Why is it important to know your website visitors' origin?
Let us start with the beginning: why do you need to know where your visitors come from? First, it is important data if you want to do marketing campaigns. Besides confirming if a campaign was successful, it can help you know where to invest. Indeed, if you notice that most of your website or online store’s visitors come from social media, being active on these platforms could be relevant. Knowledge is key!
Where can I find this information?
Now that you know more about the importance of knowing your website visitors’ origin, where can you find this information? If you have created a website with WebSelf, you have access to some statistics, including the sources of traffic and the referral sites on your dashboard. With this, you will be able to have a better understanding of where your visitors come from.
It is also possible to access more precise information with Google Analytics. Indeed, if you linked your website to GA4, you can find traffic and user acquisition data under the Acquisition tab. They are separated into different categories; let us present the main ones and what they represent.
Organic Search
Organic search is the first category we want to discuss and the most important. These visitors come from search engines like Google, and they discovered your website after research. When your website is well-optimized, you increase your chances of appearing in search results.
Direct
Unlike organic search where research is the origin of the visit, direct is the category where your visitors did something that directly sent them to your website. For example, it can be to enter your domain name or add your site as a favorite. Having many direct visits can tell that people come back to your website, which is a good sign!
Referral
Search engines are not the only interesting traffic sources; other websites can bring visitors and sales. You can find these referring websites under the Referral category in Google Analytics. It can be relevant if you partner with other businesses or offer affiliate programs.
Emails
Do you send newsletters to your community from time to time? If you take the time to add links to your website, there are great chances that you get traffic from there. Indeed, you can find the Email category in Google Analytics. If you did not think about making emailing campaigns, what are you waiting for?
Videos
With Google, YouTube remains one of the most important search engines. Did you create videos to present or promote your products? Did influencers or experts mention your business in a video? Are there any ads on this platform? If the answer is yes, you will find the visitors from YouTube under the Organic Video and Paid Video categories.
Social Media
When you create your website, we recommend you take the time to use social media; however, we need to remind you that it is not necessary to be active on all platforms. Try some of them and keep the best according to your target audience. You can find data regarding the visitors from social media under the Organic Social and Paid Social categories.
Paid Search
Have you noticed that the first displayed search results on Google are ads? Indeed, with Google Ads, it is possible to pay to appear when some specific keywords are searched. This type of advertising can be very interesting if you want to increase your website traffic and sales. If you choose this kind of campaign, you will find the visits under the Paid Search category.
Unassigned
Finally, if Google cannot identify the visit’s origin, it will add it to the Unassigned category. If the number of visits under the Unassigned category is high, working on other traffic sources, like the direct visits, and improving your online presence could be relevant.
In conclusion, knowing where your website visitors come from will make driving campaigns to increase your traffic and sales easier. You can also see what could be improved. Do not hesitate to take a look at your traffic sources from time to time. If you do not have a great budget for advertising, it is also possible to choose some free campaigns. Regarding this, we recommend you read our article about the best sites to increase your organic traffic. Good luck!