Navigating visitor metrics can be confusing without a clear understanding of what each category means. In this article, we'll explain what we mean by "Active", "New", "Returning", and "Sleeping Away" visitors.
Ground Rule: First Seen and Last Seen
Before diving into the types of visitors, it's important to understand two key terms: "First Seen" and "Last Seen".
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First Seen: This is the date and time when a visitor landed on your website and engaged in an active event (like visiting a webpage or clicking a button) for the first time.
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Last Seen: This is the most recent date and time that the same visitor engaged with your website.
Knowing when a visitor was first seen and last seen is essential to categorizing them into the correct visitor group.
Visitor Types
The classification of visitors depends on the date range you're investigating. Let's consider a date range of 1st June to 30th June for our examples.
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Active Visitors: These are the visitors whose "Last Seen" date falls within the specified date range. In other words, they've interacted with your website in some way during that period.
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New Visitors: These visitors are seen for the first time within your specified date range. Their "First Seen" date is within the period of 1st June to 30th June.
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Returning Visitors: These visitors were first seen before the specified date range but have returned and interacted with your website during that period. In other words, their "First Seen" date is before 1st June, but their "Last Seen" date falls between 1st June to 30th June.
Remember, all "Active Visitors" are either "New Visitors" or "Returning Visitors".
- Sleeping Away Visitors: These are the visitors who haven't returned to your website for a significant amount of time. Their "Last Seen" date is outside of the specified date range.
Understanding these definitions will help you interpret your website's visitor data more accurately, allowing for more targeted and effective marketing strategies. If you have any questions about these metrics, don't hesitate to reach out to our support team for further clarification.