Web Analytics Glossary: Key Terms & Definitions
The web analytics terms that matter most. With clear definitions, industry benchmarks, and practical strategies for improving key metrics.
Attribution Model
A framework that determines how credit for conversions is assigned to different marketing touchpoints in the customer journey.
Average Session Duration
The average amount of time users spend on your website during a single session, measuring overall site engagement.
Average Time on Page
How long visitors spend viewing a specific page before navigating away, indicating content engagement.
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who land on a page and leave without taking any further action or visiting another page.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your website, such as making a purchase or signing up.
Cookieless Attribution
Methods of tracking and attributing conversions without relying on third-party cookies, using first-party data and server-side tracking.
Daily Active Users (DAU)
The number of unique users who engage with your website or app within a 24-hour period.
Direct Traffic
Visitors who arrive at your site without a trackable referral source, including typed URLs, bookmarks, and unattributed clicks.
Entry Page
The first page a visitor lands on when they arrive at your website, setting the tone for their entire session.
Exit Page
The last page a visitor views before leaving your website. Learn which exit pages are normal and which signal a problem.
Exit Rate
The percentage of visitors who leave your site from a specific page, regardless of how many pages they visited before.
First-Touch Attribution
An attribution model that assigns 100% of conversion credit to the first interaction a customer had with your brand.
Last-Touch Attribution
An attribution model that assigns 100% of conversion credit to the final touchpoint before conversion.
Monthly Active Users (MAU)
The number of unique users who engage with your website or app within a 30-day period.
Multi-Touch Attribution
An attribution method that distributes conversion credit across all touchpoints in the customer journey.
Pageviews
The total number of times pages on your site are loaded or reloaded, counting every page load including repeat views.
Referral Traffic
Visitors who arrive at your site by clicking a link on another website, showing which external sources drive traffic to you.
Referrer
The URL or domain that sent a visitor to your site, identified through the HTTP referrer header passed by the browser.
Unique Visitors
The number of distinct individuals who visit your site in a given period, counting each person only once.
UTM Parameters
Text snippets added to URLs to track marketing campaign performance across different traffic sources and channels.
Vanity Metrics
Data points that look impressive but don't correlate with business success or provide actionable insights.
Weekly Active Users (WAU)
The number of unique users who engage with your website or app within a 7-day period.