A unique user is a term in
web analytics
Web analytics is the measurement, data collection, collection, analysis, and reporting of web Data (computing), data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for ...
that refers to data of a
Pageview
In web analytics and Website governance, website management, a pageview or page view, abbreviated in business to PV and occasionally called page impression, is a request to load a single HTML file (web page) of an Internet site. On the World Wide ...
of a unique IP, whose presence is only counted once, regardless of the number of pages they visit. This definition does not count repeat or returning users for a standard period of time (
Active users
Active users is a software performance metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular software product or object, by quantifying the number of active interactions from users or visitors within a relevant range ...
), who are traced by placing a
cookie
A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...
on the user's device. A website's number of unique users is measured over a standard period of time. The metric is often quoted to potential advertisers or investors.
[Farris, Paul W.; Neil T. Bendle; Phillip E. Pfeifer; David J. Reibstein (2010). ''Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance.'' Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. . The endorses the definitions, purposes, and constructs of classes of measures that appear in ''Marketing Metrics'' as part of its ongoin]
Common Language: Marketing Activities and Metrics Project
Tracking unique users
The purpose of
tracking unique users is to help marketers understand a website's user behavior. This metric can be used to demonstrate the reach of digital content, set benchmarks for website performance, and perform competitive analysis. It can also be used to demonstrate website popularity and performance to potential advertisers and investors. Marketers and webmasters can track unique users in digital analytics tools, for example,
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and also mobile app traffic and events, currently as a platform inside the Google Marketing Platform brand. Google launched the service in N ...
.
Measuring unique user data can be distorted by automatic activity, for example,
bots
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...
or other instances of the website being opened where there is no human present or interacting with the website. Estimations of unique user traffic statistics are usually filtered to remove this type of activity by eliminating known
IP addresses
An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface id ...
for bots, by requiring registration or
cookies
A cookie is a sweet biscuit with high sugar and fat content. Cookie dough is softer than that used for other types of biscuit, and they are cooked longer at lower temperatures. The dough typically contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of ...
, or by using panel data.
See also
*
Active users
Active users is a software performance metric that is commonly used to measure the level of engagement for a particular software product or object, by quantifying the number of active interactions from users or visitors within a relevant range ...
*
Pageview
In web analytics and Website governance, website management, a pageview or page view, abbreviated in business to PV and occasionally called page impression, is a request to load a single HTML file (web page) of an Internet site. On the World Wide ...
*
Registered user
A registered user is a user of a website, program, or other systems who has previously ''registered''. Registered users normally provide some sort of credentials (such as a username or e-mail address, and a password) to the system in order to ...
*
Web traffic
Web traffic is the data sent and received by visitors to a website. Since the mid-1990s, web traffic has been the largest portion of Internet traffic. Sites monitor the incoming and outgoing traffic to see which parts or pages of their site are ...
*
Web analytics
Web analytics is the measurement, data collection, collection, analysis, and reporting of web Data (computing), data to understand and optimize web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for ...
Further reading
* {{cite web , title=Meaning of unique user in English , url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/unique-user , website=Cambridge Dictionary
Notes
Advertising indicators
Web analytics
Network addressing
fr:Audience d'un site Web#Définitions et vocabulaire