Unique Visits Explained

Altin Tola

by Altin Tola · Updated Aug 16, 2021

What are unique visits? The definition.

Unique visits are the number of people who have visited a web page or website within a set time frame. If the same person visits your website several times throughout the day, they are counted as a single unique visitor.

By tracking unique visits, you can better understand the actual size of your website's audience. This metric also helps you to better gauge visitor satisfaction. If the same people continue to come to your site, it's a good sign that they enjoy your content.

How are unique visitors calculated?

A unique visitor is determined by the IP address that is used to access your website. If the same IP address lands on the same webpage or website multiple times within a specified period of time, it only counts as one unique visit.

Using web analytics tools, you can track and measure unique users across any time period. However, most domain owners track unique visitors on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.

How to view unique visits in Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is one of the best tools to use to analyze unique views. Here are steps to take to view your website's total number of unique visitors.

  1. Click Audience (top left) and then click Overview.
  2. A graph will appear at the top of the page. It shows users and unique visitors that have come to your site in the last 30 days.
  3. The graph also displays "sessions," which used to be known as visits. This is how many times a unique visitor comes to your site.

Why unique visitors are important

Unique visitors are an important metric to track if you want to increase your website’s following. Each unique visitor that you get is proof that your brand is growing and becoming more authoritative.

Tracking unique visitors is a great way to gauge the efficacy of marketing campaigns and the popularity of new website content.

What is the difference between unique visits and unique pageviews?

A visit is a combination of actions that take place on your site within a set time frame. For instance, a single visit may include many pageviews. A visit can also include other actions such as an ecommerce transaction or a social interaction.

A visit starts when a visitor lands on your site and stops when the visit ends. A visit can end when a new calendar day begins or after 30 minutes of inactivity.

It's important to note that if a visitor comes to your site using a different browser or device, it will be counted as a separate visit.

A unique pageview is an aggregate count of pageviews that are generated by each user during a session. It's the measure of how many times a page was viewed during a session.

Reloading or renavigating to a page during the same session will count as one unique pageview. On the other hand, these actions may be counted as several pageviews. A visitor can have several visits across a set time frame. Each visit could consist of many pageviews of the same page, but only one unique pageview. By tracking these metrics, you can identify which content is most popular, better optimize your website, generate more leads, and

How to increase unique visits to your website

There are many ways to drive new website traffic from unique visitors on a consistent basis. Some of the most effective options include:

  • Search engine optimization
  • Linking to your pages on social media
  • Email marketing
  • Routinely posting useful content
  • Paid traffic ads
  • Influencer marketing