M visits. The traffic peaked in November with 54M visits. This surge was primarily driven by direct traffic , which increased in November, and organic search traffic, which rose over the same period. These traffic jumps can likely be attributed to holiday shopping.

2. Engagement metrics

Visit duration, page views, and average pages per visit all give you an idea of how a user interacts with your website. These metrics answer how long the average user spends browsing, which pages they’re most likely to visit, and how many.

The average visit duration to sephora.com in 2023 was 4 minutes and 22 seconds, significantly higher than the Beauty industry benchmark. Most visitors to Sephora view 4.9 pages, which is higher than the industry average and peaks at 5.5 pages per visit in November, around the holidays. Monthly page views are, on average, 185.2M. These metrics point to a good user experience – customers frequently visit multiple pages and browse through the website before ending a session.

3. Unique visitors

Unique visitors are not duplicated across devices — visitors within the specified period are counted only once.

There were an average of 18.3M unique visitors to sephora.com in the US in 2023 – mostly from mobile web, highlighting the importance of a functional and easy-to-use mobile design.

4. Bounce rate

Bounce rate counts all visitors who leave your website from the same page they entered without taking action. A high bounce rate indicates false visitor expectations, a technical error, or a leaking funnel. Sephora has a 45% bounce rate, which may seem high but is lower than the Beauty & Cosmetic industry average. We see that the lowest bounce rates correlate with periods of high traffic volume, like in November and December.

5. New vs. returning users

Analyzing the ratio of new vs. returning users showcases the split between acquiring traffic and/or retaining current customers. It can gauge the “stickiness” of your website. A sticky website means customers come back rather than seeking alternatives. Looking at sephora.com, there are more returning users than new ones, 59% vs. 41%. Use these numbers to evaluate if you are aligned with your current marketing goals: are you focusing on acquisition or retention?

6. Device split

Examining device distribution gives insight into how your audiences access your website. This metric is crucial for optimization, as user experience between desktop and mobile web varies greatly.

Like most industries today, sephora.com is experiencing a significant shift to mobile usage. Users are nearly three times more likely to access the website from their phones than from desktops. Mobile web visits to sephora.com are up almost 7% YoY.

Analyze your website’s audience:

Audience analysis tools help you define your users’ demographic and behavioral characteristics, including age, gender, location, interests, and more. It’s an important part of checking website traffic; as you gather information about where your audience spends time online, you can better engage them and explore new growth opportunities.

Audience demographics

Audience demographics pinpoint exactly who your customers are – and knowing their challenges is crucial when developing marketing, advertising, and sales strategies.  The demographics tab of Website Analysis gives a general overview of the gender and age distribution of any website in any given country.

If we look at similarweb.com traffic stats , the data shows that globally, gender demographics are skewed more male than female (62% vs. 38%). If we look at just the US, the difference is even greater – 70% male compared to 30% female. Worldwide, users between the ages of 25 and 34 are the most active, with 30% of the traffic share, followed by 35-44 year olds (22%) and 18-24 year olds (20%).

Geographic data can give you an idea of where and how your customers live. The example below shows that most users come to similarweb.com from the US. Spain is a promising region, with over 20% growth in traffic share in the last six months.

Audience interests

Once you know your audience, an important step in analyzing website traffic is understanding their browsing habits, including industries, topics, and other domains they are interested in.

Most visitors to similarweb.com visit other computer electronics and technology websites, as well as online marketing, programming, web design, and multimedia domains, such as LinkedIn, ChatGPT, Canva, Google Translate, and Google Meet. This makes sense, as Similarweb would just be one tool in their tech stack.

Checking traffic across marketing channels

Identifying the marketing channels that bring the most traffic to your website is crucial so that you can concentrate your marketing budget and uncover opportunities to win even more traffic.

With Similarweb Marketing Channels Overview , you can identify the leading channels generating traffic, including:

• Direct: Traffic from users directly entering the URL, using a bookmark or saved link, etc.
• Email : Traffic sent from web-based email clients such as gmail.com.
• Referrals : Referral traffic includes traffic to a site through affiliates, links, content partners, and traffic from direct media buying or news coverage.
• Social : Traffic sent from social media sites, such as Facebook or Reddit.
• Organic Search : Refers to the search results of a search engine that cannot be influenced by paid advertising.
• Paid Search: Search results that generate a large amount of traffic from advertising budgets that usually focus on increasing brand awareness or targeting relevant audiences for specific products.
• Display Ads : Traffic from other domains via a known ad-serving platform (i.e., Doubleclick, Taboola).

In the last year (January-December 2023), two traffic sources fought for the top spot for walmart.com: direct and organic search. As a global ecommerce giant, it makes sense that brand awareness is strong and the major driver of traffic to their website. Organic search wins, accounting for 39.4% of the traffic (or 1.8 billion visits); direct is in a close second with 37.6% of traffic share.

Paid search drives a significant amount of traffic at 15.6%, with a noticeable spike around the holidays. Some of the highest-performing product ads focus on electronics like televisions and laptops.

Social media sends 4% of traffic share to walmart.com , a total of 187M visits. Most social traffic comes from mobile web – 160M compared to 27M from desktop. Strong channels are YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit.

How to analyze drops in web traffic

Analyzing your website traffic is just the tip of the iceberg. To use the data you collect effectively, you must watch out for peaks or, more importantly, dips in traffic over time.

Although slightly alarming, drops in traffic aren’t something to panic about as long as you have the digital tools to correct any issues. Here are some key reasons why you may experience drops in website traffic:

• Technical issues or errors with specific assets of your website
• A change to a search engine algorithm, like when Google makes broad updates to its ranking systems
• Marketing campaigns that aren’t performing as well as expected
• Low user engagement, which might be linked to experience or satisfaction
• Strong competitor performance or new strategies that draw traffic away from your website
• Security issues such as hacking or malware
• Shift in user behavior preferences or habits
• Quality of content

Finding the source of the website traffic drop will help you solve the problem and develop a solution. Here are 5 steps to do so:

Step 1: Zero in on the dates of the traffic drops

Let’s go back to our example of walmart.com. If we look at the company’s website traffic over the last 12 months, in the US, there was a significant dip in traffic of 15.6% from July to September 2023.

At first glance, this drop seems seasonal due to the summer and decreased consumer spending accompanying this period. The sharp uptick in September, when most people conduct back-to-school shopping, supports this.

In addition, user engagement metrics, including visit duration, pages per visit, and bounce rate remain stable during this period, which suggests that user preferences and content quality are likely not the cause of the drop in traffic.

Step 2: Compare drops between devices and geography

It’s time to dig deeper and zero in on traffic between devices over time.

A decrease in traffic from mobile web amid relatively stable desktop traffic usually points to a performance or optimization issue. Make sure that user experience and familiarity are replicated across all devices – you want your mobile website to look and feel the same as your desktop one and vice versa.

For Walmart, both mobile web and desktop traffic decreased between July and September 2023. This means that device performance is not the cause of the traffic drop. Note that in 2023, walmart.com received, on average, 23% more traffic from mobile web than desktop.

For this example, we focus on walmart.com’s performance in the US. However, you could apply this same methodology and look at the geos your company operates in to see if a drop in web traffic is limited to one country or a more global issue. If you find a significant decrease in traffic in one geographic area, look at cultural issues or regional holidays that could play a factor.

Step 3: Check which traffic source the drop originated from

Delve into marketing channel performance to see if you can pinpoint the source causing the decrease in traffic. For walmart.com, all marketing channels except display ads experience a dip throughout July and September 2023. Organic search, the biggest traffic driver, saw an 11% decrease in September.

Walmart’s marketing channels experienced growth towards the end of 2023, with a huge spike in November 2023, when the company likely launched marketing campaigns and paid ads targeting consumers during the holiday season.

Step 4: Drill down into specific keywords

Since organic search is Walmart’s top-performing traffic source, let’s dig deeper into keyword performance to see how they can be more competitive.

Keywords give insight into what consumers look for when they search online and can help companies drive website traffic through competitive SEO strategies .

For example, between July and September 2023, many visitors to walmart.com searched for home goods and kitchen appliances. Walmart.com lost traffic share to a main competitor (target.com) for many of those keywords. Some examples include: squishmellows (61% vs. 39%), desk (89% vs. 11%), curtains (69% vs. 33%), ottoman (100% vs. 0%), floor lamps (93% vs. 7%), and electric kettle (63% vs 37%.)

Step 5: Build a plan to increase traffic

After looking at various web traffic metrics for walmart.com, the most likely reason for the dip in traffic is temporal. It relates to the summer season when consumers aren’t shopping as much as back-to-school or holiday periods.

However, our keyword research tool shows consumers actively search for home goods during this period. To win back some of the traffic lost due to seasonal traffic dips, Walmart should focus its efforts on targeting these keywords organically through SEO and with PPC and display ads.

How to analyze your competitors’ website traffic

Competitive benchmarking is an integral part of website traffic analysis. While Google Analytics may give you complete visibility into your website’s performance – your metrics aren’t enough. For example, you may have noticed through web traffic analysis that you’re growing 5% yearly – which is great! But after conducting Competitive Analysis , you find that your competitors are growing at double or triple the pace. You’ve got to understand what’s working for them and their strengths and weaknesses to bridge any gaps in traffic and eventually outperform them. That’s where a traffic gap analysis comes in.

Traffic gap analysis is the process of comparing your website’s traffic to that of your competitors to determine:

• How much traffic they are getting
• Which of their channels drives the most traffic
• Their audience dynamics
• The demographics and locations of their most engaged audiences

Conducting a traffic gap analysis helps you set realistic goals, spot opportunities your competitors might not have considered, better allocate resources, and stay ahead of any digital shifts.

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How to use Similarweb to check your competitors’ traffic

Similarweb makes it easy to check your competitors’ traffic over time and monitor their performance against yours.

To benchmark your website traffic, open Similarweb, go to Website Analysis > enter your URL > add up to four competitor URLs > Website performance. Here you’ll get a breakdown of your website vs. your competitors, including device distribution, user engagement, global rank, industry rank, and more.

From there, navigate to Marketing Channels to see performance for the competitive set, Demographics to get a breakdown of your audiences by gender and age, Audience Interests to see cross-browsing behaviors, and Audience Overlap to see with which competitor you share the most unique visitors.

Navigating website traffic with digital intelligence

Your website reflects the overall performance of your business, including market health, competitive position, and user experience. Checking your website traffic is the key to decoding user behavior, keeping tabs on the competition, assessing market shifts, and evaluating the effectiveness of your strategies.

Similarweb provides the tools to navigate every aspect of your website and track the metrics you need to stay competitive and thrive in the complex digital world.

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How can I check website traffic for free?

Head over to the Similarweb homepage to analyze the traffic of any website!

For insights on-the-go you can install Similarweb’s free traffic analysis extension and get an exclusive view of any website’s performance, including total monthly traffic and engagement over time, directly in your browser tool. In one click, you get insight into any website’s global, country, or category rank, and more.

What is website traffic?

Website traffic is the number of visitors a website receives over a given period and is a crucial metric for assessing the popularity of a website. Some of the most common metrics to measure website traffic include monthly visits, user engagement, marketing channel performance, and new vs. returning audience split.

Why is checking website traffic important? 

Checking and analyzing your website traffic provides valuable insight into user behavior. Understanding how and why your audience visits your website will enhance their experience and drive new traffic. It can also contextualize your performance compared to competitors and pinpoint areas to improve to be more effective.

What are the top metrics for measuring website traffic? 

Ten of the most common metrics for checking website traffic are:

• Page  Views
• Pages Per Visit
• Bounce Rate
• Visit Duration
• Monthly Visits
• Conversion Rate
• Daily Active Users or Monthly Active Users
• Device Distribution
• Traffic Sources
• Unique Visitors

by Limor Barenholtz

Director of SEO at Similarweb

Limor brings 20 years of SEO expertise, focusing on Technical SEO, JavaScript rendering, and mobile optimization. She thrives on solving complex problems and creating scalable strategies.

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