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High number of type-ins: referrers are not transferred

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From referrer to medium Many entries with type-ins Conclusion and solution

Where do the visitors to my website come from? This question is easy to answer with etracker. However, the number of direct accesses, i.e. type-ins, often appears to be relatively high. Why is this the case?

From referrer to medium

A brief digression: Web browsers send the address of the previously visited website from which a link to the currently requested page was made in the so-called referrer header (http referer). Based on this URL, etracker analytics determines the source of origin and displays it in the “Medium” report. The media include type-in, link/referrer, social media and SEO.

Screenshot of etracker analytics report with high number of type-ins

Many entries with type-ins

Page views with the “Type-In” attribute are usually URLs that are entered directly into the browser’s address bar or accessed from the browser’s favorites. Clicking on a link in an email or newsletter can also lead to a direct entry being counted. As the screenshot above shows, it is therefore not unusual for type-ins to make up the majority of traffic.

There are also disruptive factors that can impair a survey (see our article “Interpreting the source medium correctly“). All web analysis systems are affected by this. It is important to understand that there are technical reasons behind this and not inadequacies in the web analysis systems.

Possible reasons why the referrer information is not passed on 100% to the target page are:

  • Browser settings:
    Modern browsers can block referrer information for data protection reasons.
  • Tracking or ad blockers:
    blockers as browser add-ons or standalone solutions can prevent the transmission of referrer data.
  • Client-side redirects:
    With certain types of redirects (e.g. JavaScript-based or meta refresh redirects), referrer information may be lost.
  • Meta tags:
    websites can use meta tags in the HTML code to specify whether and how referrer data should be passed on.
  • Concealment:
    users can deliberately conceal referrer information with the help of data protection plugins, firewalls, proxy servers or VPNs in order to protect their privacy.
  • HTTPS-to-HTTP redirection:
    When navigating from an HTTPS page to an HTTP page, referrer information is often blocked to prevent secure data from being transmitted via an insecure connection. However, this case only occurs very rarely.

Conclusion and solution

In addition to the direct entry of a URL in the browser, link views via bookmarks and from newsletters are also counted as type-ins. Various technical configurations on the server and client side can prevent the transmission of a referrer, so that these URL calls also appear in the medium type-in as direct accesses.

A helpful tool here are the optional campaign parameters from etracker are a helpful tool here. For example, the medium can be defined in advance with etcc_med. This allows clicks to be specifically assigned to SEA or social media, which reduces the number of type-ins accordingly.

Further optimization can be achieved with etcc_ori. However, it should be noted that this campaign parameter always overwrites the referrer – even if it already exists.