Key Analytics Terms

 

 

The following terms are listed in alphabetical order. If you are looking for a particular word, use the Control-F (Windows) or Command-F shortcut on your keyboard to search.

 

• Average time on page: The average time a visitor spends on a single page on your website. (Learn more about "average time on page" here.)

 

• Benchmarking: An analytics service gives users a look at how their website is performing, in comparison to other websites of similar size. Benchmarking allows you to compare your site's analytics data, including visits, page views, bounce rate, average time on site and other metrics, against data from other participating websites.

 

• Bounce rate: This is the percentage of visits where the visitor views just one page of your website before leaving. (Learn more about "bounce rate" here.)

 

• Direct traffic: Visits to a site where the user types the address of the website directly into the browser's address bar or when a visitor uses a specific bookmark to get to a website. Direct traffic illustrates how many visitors know a website URL — that is, the website's brand.

 

• Entry page: Also known as landing page or entrance page, this is the first page a visitor views during a session.

 

• Exit page: This is the last page a visitor sees before leaving the site. If the entry page is the same as the exit page, that is known as a “bounce.”

 

• Mobile traffic: This counts the readers who view a site on mobile devices like smartphones or tablets. 

 

• Page depth: The average number of pages a visitor sees during a session on a website.

 

• Page views vs. page hits: A “page view” occurs when a viewer visits one page on a website. A “hit” is the loading of a page plus every element that loads onto a page, including images and style scripts. (Learn more about "page views vs. page hits" here.)

 

• Return visitors vs. new visitors: A returning visitor is a user who has been to a website and has come back. New visitors are Internet users who have not previously or recently visited a site.

 

• Session (or visit): The span that occurs between the time of accessing and leaving a site. It can be measured by duration (typically in minutes and seconds) or by number of page views per session.

 

• Source/referrer:

  • Direct: When a visitor types the URL into an address bar.

  • Referral: When a visitor accesses the site through a link posted elsewhere.

  • Search: When a visitor finds a page on the site through Google or another browser.

 

• Traffic sources: This is where traffic originates. Google Analytics, for example, includes information about which sites visitors are coming from, as well as what keywords they are using to get to a website.

 

• Unique visitor: Each person who visits a website. The term differentiates between new visitors and those who return regularly because tracking unique visitors generates a more accurate head count. (Learn more about "unique visitors" here.)

 

• Unique page views: Similar to tracking unique visitors, looking at unique page views removes white noise. For instance, if someone goes to a home page over and over again, it would pad the page view count.