Google defines traffic channels as rule-based aggregations of your traffic sources, mediums, and campaigns. And it shares those rules in this default channel group document Default channel grouping .
It sounds complex, but channels are how many of us think about the main marketing activities that drive traffic (email, organic search, etc.)
Some channel groups are equivalent to existing traffic sources. For example, you can see that the “Organic Search” channel below has the same 105,374 sessions as the organic source we looked at earlier.
But others combine various sources and media to create new groups.
Let’s review some of the important traffic channels.
Explore traffic channels
Digital marketers often analyze and whatsapp lead present traffic data at the channel level.
Here is a summary of the main ones:
Organic Search Traffic
Organic search traffic comes to your site through unpaid links on search engines like Google and Bing.
Here is an organic search result:
And this is what the URL looks like when that link is clicked. There are no special parameters visible in the URL. Google Analytics recognizes that it comes from an organic search engine.
Google Analytics classifies traffic in the Organic Search channel when one of two possible conditions is met:
- The traffic source matches a list of known search engines
- The traffic medium exactly matches “organic”
Paid Search Traffic
Paid search traffic comes to your site through paid ads on search engines like Google and Bing.
How are you doing:
Here is the URL:
Google Analytics classifies traffic in the Paid Search channel when both of the following conditions are met:
- The traffic source matches a list of known search engines
- Traffic medium exactly matches “ppc” or “cpc” or select other identifiers (you can review the others in this article about default channel groups )
As we’ve already mentioned, Google Ads traffic is automatically grouped into the Paid Search channel. And you can use UTM codes in your ad links on other paid platforms Default channel grouping.
Referred
Referral traffic comes to your site through unpaid links on other websites, not including search engines and social media sites.
That includes links you find on blogs like this one:
Here is a link that goes to the menu page:
The URL does not include any special parameters, but Google Analytics traffic rules will recognize it as a referrer.
Google Analytics classifies traffic in the Referral channel when the traffic source matches “referral” or “link” or “app.”
If you have a large number of inbound links pointing to your domain, you have the opportunity to see large amounts of referral traffic.
Social ecological
Organic social traffic comes to your site through unpaid links on social platforms like Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), etc.
Here is a Facebook post with a link:
The URL doesn’t have any special parameters, but Google Analytics traffic rules will recognize it as organic social because the traffic source matches a well-known social site.
Google Analytics classifies traffic on the Organic Social channel when one of two possible conditions is met:
- The traffic source matches a list of well-known social media sites
- The traffic medium exactly matches “social”, “social-network”, “social-media”, “sm”, “social network” or “social media”
Paid social networks4
Paid social traffic comes to your site through paid ads on Instagram, Facebook, and other social sites.
Here’s an Instagram ad with a link embedded in the “Buy Now” banner:
This is what a paid social ad URL looks like:
Google Analytics classifies traffic on the Paid Social channel when these two conditions are met:
- The traffic source matches a list of well-known social media sites
Traffic medium exactly matches “ppc” or “cpc” or select other identifiers (you can review the others in this article about default channel groups )
Direct traffic
Direct traffic includes visitors who directly typed your URL into their browser or visited you from a bookmark in their browser.
So:
This channel may also include visits that angola latest email list Google Analytics didn’t understand. This is often the case with email marketing traffic, one of the few traffic sources that Google Analytics can’t understand without the help of UTM parameters.
