home > Internet > What is the difference between a view and a visitor. Views, Visits, and Visitors – What do you count for SEO? How to increase the number of unique visitors in the metric

What is the difference between a view and a visitor. Views, Visits, and Visitors – What do you count for SEO? How to increase the number of unique visitors in the metric

The returned visitor is an indicator according to the Yandex Metrica statistics collection system showing the loyal attitude of users to the resource.

In fact, these are repeated visits to your site from various traffic sources.

The main sources of returning visitors are:

direct entries;
transitions from search engines;
browser bookmarks;
transitions from social networks.

This indicator is extremely important because more quantity a person returns, the less risk due to wild fluctuations in search results. Many "blocked" portals live perfectly without traffic from search engines, only due to regular visitors.

On the plus side, loyal users are more likely to generate higher conversions on the site and also improve other behavioral metrics (such as the number of pages viewed).

This indicator is essential in terms of ranking in search engines and more than logically. If the visitor returns to the site, it means that he is very likely to rate the resource as high quality.

Naturally, this figure varies greatly depending on the subject of the portal. It is easier for an entertainment resource to form and retain an audience. Imagine what the return rates are for Facebook, Vkontakte, Twitter or even YouTube. Now think about how difficult it is to form the same core of the audience if the site is dedicated to the repair of refrigerators?

How to increase the number of returns to the site?
First of all, the number of returns to the site can be increased in the following ways:

unique and high quality content;
constant updates on the site;
subscription functionality, maintenance feedback with your audience through e-mail newsletters;
the ability for visitors to leave a comment (forums, discussions, personal blogs);
active development of communities in in social networks in parallel with the development of the site;
worked out questions on usability, design, navigation - all for the convenience of users.

Also useful tools for returning visitors are provided by Yandex Direct with retargeting functionality. This option is suitable for selling portals. In another case, draining your hard-earned money does not make much sense. The return of visitors who did not complete the order is a productive idea.

Where exactly can I see the indicators of returning visitors according to Yandex Metrica?
The Yandex Metrica system provides this functionality in many reports. To get started, go to "Reports". The difference between "Visitors" and "New Visitors" is immediately visible - these are the returned users.

If you want to get acquainted with the statistics for individual visits, you need to go to the "Webvisor" section, in which there is an item "Visit Number".

Values in the visit column greater than “1” indicate that this is a returning visitor.

On the statistics page search engines you can make a sample of the number of visits and the number of visitors. Visitors are unique entries. The "Visits" indicator takes into account, including those who returned.

I also find the statistics section very useful.

How to get into it: Reports - Standard reports - Visitors - Loyalty.

In this section, you can also make a selection by segments, depending on the number of repeated visits, including viewing the percentage. Also get acquainted with the frequency of such visits - even the time interval from the first visit to the return.

If you have read up to this point, then most likely you have already independently come to the conclusion about the impact of returns on behavioral factors your site.

You should distinguish between "Views" (), "Visits" (), "Visitors" ().

What is the difference between a visit and a visitor

What is "Visitors"

The "Visitors" column shows the number of unique visitors for the reporting period. A visitor (human or bot) is considered unique if it has a unique set of characteristics (IP address, browser, OS, cookies, etc.).

Why from 01/01/2000 to 01/03/2000 the number of unique visitors is 1? — Because both on 01/01/2000 and 01/02/2000 the same visitor was on the site. If you make three reports for each day, then it will be counted as the only one in two of them. If you make a report for the period from 01/01/2000 to 01/03/2000, then it will be counted as a unique one once.

What is "New Visitors"

The column "New visitors" shows the number of unique visitors for the reporting period who have not previously appeared on the site. If you make a report for the entire time the counter has been functioning, the numbers in the "Visitors" and "New visitors" columns will be the same.

What is "Visits"

During the reporting period, a visitor can make several visits. His departure from the site does not interrupt the visit. The visit ends when some time has passed between the visitor's actions (following links, pressing buttons, mouse movements) on the site. The default is 30 minutes. This time can be changed using the "Visit timeout in minutes" option (see "Setting" - "Basic")

What is "Internal referrals" in "Traffic Source"

: Internal transitions are logged if the user's activity on the site is interrupted for a longer period of time than specified in the visit timeout, but the user does not close the browser window. After the activity is resumed, a new "visit" of the user is created, for which this type will be specified as the source.

Visitor sequence
for the first time in the specified reporting period loaded the page did something	1	-
more than 30 minutes did nothing doing something left the site	1	+

Bounce rate for a visit

A visit to Yandex.Metrica is considered if the following conditions are met for it:

during the visit, only 1 page view was recorded;
the duration of the visit is less than 15 seconds (the time can be changed in the counter code).

The difference between visitors and views

What is "Views"

The indicator itself in the statistics is not very interesting. We need more to understand how many pages on average one visitor views. In Yandex.Metrica, you can not calculate anything, since there is an indicator "Viewing depth".

In Yandex metrics, as in other statistics, the following terms are used: visitors, views, visits, hits. Let's figure out what these words mean and how to find out site traffic in Yandex metrics.

Who is a "visitor" in the analytical reports of the metric.

The visitor is unique user who visited the site during the reporting period you selected: it can be a day or a week, a month or a quarter, a year.

One visitor may well go to the blog several times during the day, and still remain the same the only and unique. But the number of visits (they are also sessions) will grow at the same time.

There may be one visitor per month or per week or per day or per year. For any period.

You also need to clarify that a visit means a visit from a browser. I have 5 browsers, and if I log in from each one in turn, and even from a tablet, etc., then the counter will record five or more visitors. Also, the statistics system counts everyone by cookies. Delete cookies - and you are a new visitor. That is why, visits are a more accurate indicator in web analytics.

What can we understand by comparing the numbers in the columns “visitors” and “visits” in the report?

Their difference! How much or how many times the number of visits (sessions) is greater than the number of visitors.

This difference will show the number of returns to your site per day. To improve, you need to make a big difference. The higher this number, the better!

Let's look at an example:

"Visits" (607) minus "Visitors" (574) equals 33 returns.

What are "visits" in reports.

Visits (sessions)- these are all visits without taking into account uniqueness or non-uniqueness.

In visits, statistics on returned people for the period you have chosen are taken. The entire reporting system in Yandex Metrica and Google Analytics is based on visits. As you can see, this is the most important parameter.

Visit, aka session, default session lasts up to 30 minutes. If during this time the user has not viewed anything else, then the session ends.

What are "views".

Views are quantity pages viewed for your chosen reporting period. Returns (repeated visits) come here.

Everyone who comes to the blog can behave differently.

One will look at a single page and quickly leave - this is a refusenik.

The second - will look at several pages, will for a long time being on the site - this improves behavioral factors.

But keep in mind that for different categories of the site, the number of views is a different indicator.

For example, a site for ordering flowers, where a person entered, looked at the phone number and left to call. Here, one visitor makes a single view, but the goal has already been reached.

In the case of an information site, on the contrary, visiting one page and no more will mean that he did not find what he was looking for, that he did not like the site. We talked about this in the article.

There is also a third type of user. This is the one who clicks on page refresh.

Update as often as you like The number of views will not increase. Within 15 seconds after the first viewing, the second one will not be counted.

There is also a definition such as viewing depth". This indicator tells how interested a person is in the content. You can analyze how many pages he watched and which are the most popular. If the number of views is divided by visits, we get the depth.

Thus, we come to the hits.

What are "hits".

Let's solve the problem:

I go to the site and look at 3 web pages, then a few hours later I look at 4 more pages from the same computer.

How many visitors, visits and hits will there be?

We write in the comments. If you count correctly, then the topic is mastered!

What does the term "refusal" mean?

If a person entered the page and quickly left, having stayed on it for no more than 15 seconds, and did not return during the reporting period, then this is a “refusal”.

In Yandex Metrica and Google Analytics, the value of bounces can differ significantly. Different figures will be in comparison with other services.

If the goal is achieved, then it will not be a failure. For example, viewing a page for more than 15 seconds will also not be considered a bounce.

Video on YouTube for viewing about the terms of Yandex metrics:

When working with statistics in Yandex.Metrica, you have probably come across views and visits. They can be easily confused as they are similar in meaning. To prevent this from happening, let's see what the difference is.

View- this is the loading of the site page when you go to it (regardless of the source of the transition). The view will also be counted if the user refreshes the page (reloads it) or submits any data (for example, by filling out an application form).

Visit- this is differentiating the activity of the same user on the site for a certain time (30 minutes by default). If the visitor does not interact with the site during this time (for example, closed the page or is idle), then his next activity or visit to the site will be counted as a new visit.

Several views can be included in one visit if they are made by the same user. For example, the user went to home page site from the search. IN this moment Metrica counted both the viewing and the visit. After 5 minutes, he opened the page with tariffs. At the moment, a new view is counted, since it was open new page(“Rates”), but a new visit was not counted, since less than 30 minutes have passed since the last interaction of the user with the site. Then, 10 minutes later, the user opened the contact page. Metrica counted another view because the Contacts page was loaded, but still didn't count the new visit. Then the user simply closed the site.

Thus, as a result of this session, 1 visit and 3 views will be recorded in Metrica reports.

More details about visits

One and the same user visit can last at least a day, if he performed any action on the pages of the web resource at least once every 30 minutes.

A new visit will be counted if:

visit the site New user;
more than 30 minutes have passed since the last interaction of the same user with the site;
the ad will be clicked.

The last point is worth focusing on. If the user goes to the site precisely through advertising, then the visit will be counted as a new one, regardless of how much time has passed since his last activity. Ad clicks are considered an exception to the rule.

Let's look at an example. The person entered the query "buy vacuum cleaners." In the organic search results, I saw a link to your site (not an advertisement) and clicked on it. He looked at a couple of models and after 2-3 minutes he closed the site. After 10 minutes, he entered another query “inexpensive vacuum cleaners” and again saw the link to your site, only this time it was an advertisement placed through Direct. A person went to your site, looked at several models, and also closed the tab after 2-3 minutes.

In this case, the system will count 2 visits. The first one lasted from the moment of transition from organic search results to the first closing of the site. The second is from the moment you click on the ad until the site closes.

Despite the fact that less than 30 minutes have passed between these two visits, Metrica will display two different visits assigned to one visitor.

Visitors

This is another concept from "Metrics", which is also worth mentioning. Visitors are unique users who have visited your site. Several visits can be seen for one visitor. The system distinguishes each visitor in the following way. The cookie of the browser from which the transition was made is placed special file with a unique identifier. When revisiting from this browser, the system identifies the user as new or old, regardless of how much time has passed since the last interaction. But if the same user opens the site in a different browser, the system will count him as a new visitor.

The heart of any site owner, SEO specialist or administrator is pleased with the statistics counters, reflecting the steadily growing interest in the resource. However, it is not always clear on bright diagrams or graphs what is considered and how, and therefore jubilation can be replaced by disappointment when it is discovered that instead of worldwide recognition, local popularity or elementary self-contemplation takes place. Logically identical concepts, which are seriously different in statistics, for example, visits and visitors, also introduce confusion. We understand together what is behind the numbers in these columns.

Definition

Visits in the account of visits statistics - the number of sessions during which visitors were on the site.

Visitors in statistics - the number of unique users who viewed (downloaded completely) at least one page of the site.

Comparison

It takes a while to see the difference between visits and visitors. To put it simply, a “visitor” is a specific guest, regardless of whether he came to the site or for a birthday. A “visit” is a period of time that he spent browsing the pages or a cup of coffee. No one forbids a guest to leave and come again, and walk at least all day. The statistics take into account just such visits, excluding instant transitions when the page does not load completely. That is, the number of visits is the number of sessions that were on the site for a certain period of time. The visitor is unique, and he alone can make several visits, each of which will be counted. The number of visitors who viewed the resource will not change in this case. For example, Yandex.Metrica closes the session after 30 minutes of no visitor activity. Thus, if he visits again after 40 minutes, then the number of visitors on the counter will not change, and there will be two visits.

To count visits, browsers are used directly, providing information about visits for identification and storing cookies. In counting visitors, IP also plays an important role, although the identification of a guest is not limited to just identifying him. Some services that keep statistical records can separate visitors into re-visitors and first-time visitors. Any of this data helps the resource administrator to see the effectiveness of his work and adjust it in accordance with specific conditions. The greater the quantitative difference between the number of visitors and the number of visits, the more efficient the work of the resource and the higher its demand.