Changes to Metrics
As part of this update, “Visitor Count” will be renamed to “Total Site Traffic,” and we’re introducing more straightforward definitions to help you better understand platform reach and engagement.
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Dashboard name: Site Activity
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Change description: The metric currently labeled “Visitor Count” will be updated to “Total Site Traffic” to provide a more accurate description of the measure.
Logged-in Users
What this metric represents
This metric represents the count of unique users who signed in to the site within the chosen time frame. It is based on individual login accounts, meaning each person is counted only once, regardless of their visit frequency or the number of devices they use.
How to use this metric
Use Logged-in Users to understand staff or member platform usage, adoption, and engagement among users who actively access the system.
Total Site Traffic (formerly Visitor Count)
What this metric represents
Total Site Traffic shows how many people reached your site during the selected time period. This number is based on unique browser visits (measured using cookies) and provides a high-level view of overall traffic and reach including logged-in users and visitors who didn’t take an action.
Since this measurement is based on browsers rather than individual people, in some cases, the same person may appear more than once if they visit from different devices, browsers, or clear their cookies.
How to use this metric
Total Site Traffic serves as a key indicator for tracking overall visibility and long-term traffic trends. It is intended as a measure of total exposure and should not be used to count specific user types (logged-in or anonymous) or completed actions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: When I apply certain location filters, why are the number of logged-in users sometimes greater than the Total Site Traffic?
A: This usually happens because location filters affect the two metrics differently.
Total Site Traffic is filtered based on the location where searches are performed, not the physical location of the user. When a location filter is applied, the metric only counts traffic associated with searches in that selected area.
In contrast, Logged-in Users counts users who signed in during the selected period and is not reduced by search-location filters, since login activity is not tied to a specific search location.
As a result, when a location filter is applied, Total Site Traffic may decrease, while the number of Logged-in Users remains unchanged. This can make Logged-in Users appear higher than Total Site Traffic in some filtered reports.
Q: Why use Total Site Traffic metric in-lieu of Sessions metric?
A: We are standardizing our reporting to use Total Site Traffic as the primary measure of site reach instead of Sessions to provide a clearer and more consistent view of overall site activity. Previously, Sessions measured consecutive activity from the same browser within a 30-minute window, meaning that 30 minutes of inactivity triggered a new session. As a result, a single visitor could generate multiple sessions, short inactivity periods created additional counts, and interpretation often varied depending on user behavior patterns. Total Site Traffic simplifies this approach by focusing on unique browser visits rather than session timing, which streamlines reporting, improves clarity and consistency, makes trends easier to interpret, and provides a more intuitive measure of overall reach.