So

· Monday there was just one Visitor (A) and they were a New Visitor

· Tuesday both A and B came, B was a New Visitor, but A had come the previous day, so they were a Returning Visitor

· Wednesday, C was a New Visitor, but both A and B were a Returning Visitors

Hopefully that makes sense so far?

Then it starts getting more complicated!

For the week, we have the following:

Note that New vs. Returning Visitors report is actually counting Visits (not Visitors) and segmenting them by whether or not they were from New or Returning Visitors.  The total is the therefore the total number of Visits (not Visitors) and matches the total in the Visit Summary table.

To make sense of it you have to look at each number in isolation e.g.

· Visits by Returning Visitors = 3

· Visitors Who Visited More Than Once = 2

· (Unique) Visitors = 3

                not always appear to make immediate sense…

            Firstly – from the notes at the top of the Campaign report:

This report shows activity occurring during the report time period segmented according

to the campaign ID of the most recent campaigns. For the report time period, all conversions

and other activities are tracked and attributed to the last campaign to which visitors

responded. Thus, even if the conversion does not happen on the first visit generated by the

most recent campaign, the appropriate source is “credited” with the conversion.

                i.e. it will attribute later visits to the campaign as well, regardless of whether or not they

                click through a second time.

                To answer the question about the difference between Visits, Page Views and Clickthroughs,

                from the Help Card at the bottom of the report:

·         Visits - A visit is a series of actions that begins when a visitor views their first page

        from the server, and ends when the visitor leaves the site or remains idle beyond

         the idle-time limit. The default idle-time limit is thirty minutes. 

·         Page Views - A hit to any file classified as a page. (i.e. it does not include

        downloads etc.)

·         Clickthroughs - A single instance of a click on an advertisement link.

        (More accurately whenever the visitor looks at any URL which includes the

        WT.mc_id parameter on the end)

                I thought this would be explained best with a short example:

        Consider 3 people who click on a link including the campaign id:

1.       Fred – arrives on the site and goes on to a second page

2.       Bert – arrives on the site, goes on to a second page and then either:

a.        Presses the browser back button

b.       Clicks through again

(we can’t tell which)

3.       Tom – arrives on the site and goes on to a second page which he bookmarks

        in the morning.  Returns via the bookmark in the afternoon

In a table:

So:

1.       Fred – is straightforward

2.       Bert – has 1 Visit (no gap of greater than 30 minutes), but 2 clickthroughs because

        the WT.mc_id parameter appears twice

3.       Tom – has 2 visits (there is a gap greater than 30 minutes), only 1 clickthrough

        (because the WT.mc_id parameter appears only once), but this second visit is still

        attributed to the earlier clickthrough from the campaign

However, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a privacy notices code of practice on 12 June 2009 for both websites and other media which has proved very useful.

In brief, it states that businesses must legally process personal information fairly, and a privacy notice should state:

· the identity of the organisation in control of the processing

· the purpose or purposes for which the information will be processed

· any further information necessary in the circumstances to enable the processing in respect of the individual to be fair.

The full document is surprisingly easy to read and I can recommend it – available from the ICO website…