The video is in the works. Until then, the guide will get you there.
Step-by-step guide
Where to find the Visitors overview
In the side menu, click "Visitors".
A submenu opens. Choose "Overview" there.
The Visitors overview page opens.
The five metrics at the top
Five numbers sit side by side at the very top. Together they answer two things: is anybody coming at all? And does that somebody do anything on your site, or are they gone right away?
| Metric | What it tells you | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Visits | How often your website was opened in total. One person can come several times, every visit counts separately. | Your baseline. The number you keep an eye on over weeks. |
| Unique visitors | How many different people were on your site. If somebody comes three times, that is one unique visitor but three visits. | Shows how big your audience really is. |
| Visit duration | How long a visit lasted on average. | A few seconds usually means: landed in the wrong place. Several minutes means: your content hits the mark. |
| Bounce rate | How often somebody looked at just one single page and then left right away. | Always read it in the context of the page. More on that in a moment. |
| Actions per visit | How many page views, clicks, or downloads fall on one visit. | Under 1.5, hardly anybody clicks onward. From 3 up, visitors really move through your website. |
The difference between visits and unique visitors matters. 1,000 visits sounds good. But if only 200 unique visitors are behind them, the same people keep coming back. That is neither good nor bad, it just tells you something completely different about your audience. In the first case you have reach, in the second loyalty. For an online store, one counts more, for a blog, the other.
And a high bounce rate is not automatically a problem. With a blog article, it is normal for somebody to read, be satisfied, and leave again. On a home page that is supposed to lead somewhere, a high bounce rate would be a warning sign instead.
A tip before you get lost in single numbers: always look at the five metrics as pairs. Many visits and a short visit duration mean something completely different from few visits and a long visit duration. In the first case the wrong people are coming, in the second, too few of the right ones. The one number alone never tells you that.
Visitor trend (the chart)
Below that, the visitor trend shows as a line chart how your numbers develop from day to day. The blue line is the visits, the orange one the unique visitors.
This is where you spot trends and see at a glance which days were busy and which were quiet. Especially handy for measuring impact: did you send a newsletter or post something on social media? In the trend you see right away whether it brought visitors. A spike upward on exactly the right day, and you know it worked.
The three boxes at the bottom
Below the chart you find three compact boxes. Each one shows a small chart plus a top 5 list. If you want to dig deeper, the link in the top right (for example, "All locations →") takes you to the full detail page.
- Locations: where do your visitors come from? A world map plus the five most common countries. That way you see whether you are reaching the right regions. You only sell in the US, but half of your visitors come from abroad? Then you know something does not add up.
- Devices: do your visitors come through desktop, tablet, or phone? If the majority are on mobile and the bounce rate on the phone is high, you know right away where to start. Your page is probably too much of a hassle on the small screen.
- Software: which browsers do your visitors use, so Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and so on? That helps you decide where elaborate testing is even worth it. If 80% come on Chrome and only 3% on Safari, it is clear where to focus.
Why only five entries? Because the overview is meant to be the quick look and not the research. In the vast majority of cases the top 5 already cover most of it. If you need the full list, the links in the top right take you straight there.
Aha moments you will recognize
The overview is usually where it clicks. A few patterns you will recognize quickly:
- Lots of visits, few unique visitors. The same people keep coming back. They can be loyal fans. Or, quite simply, you, opening your own site all the time. Both good to know.
- A spike in the trend on exactly the day after the newsletter. Then the newsletter worked. From now on you can measure that simply, whether an action was worth it.
- High bounce rates on the phone, but not on desktop. A clear sign: your page is too much of a hassle on the small screen. Too slow, too cramped, too much scrolling. That is exactly where the work pays off.
- Visitors from countries you do not target at all. If you only sell in the US but half come from abroad, something is off with your targeting.
- All numbers stable, only the visit duration collapses. Usually you changed something shortly before. A new layout, a different opening text, an ad banner. The visitors still come, but they no longer stay. Look at what happened on that day.
What is in it for me?
The overview answers the most important questions without you having to search for long:
- Is my website growing? Look at the visits and the trend.
- Am I reaching real visitors or just random traffic? The unique visitors and the visit duration tell you.
- Do the visitors stay, or are they gone right away? Bounce rate and actions per visit give the answer.
- Who are my visitors anyway? Locations, devices, and browsers paint the picture.
The real value lies in the comparison over time. A single number tells you little. Whether 400 visits a month is a lot or a little depends entirely on your industry and your size. It only gets interesting when you compare the month with the previous month. That is why the comparison period is worth it. It turns a bare number into a direction.
For depth, simply click the matching detail page. The overview deliberately stays the quick look at the whole picture.
Common questions
Why is the overview almost empty on the first day?
Because only the real-time view counts immediately. All the other reports are processed overnight and appear the next morning. On the second day the overview fills up on its own.
What is the difference between visits and unique visitors?
Unique visitors count people. Visits count how often anybody stopped by at all. If the same person comes three times, that is one unique visitor and three visits. So visits are always equal to or higher than unique visitors, never lower.
Is a high bounce rate bad?
Not necessarily. With a blog article, somebody reads and leaves satisfied, which is completely normal. On a home page that is supposed to lead somewhere, a high bounce rate is a warning sign. So always look at which page it is about.
Why does Real-Time show different numbers than the overview?
Real-Time shows what is happening right now. The overview shows the fully processed period. For the current day the numbers can therefore differ slightly until the processing overnight is done.
Are bots counted?
No. We filter out search engine crawlers and bots automatically. In your overview you see real people. There is one single exception: in the Visibility report the AI bots are shown on purpose, because that is exactly where that information is interesting. They do not show up in the Visitors overview.
Can I compare two periods?
Yes. Turn on the comparison period in the top right. A colored percentage then appears under each metric, green for better, red for worse.
My numbers swing a lot from day to day. Is that an error?
With smaller websites, that is normal. A single newsletter, a shared post, or a holiday visibly moves the curve. So judge weeks instead of single days. Over several weeks, chance turns into a pattern.
From when are the numbers meaningful?
The more visitors, the calmer the curve. On a small website with a handful of views a day, every number is heavily shaped by chance. In that case, wait two to four weeks before you draw anything from it.