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This article explores effective strategies for analyzing traffic sources using three key dimensions: source, medium, and type. Learn how to leverage these concepts for clearer insights and better decision-making in your web analytics.

Traffic channel tags often include multiple fields such as type, source, medium, campaign, and term, which can be overwhelming. How can we effectively use these in Excel pivot tables?
After researching common practices and consulting with several colleagues, here's our understanding of the various tags for marking traffic sources:

Two Less Effective Approaches:

  1. Using a single dimension of either source or medium for analysis. The source dimension is too broad for effective decision-making, while the medium dimension is unsuitable for horizontal comparisons. Different teams maintain different dimensions, making it difficult to compare, for example, the DB team's "medium=frame_searchlink" with the performance team's "medium=cpc".
  1. Using a source+medium composite field for analysis. While this is the most precise method of breakdown, it's not easily understood. For instance, it's challenging to determine whether "focus-house" or "rong360-rong360" belongs to performance or BD categories.

Two Effective Approaches:

  1. Using the type field for categorization: This allows for horizontal comparisons, has clearer Chinese annotations, and is commonly used in reports and analysis scenarios.
  1. Using type as the primary classification and source+medium as the secondary classification: This enables clear and precise analysis of each source.

Appendix: Authoritative Explanations of Related Concepts (and Translations)

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Zhenye Dong
Zhenye Dong
Product Manager | New Dad | New Blogger
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