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

By: Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:53:01 +0000

I have noticed that my analytics now says “Undefined” for what I can only assume is this kind of traffic. Direct is still there, but I think they can now determine the difference to make it less confusing.

By: Gavelect

Gavelect — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:25:19 +0000

Great post. To be honest this is news to me. As I work in an Agency we do not really analyse data for direct traffic, we just take it for what it is. will keep this is mind going forward.

Cheers

By: Product Engineering

Product Engineering — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:38:15 +0000

Great article ! Understanding analytics has become an essential part for every SEO practitioner.

By: Rebel Chick Jenn

Rebel Chick Jenn — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:25:07 +0000

I always assumed it was URL based…this is eye opening! Thank you for taking the time to explain it to the newbies like myself.

By: C.Kahaleh

C.Kahaleh — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:58:37 +0000

Great article indeed, thanks for this.
i used to have a regular 60% of “direct traffic” on my campaign, and then suddenly on my last one it came down to 10%…
Do you know to what that might be related ? Is there any benchmark for Direct vs Paid traffic.

Many thanks for your help, appreciated

Thanks

By: A.Jesin

A.Jesin — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 06:48:30 +0000

Very good eye opener.
Even in my analytics data I get a lot of direct traffic but most of it have the average time as 00:00:00 !!! which is very very misleading, did visitors just type my URL, hit enter and lcose the window immediately ???

By: shawnfrankk

shawnfrankk — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:13:11 +0000

Great Info. You post really cleared my doubts regarding direct traffic sources.

By: Koozai Mike

Koozai Mike — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 08:59:03 +0000

Thanks for clearing up such a common misconception. The linked to list of direct traffic causes is an excellent resource as well with a fair few I’d never thought of.

By: Social Commerce by example | Corridor Conversations

Social Commerce by example | Corridor Conversations — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 14:37:02 +0000

[...] to a browser. New browsers auto-complete URL’s. There are many more reasons for which this article on Actionable Analytics has a good summary. Many of the common reasons I can discount through simple deduction. For example [...]

By: Passive Adsense Income - Would you sell your website?

Passive Adsense Income - Would you sell your website? — Fri, 20 May 2011 02:25:28 +0000

[...] are traffic when you type at the top of your browser but apparently I was wrong, according to http://actionable-analytics.com/2009…u-think-it-is/ there are a few reasons and seems like I managed to add another reason to direct traffic. [...]