Web analytics, explained in plain English

Articles

26 articles

• Engagement

  Exit rate vs bounce rate, and finding leaky checkout steps

  Exit rate is the share of a page's views that were the last in a visit. Learn the formula, how it differs from bounce rate and how to find checkout leaks.

  7 min read

• Privacy & data

  First-party analytics: keeping visitor data on your own server

  First-party analytics means your own site collects and stores its visitor data. See how it differs from third-party tools, and the honest trade-offs.

  7 min read

• Conversions & revenue

  Goal tracking in web analytics: goal types and common mistakes

  Goal tracking tells your analytics which visitor actions count as success. Learn the types of website goals, how to set them up and the mistakes to avoid.

  7 min read

• Privacy & data

  Hashing for privacy: hash functions, salts and hashed IPs

  Hashing turns data into a fixed-length fingerprint that can't be reversed. Learn how it differs from encryption and why a hashed IP can be personal data.

  7 min read

• Conversions & revenue

  Monthly recurring revenue (MRR): what counts and what doesn’t

  Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is the predictable income your subscriptions bring in each month. Learn the formula, annual plans and churned MRR.

  7 min read

• Traffic

  Organic traffic: unpaid search visits and how to grow them

  Organic traffic is visits from unpaid search results on Google, Bing and others. See how it differs from paid, how to measure it and how to grow it.

  7 min read

• Traffic

  Pageviews: what counts as one, from reloads to single-page apps

  A pageview is counted each time a page on your site loads and your analytics tool records it. See what counts, how reloads work and why views mislead.

  6 min read

• Traffic

  Referral traffic: links from other sites, spam and AI assistants

  Referral traffic is visits from links on other websites. See how to read it, filter out spam, earn more good links and where AI assistants fit.

  6 min read

• Traffic

  Referrer (HTTP Referer): how browsers report the linking page

  A referrer is the address of the page a visitor came from, sent in the HTTP Referer header. Learn how referrer policies work and why referrers go missing.

  7 min read

• Traffic

  Website sessions: how they start, end and differ between tools

  A website session is one visit to your site, from arrival until the visitor leaves or goes quiet. See when sessions start and end, and why tools disagree.

  6 min read

• Engagement

  Time on page: the last-page blind spot and engagement time

  Time on page is how long visitors spend on one page. See how tools measure it, why the last page of a visit gets missed and how to read it per page type.

  7 min read

• Traffic

  Traffic sources: the main channels and source vs medium

  A traffic source is where a website visit came from: search, social, a link, an ad or an email. Learn the main types, source vs medium and how to use them.

  7 min read