Why is direct traffic increasing and how to fix it in Google Analytics

Hi {NAME}, Himanshu here from OptimizeSmart. I hope you are doing well. I have couple of updates for you... # Get helpful tips on daily basis If you are the type of person who finds it helpful to receive short tips on building your website traffic, improving conversions, fixing attribution issues and learning about analytics in general, then follow me on LinkedIn. I post a few short tips each day. [Click here and follow me on LinkedIn.]( #1 [Why is direct traffic increasing and how to fix it in Google Analytics]( Direct traffic is increasing day by day, and if you don’t do anything about it now, then one day, all you will see in your analytics reports will be direct traffic: little to no referral data, just direct traffic. Following are the top reasons why direct traffic is increasing in Google Analytics: 1) One or more URLs of your marketing campaigns are incorrectly tagged. 2) Not all URLs of your marketing campaigns are tagged. 3) Google Analytics tracking code is missing on one or more pages. 4) Untagged email marketing campaigns. 5) Incorrect use of data filters in Google Analytics. 6) Incorrect cross-domain tracking. 7) You use a headless solution. 8) You use a single page application (SPA). 9) Internal traffic can result in a lot of direct traffic. 10) Your website is still using a non-secure connection. 11) Caching can cause the traffic to be reported as direct traffic. 12) Your demand generation strategy can result in a lot of direct traffic. 13) An increasing number of your website users are using adblockers. 14) Increased brand awareness can result in more people visiting your website via bookmarks or directly. 15) Your website may be getting fake direct traffic from spambots. I never thought caching could cause the traffic to be reported as direct traffic. However, there could be cases where a web browser, plugin or CDN can cache the head section of a web page or cache JavaScript files and thus stop the GA tracking code from firing when a user loads a web page from their browser cache. This can result in Google Analytics not recording the referral information and reporting the referral traffic as direct traffic. #2 Do you want better skills in digital analytics and marketing? If yes then register for the free_training. Hurry, seats are limited. Here’s what we’re going to cover… #1 Why digital analytics is the key to online business success. #2 The number 1 reason why most marketers are not able to scale their advertising and maximize sales. #3 Why Google and Facebook ads don’t work for most businesses & how to make them work. #4 Why you won’t get any competitive advantage in the marketplace just by knowing Google Analytics. #5 The number 1 reason why conversion optimization is not working for your business. #6 How to advertise on any marketing platform for FREE with an unlimited budget. #7 How to learn and master digital analytics and conversion optimization in record time. [Click here to register for this class]( Set Up Your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Account Correctly And Fast Table of Contents GA4 Setup Planning GA4 Basic Setup 1) Upgrade to GA4 (Google Analytics 4) ​2) Set up Enhanced Measurement Tracking in GA4 ​3) Activate Google Signals for your GA4 property ​4) Exclude internal traffic in GA4 ​5) Connect your GA4 property with Google Ads ​6) Set Up Site Search Tracking in GA4 ​7) Set up Scroll Tracking in GA4 ​8) Import conversions from GA4 property to your Google Ads account ​9) Connect your GA4 property with Google Search Console ​10) Set up Cross Domain Tracking in GA4 11) Connect your GA4 property with BigQuery 12) Transfer GA3 (Universal Analytics) data into GA4 13) Save your Universal Analytics data from being deleted 14) Setup GA4 test property 15) Setup referral exclusion in GA4 16) Install Google Analytics 4 on Shopify GA4 Intermediate Setup 1) Set up GA4 Custom Events ​2) Rename Events in GA4 ​3) Use the debug view report in GA4 ​4) Set Up Goal Conversion Tracking in GA4 ​5) Setup Content Grouping in GA4 ​6) Create User properties in GA4 ​7) Create custom insights in GA4 ​8) Create remarketing audiences in GA4 ​9) Build comparisons (advanced segments) in GA4 10) Create custom audiences in GA4 11) Create Audience Triggers in GA4 12) Upload data from external data sources via GA4 Data Import GA4 Advanced Setup 1) Set up predictive metrics in GA4 2) Create Predictive Audiences in GA4 ​3) Set up Ecommerce Tracking in GA4 4) Set up Enhanced Ecommerce Tracking in GA4 5) Set up Sales funnels in GA4 6) Export data from GA4 to BigQuery 7) Track Single Page Apps in GA4 8) Setup GA4 via GTM Server Side Tagging Website Audit for Universal Analytics Set up Universal Analytics Account Level Setup Universal Analytics Property Level Setup Universal Analytics View Level Setup Other Universal Analytics Configurations Get_FREE_lifetime updates of this ebook So your checklist never gets out of date. I update this checklist every couple of months. FAQ: Do you show “How” to do each item on the checklist? If so, with screen shots? Yes. There are links to the articles with detailed step by step instructions. FAQ: Does this ebook cover GTM too? Yes. [Get the 62 points GA Checklist ebook (70 pages)]( Why understanding the data layer is the key to getting the most out of Google Tag Manager.... In the context of GTM, a data layer is a JavaScript array that is used to collect and store data from a website and then send that data to GTM (aka the container tag). Google recommends using data layers, for retrieving run time information. A data layer provides a safer and reliable way to pull data from your website and send it to GTM.  When you pull data directly from your website (by traversing the HTML DOM) and push it into your analytics and marketing tags (via GTM), you create an unreliable tracking setup. This happens because a typical website updates all the time. So any change in the HTML DOM (structure of HTML) can break your tracking set up any day, any time without any prior notice. To fix this problem, we create and use data layers, which stores all the information we want to collect about a web page.  Once we have set up the data layer, we pull data directly from the data layer instead of the HTML DOM of the page. That's why understanding the data layer is the key to getting the most out of Google Tag Manager. But you can create and use data layers only when you understand the JavaScript behind it. That's why I have written an entire book (100+ pages) on GTM data layers. What is so different about this book is that firstly it is only the book on data layers ever published. Second, it actually teaches you the JavaScript required to create a data layer. All other resources on data layers assume that you already know JavaScript or they simply tell you to figure it out on your own.  But you really cannot create, use or even understand data layers, if you do not understand the JavaScript behind it.   [Get the data layers ebook (100+ pages)]( Looking for Google Analytics 4 & Google Tag Manager Consulting Service? If you are not sure whether your GA4 property is setup correctly or you are looking for someone to set up GA4 correctly for you then [contact us](. I hope you find all these updates helpful. Talk soon, Himanshu Sharma Founder, OptimizeSmart.com You got this email because you subscribed to OptimizeSmart.com OptimizeSmart, Alford, Aberdeenshire, UK [Unsubscribe](