Comments on: Analytics Direct Traffic is NOT What You Think It Is

By: Mitch

Mitch — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:30:47 +0000

Might as well throw branded organic keywords into that mystery pot as well. If a user got to your site via a search for “Company Name”, it’s quite likely that you have some other marketing/referral avenue to thank instead of your awesome natural search strategy. So in the same respect as direct traffic, branded KWs deliver a total lack of insight.

Separating branded KWs from non-branded KWs is one of the first things I do for clients to see where they’re at. If organic search is 30% of your traffic but branded KWs are 90% of that 30%, then your organic search sucks.

By: Justyn

Justyn — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 14:49:27 +0000

@Tom – I agree with Brian on this one. The vast majority of cases where I received a (direct) referral was because of an email campaign. Sometimes this happens when a person is using their non-default browser as well.

Your biggest clue that a referrer was not passed is when you have a deep link – yoursite.com/blog/some-random-topic. Web users don’t type or copy/paste these urls. So if you see a bunch of direct referrals for deep links, start trying to track it down and add some campaign parameters to links.

By: Tom Erik Støwer

Tom Erik Støwer — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:55:10 +0000

That’s useful info. I had no idea this was the case. Do you the reason in the case a referrer isn’t passed?

By: Jacques Warren

Jacques Warren — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:54:30 +0000

I, for one, never use Direct Traffic in my reports and analyses anymore. It’s full of unreliable crap.

By: Twitter chatter link for August 13 | MPThree Consulting Inc.

Twitter chatter link for August 13 | MPThree Consulting Inc. — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:11:37 +0000

[...] chatter link for August 13 August 13 2009 No Commented Direct traffic in web analytics is NOT what you think it is A better definition of “direct [...]

By: Brian Katz

Brian Katz — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:04:50 +0000

Hi Johnny

This is a very illusive topic. In fact 50% of the problem slipped through the post.
There are many “direct” visits that began by bookmark, typed URL, etc that should be direct but are attributed to other traffic sources.
What started as a short post to track truly direct visitors with the User Defined cookie required a treatise on the subject:

http://blog.vkistudios.com/index.cfm/2009/7/10/Tips-Tricks-Traps-and-Tools-41-of-many-Understanding-Direct-Visits-in-Google-Analytics-UDVs

Your critique will be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Brian Katz – Analytics – VKI

By: Lucy Griffiths

Lucy Griffiths — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:09:28 +0000

Thanks Jonny, your posts provides an excellent explanation of why Direct Traffic is often so high. I didn’t realise that paid traffic could be counted as Direct Traffic, thanks for highlighting this.

By: Errors of causation in web analytics | Actionable Analytics

Errors of causation in web analytics | Actionable Analytics — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 09:53:44 +0000

[...] You notice that direct traffic is of a higher quality than other sources. Does this mean that you should simply get more people to come to you direct? You could do this by displaying your URL as a static image in non-clickable banners, meaning that people have to physically type it into the browser. Again, no. Real direct traffic is direct because of brand familiarity and relevance, which may have nothing to do with advertising. The pure fact that it’s direct is of little relevance. (by the way, be careful – direct traffic isn’t always what it seems) [...]

By: Brian Clifton

Brian Clifton — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:07:32 +0000

Good points Johnny.

Just to add my 2 cents worth… One of the largest segments I see labelled as “direct” in Google Analytics is actually visits that originated from an email click-through i.e. a linking that did not have campaign parameters. from signatures to email blasts…

Best regards, Brian

By: New High Score

New High Score — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:09:18 +0000

Important blog-post, this. I’m going to have a lot of my clients look at this. Thanks for reminding everyone.