What is a traffic source?
A traffic source is where a website visitor came from, such as Google search, another website, social media, an email or an ad.
Analytics tools record where each visit came from. In GA4 this is described with source (the specific site, like google or facebook.com), medium (the type, like organic, referral or cpc) and campaign. These are grouped into channels such as Organic Search, Paid Search, Referral, Organic Social, Email and Direct. Links tagged with UTM parameters tell analytics the source exactly.
Why it matters for your business: Knowing your traffic sources shows which marketing brings visitors and leads, so you can invest more in what works and cut what does not.
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