New Vs. Returning Visitors metric can give your business a breakdown of how many new visitors came to your website and how many are returning to your business website.
As most marketer believes, it is one of the most basic types of segmentation.
This metric is what Google looks at closely for websites to see how well you’re doing with your traffic.
It may sound straightforward, but it’s actually a pretty complex metric.
With this data, you can learn a lot about the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and gain insight into targeting the most common visitors who could become potential customers.
- if returning rate is small:
- you might have either a very high conversion rate (so visitors solve their problem from first visit)
- you traffic might be of very low quality, so they don’t want to return
- you can also compare to Revenue Per Visitor
- if return rate is very high:
- you might look at conversion rate, as might be a problem that visitors return without solving what they are looking for
- you might be missing opportunities in acquiring new traffic to increase business
So, if you’re trying to grow your online business, keep an eye on this metric and use it to your advantage!
What is New Vs Returning Visitor?
Definition of New Vs Returning Visitor
New Vs Returning Visitor is a metric that measures the proportion of new and returning visitors to a website over a specific time range.
The meaning of this metric is basically very self-explanatory. But to understand further what it does it provides insight into the effectiveness of a website in attracting new visitors, as well as retaining existing ones.
Most marketers define this in the simplest way to explain.
New visitors as those who are visiting a website for the very first time, while returning visitors are those who have visited the website before.
While Google Analytics defines this metric with the use of browser cookies to distinguish between new and returning users.
This metric can help you to understand how your website traffic is changing over time and to determine the effectiveness of your marketing strategies in attracting new visitors.
The data can also be used to gain insights into the behavior of returning visitors, such as how long they stay on the website and which pages they visit.
This information can be used to optimize the website to better meet the needs of visitors and to target specific groups of visitors with personalized content or offers.
Want to be up to date with Marketing?
Subscribe to our Retail CX newsletter!
Stay connected with what’s really important to optimize your digital revenues.
By clicking the button, you accept our Terms & Conditions. Also you will need to confirm your email address.
How to track New vs. Returning Visitors?
One of the most known tools available to track new vs. returning visitors on a website is Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool that allows you to track website traffic, including the number of new and returning visitors.
To view this data, navigate to the Acquisition> Overview report in your Google Analytics account.
While if you wish to specifically view data for your new and returning visitors, navigate to the Retention then it will show you the total number of new and returning visitors you have on your website.
By using Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights that are relevant to understand the behavior and engagement of your website visitors.
You can also identify areas for improvement in your marketing efforts, and optimize your website and marketing efforts for a better user experience and conversion rates.
How often should you check New vs. Returning Visitors?
The frequency of checking new vs. returning visitors on your website depends on the goals and objectives of your website and marketing strategy. However, as a general rule of thumb, it’s recommended to check this metric on a regular basis to gain insights into the behavior and engagement of your website visitors.
Depending on the size and complexity of your website, you may choose to check this metric daily, weekly, or monthly.
Daily or Weekly: If you have a small website with low traffic, you may want to check new vs. returning visitors on a regular basis to spot any changes in visitor behavior.
Also if you run multiple traffic acquisition campaigns, you might want to check it daily in order to see conversion rate and revenue generated from the new traffic in order to stop wasting money if there are problems with that.
Monthly: If you have a large website with a lot of traffic, you might want to monitor this metric weekly or monthly to have a better picture of visitor behavior over time.
Important Things about New vs. Returning Visitors
Understanding the behavior of new and returning visitors is important for you as a website owner and marketer as it can provide insights into the effectiveness of your website and marketing efforts.
Here are a few important things to know about new vs. returning visitors:
New visitors are potential customers: New visitors to your website represent an opportunity to attract and convert new customers. It’s important to create a positive first impression and provide relevant information that can help them make a purchase decision.
Returning visitors are more engaged: Returning visitors are already familiar with your website and brand, which means they are more likely to engage with your content and make a purchase. It’s important to provide them with fresh and relevant content to keep them engaged and coming back for more.
New visitors have a higher bounce rate: New visitors may be less familiar with your website and brand, which can lead to a higher bounce rate. It’s important to create a user-friendly website and provide clear calls to action to encourage visitors to stay on your website and explore further.
Returning visitors have a higher conversion rate: Returning visitors are more familiar with your website and brand, which means they are more likely to convert. It’s important to create personalized messages for them.
Metrics related to New vs. Returning Visitors
There are several metrics related to new vs. returning visitors that can provide insights into the behavior and engagement of your website visitors. Here are a few important metrics to consider:
Customer Lifetime Value
The estimated total value of a customer to a business over the course of their lifetime
Repeat Purchase Rate
The percentage of customers who make more than one purchase from your website.
Customer Acquisition Cost
The cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.
Customer Satisfaction Score
The measure of how satisfied customers are with a company’s products or services.
As a general knowledge, a business goal is to gain more customers and be able to retain them.
So understanding the data of your new and returning customers can help you analyze your business efforts in acquiring and retaining your customers.
With Vibetrace, you can easily create automated emails to your subscribers list whether new or returning visitors, and be able to send them emails to show that you value them by providing them exclusive promos and discounts to increase customer engagement and retention.
Learn more about what Vibetrace can do for you!
