Attribution
Direct traffic
Also called none, typed/bookmarked.
Direct traffic is sessions with no usable referrer and no campaign tag. It includes typed addresses and bookmarks, and also visits that lost their source along the way.
How it is measured
The collector looks at the referrer header and the campaign parameters. If neither is present, the session is labeled direct. A cookieless tool does not carry an earlier source over to a later visit.
To understand it, sort direct sessions by landing page. Many on the home page are typed or bookmarked; many on deep pages are likely lost sources.
Worked example
A kitchen-appliance review site reports 7,100 direct sessions out of 21,000 in a month. Of these, 3,900 land on individual review pages with long addresses.
The owner tags the newsletter and the app share buttons, and the next month direct falls to 4,600, with the reduction showing up under email and social. The remaining home-page direct is probably true brand awareness.
How it differs
Direct traffic has no known source. A referrer is the header that identifies where a visit came from. Direct is what is left when the referrer and tags are missing.
Common errors
Reading direct as loyal customers. Ignoring deep-page direct entries. Failing to tag email. Not excluding payment redirects. Comparing direct across tools that treat it differently.
In practice
Look at the landing pages of direct sessions. Tag everything you send. Treat the direct number as a ceiling for true typed visits, not a figure of loyalty.