In Google Analytics, a "medium" is one of traffic source dimensions, which also include source and campaign. Understanding the medium helps in categorizing and understanding the nature of your website traffic.
Here is all you need to know about understanding traffic in Google Analytics... or you could just use Simple Analytics. Simple and privacy-friendly. No complexity. No cookies. Just the data you need in a simple dashboard.
Alright, back to Google Analytics.
What is Medium?
The medium in Google Analytics refers to the general category of the traffic source. It answers the question, "How did the visitor arrive at your website?" Examples of mediums include:
- Organic: Refers to unpaid search traffic.
- CPC (Cost Per Click) or PPC (Pay Per Click): Traffic from paid search campaigns.
- Referral: Visitors who came to your site from another site without searching.
- Email: Traffic that comes through email marketing campaigns.
- None: Often associated with direct traffic, or where no referral information is passed (for instance, because UTM tags were not implemented properly).
Analyzing Medium in Google Analytics
You can view and analyze traffic by medium in GA's acquisition reports. You can also use medium to create custom segments, in order to better analyze the performance of each medium.
The medium helps you understand your sources of traffic and assess the performance of different marketing channels. The medium also helps analyze user behavior, as users who come from different mediums may approach your website with different intentions and navigate it differently.
Medium and Other Dimensions
- Medium vs. Source: While 'medium' tells you the category of traffic, 'source' provides the specific origin, like a search engine (Google, Bing) or a specific website.
- Medium and Campaign: When used with campaign data, you can track the performance of specific marketing initiatives across different mediums.
Final Thoughts
Google Analytics is great, but also complex and a bit clunky. If you just want a straightforward dashboard with the insights you need, GA is not a great place to start. Additionally, Google Analytics is a privacy-invasive tool and requires an annoying cookie banner.
That's why we built Simple Analytics, a privacy-friendly and simple analytics tool - no personal data, no cookies, just the insights you need in a straightforward dashboard.
If this resonates with you, feel free to give Simple Analytics a spin (it's free). You just need to add the script and off you go. This takes about one minute.