Organic traffic is among the best kind of traffic one can have. It’s completely free and highly targeted in most cases.
Keeping track of organic traffic from sources like Twitter (or, shall we say, X now), Google, Facebook, and others helps you understand how your inbound marketing efforts work.
In this blog, we will walk you through the steps of tracking your organic traffic in the easiest possible way.
- What is an organic traffic source for a website?
- How does Simple Analytics track organic traffic sources?
- Steps to Track Organic Traffic Using Simple Analytics
- Final Thoughts
What is an organic traffic source for a website?
Any traffic you receive on your website through organic channels (i.e., traffic you don’t pay for) refers to organic traffic.
Organic traffic refers to the visitors who come to your website through unpaid, natural, and non-promotional means. These sources generally include search engines and other social channels where people can discover your website.
How does Simple Analytics track organic traffic sources?
Simple Analytics is a privacy-friendly web analytics tool that innately tracks all possible data and metrics related to your website traffic. It's 10x easier to setup tracking than in GA4. Hence we use it in this example.
Once you add the Simple Analytics script to your website, it collects important metrics related to your visitors' interactions.
You can refer to the documentation page for a complete list of tracked metrics.
To track organic traffic sources effectively, Simple Analytics uses the referrer hostname. This helps identify the origin of your traffic and provides valuable data about where your organic visitors are coming from.
Steps to Track Organic Traffic Using Simple Analytics
Now that you understand the importance of tracking organic traffic and how Simple Analytics does it, let's walk through the steps to set it up for your website.
Install the Script
If you haven't already added the Simple Analytics script to your website, follow these instructions:
- Locate the <body> tag in your website's HTML code.
- Copy and paste the following script inside the <body> tag:
<!-- 100% privacy-first analytics -->
<script async defer src="<https://scripts.simpleanalyticscdn.com/latest.js>"></script>
<noscript><img src="<https://queue.simpleanalyticscdn.com/noscript.gif>" alt="" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /></noscript>
This script enables Simple Analytics to start tracking page views on your website.
Let the Data Flow In
After you've installed the Simple Analytics script, you'll need to give it some time to gather data. The script will start collecting information as visitors come to your website naturally.
Set Up a Goal to Track Organic Traffic
Now that you have some traffic flowing into your website, it's time to create a goal to track organic traffic sources such as Google, Bing, Twitter, and others. Follow these steps to set up the goal:
- Log in to your Simple Analytics dashboard.
- Navigate to the “Goals” section.
- Click on “Create Goal” or “Add New Goal.”
- Give your goal a descriptive name, like “Traffic from Google.”
- Choose the “pageview” event from the list of available events.
- Under the filter options, select “Referrer hostname – is – Google” to track traffic specifically from Google. For Twitter, it would be “Referrer hostname – is – Twitter.com,” and for other sources, you may need to identify the appropriate referrer hostname value.
- Save the Goal.
Once you've set up the Goal, consider marking it as “important” to have it appear on your visitor dashboard for easy monitoring.
You can also use our newest feature: Simple Analytics AI and just ask for the data.
Final Thoughts
The benefits of tracking organic traffic are immense. It provides essential insights into the effectiveness of your organic marketing efforts.
Knowing which sources drive the most organic traffic to your website, you can refine your SEO strategies, identify popular content, and make informed decisions to improve your website's visibility and overall performance.
Simple Analytics is the easiest tool that can help you do this effectively. Feel free to give us a try!