Direct Traffic

In Google Analytics (GA4), direct traffic theoretically refers to all traffic that does not come from any source. This could be, for example, a visitor typing the URL directly into the browser bar, or opening the website from their favorites (or bookmarks).

In practice, however, direct traffic mainly means traffic that is either direct or unknown. When Google Analytics cannot determine the source of a visit, it always marks it as direct. This can happen in a large number of situations, for example when the website is opened from a desktop application (Notes, Word, PDF, etc.) or from a mobile application (social media apps, email software, etc.) But it can also happen when the browser or an extension deliberately prevents the source of the traffic from being identified, leading to organic or referral traffic being incorrectly labeled.

This categorization method can account for a high level of direct traffic, which is therefore incorrect. To solve this problem, one of the most effective ways is to always use UTM codes. So, even when GA4 cannot naturally determine the source of traffic, UTM parameters will help it to do so.