If you are a seasoned online marketer, you are probably aware there are differences between visitors to your website with absolute unique visitors, page views with unique page views, and clicks with visits. However, for someone starting out, hearing or reading these terms may be confusing. This is why an explanation of the differences in terms is beneficial. At least by learning the differences, it will better help you in your marketing.
Visitors vs. Absolute Unique Visitors
Trying to understand the difference between visitors and absolutely unique visitors may be hard at first. However, it really isn’t once the two terms are explained. Absolute unique visitors are referred to as anyone who visits your site. If someone comes to your site, that person is counted as a visit. If he leaves and comes back, but after 30 minutes, it is a new session and that visit is considered unique. If the visitor leaves and returns before 30 minutes then the visit is considered a repeat. Keeping track of visitors may be important to you especially when measuring metrics or testing landing pages.
Page Views vs. Unique Pageviews
A pageview is when a person views a page of a website. This page has to be tracked by Analytics to be counted. If a person visits a page initial, it is a unique pageview, but if he reloads the page or comes back to the page, it is considered as an additional pageview, not a unique one.
Clicks vs. Visits
When you are considering clicks and visits, keep in mind there is a distinction. Clicks are when someone clicks your AdWords ad and visits are when that person actually arrives at your page. However, there are occasions when a visitor may click your ad many times. In other words, he may click your ad once, then hit the back button and click the ad again. The clicks will add up, as compared to visits. When you view your Analytics reports, you may see more clicks than visits. On the other hand, more visits than clicks are possible when someone revisits the site from a bookmark or other website link.
Hopefully, this brief explanation will help you with your marketing efforts. It is good to keep track of such stats, because these stats will help you learn how your site is doing. If you find your visits are down, then you have to promote more. If your pageviews are down, and you are getting a lot of visits, it could be the content doesn’t really satisfy the visitor’s query.