Most Web Traffic Comes From Direct Navigation

Posted on February 7, 2003

WebSideStory, Inc., a provider of outsourced Web analysis, reported that the majority of Internet sites worldwide are reached through direct navigation -- typing a URL in their browser address bar or using a bookmark -- rather than through search engines and Web links. As of February 3, 2003, over 64 percent of Internet users arrived at sites by direct navigation, compared to about 53 percent only a year ago, according to WebSideStory's StatMarket division. Web links are anything that links from one site to another, including text links and ad banners.

"The days of Web users randomly 'surfing' to sites is ending. Now, more than ever, people know exactly where they want to go on the Web," said Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket. "This does not mean search sites or other Web links are now less important, because users still have to initially find a site before they can bookmark it. However, having a site worth returning to is becoming increasingly important to businesses."

Web Traffic Analysis

Global Internet Usage
share Referring Type
As of 2/03/03 2/03/02 2/03/01
Direct Navigation 64.43% 53.19% 48.14%
Web Links/Search Engines 35.55% 46.79% 51.85%

StatMarket is a website design and Web software development optimization service that provides market share data on browsers, operating systems, screen resolutions and more. StatMarket publishes information gathered from millions of Internet users a day to thousands of sites worldwide using WebSideStory's HitBox outsourced Web analytics services. Each month, the company analyzes more than 30 billion page views.



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