Traffic Sources
Understanding your newsletter's incoming visitors
Traffic Sources
In internet language, "traffic" is a different term for "website visitors." For example, if viewers visit your newsletter from a Facebook post, you could say you have a lot of "Facebook traffic."
The "source" is how each visitor found the site. At Smore, the source of a visit is essentially, "how did that visitor find my newsletter?"
Visitors can come from a lot of sources: Facebook posts, links from other websites, Google search results, your emails, and many more.
We categorize visitors by looking at where they came from and then assigning them a group from one of the possible sources listed in "Incoming" in the Analytics section.
What traffic sources are there and what do they mean?
Smore defines 7 source types:
- Website - Visitors come from a link on another website.
If a blog has a link to your newsletter, and someone clicks that link, then their source would be "Website." These are also sometimes known as "referrals" or "referral traffic." - Email - These are visitors that have opened your Smore newsletter. This will only be counted if you've used the "Share with Email" tool. Once someone sees the newsletter in their email app, a view with an "Email" source is counted.
- Direct - These are usually visitors that typed the newsletter's URL directly in the browser. For example, if you type "abc.com" in your browser and click Enter, ABC.com will register a "direct" visit.
In some cases, to protect privacy, apps might "disguise" visits to look like direct visits. This hides which app the user was using. Some direct visits to your newsletters might be because users came from apps. These apps might include email apps and social network apps. - Smore - Visits from within the Smore network of newsletters are classified as "Smore" visits. For example, if someone sees your newsletter in the "related newsletters" bar, and then clicks on it, they will register as a "Smore" visitor.
- Craigslist - When people view your listing on Craigslist, you get "Craigslist" views.
- Facebook, Twitter - When you share your newsletter on Facebook or Twitter, and someone clicks that link and goes to your newsletter, it will register as a "Facebook" or a "Twitter" visit.
Need more info?
For more information, visit our full FAQ library. If you have additional questions, contact our Customer Service team at support@smore.com.
Email: support@smore.com
Website: smore.com
Location: New York, NY, United States
Facebook: facebook.com/smore
Twitter: @smorepages