Total site traffic for a defined period of time.

Single page view visits divided by entry pages (normally represented as a %).

Number of times a link was clicked by a visitor.

The number of click-throughs for a specific link divided by the number of times that link was viewed.

A visitor completing a target action. The best conversions indicate that a visitor has successfully completed an objective of the site or business.

The most basic unit of measure; a single number, not a ratio. Often a whole number (Visits = 12,398), but not necessarily (Total Sales = $52,126.37).

A general source of data that can be used to define various types of segments or counts and represents a fundamental dimension of visitor behaviour or site dynamics. Some examples are event and referrer. They can be interpreted the same as counts above, but typically they must be further qualified or segmented to be of actual interest. Therefore these define a more general class of metrics and represent a dimension of data that can be associated with each individual visitor.

The first page of a visit.

Any logged or recorded action that has a specific date and time assigned to it by either the browser or server.

The last page on a site accessed during a visit, signifying the end of a visit/session.

The external referrer is a page URL where the traffic is external or outside of the website or a web-property defined by the user.

Activity of a single Web visitor for a defined period of time.

The internal referrer is a page URL that is internal to the website or a web-property within the website as defined by the user.

While a KPI can be either a count or a ratio, it is frequently a ratio. While basic counts and ratios can be used by all Website types, a KPI is infused with business strategy — hence the term, “Key” — and therefore the set of appropriate KPIs typically differs between site and process types.

A page intended to identify the beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort.

The number of Unique Visitors with activity including a first-ever Visit to a site during a reporting period.

The original referrer is the first referrer in a visitor's first session, whether internal, external or null.

Number of exits from a page divided by total number of page views of that page.

The number of times a page (an analyst-definable unit of content) was viewed.

The number of page views in a reporting period divided by number of visits in the same reporting period.

Typically, a count divided by a count, although a ratio can use either a count or a ratio in the numerator or denominator. (An example of a ratio fabricated from ratios is “Stickiness.”) Usually, it is not a whole number. Because it’s a ratio, “per” is typically in the name, such as “Page Views per Visit.” A ratio’s definition defines the ratio itself, as well as any underlying metrics.

The referrer is the page URL that originally generated the request for the current page view or object. When visiting a webpage, the referrer or referring page is the URL of the previous webpage from which a link was followed. There are specific types of referrer: Internal Referrer, External Referrer, Search Referrer, Visit Referrer, and Original Referrer.

The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting of two or more Visits to a site during a reporting period.

The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting of a Visit to a site during a reporting period and where the Unique Visitor also Visited the site prior to the reporting period.

The search referrer is an internal or external referrer for which the URL has been generated by a search function.

A subset of the site traffic for a defined period of time, filtered in some way to gain greater analytical insight: e.g., by campaign (e-mail, banner, PPC, affiliate), by visitor type (new vs. returning, repeat buyers, high value), by referrer.

The number of inferred individual people (filtered for spiders and robots), within a designated reporting timeframe, with activity consisting of one or more visits to a site. Each individual is counted only once in the unique visitor measure for the reporting period.

The length of time in a session. Calculation is typically the timestamp of the last activity in the session minus the timestamp of the first activity of the session.

The visit referrer is the first referrer in a session, whether internal, external or null.

A visit/session is an interaction, by an individual, with a website after a page view.