Traffic
Returning visitor
Also called repeat visitor.
Returning visitor is a visitor identifier that already has an earlier hit on the property. It tells you someone came back, not that they liked it.
How it is measured
On each hit the tool compares the identifier with those it has stored. A match inside the look-back window labels the visitor as returning for that period. The look-back is the key setting: seven days, thirty days or forever give three different answers.
Tarsier does not persist an identifier across days, so it cannot label a visitor as returning from last week. If returning share is central to your work, use a tool with a longer-lived identifier or a login, and treat Tarsier's number as a same-day view.
Worked example
A language-learning blog sees 1,200 returning visitors against 5,000 new in a typical week. The week after it launches a daily vocabulary email, returning visitors climb to 2,100 while new visitors stay near 5,000.
The email is the driver, and the proof is that Tuesday-to-Friday returns rise while weekend returns do not, because the email does not go out on weekends.
How it differs
A returning visitor has been seen before. A new visitor has not. Retention rate asks what fraction of one cohort comes back after a set interval. Returning is a label on each person; retention is a ratio across a group.
Common errors
Reading every return as loyalty. Ignoring the identifier lifetime. Counting the same person on phone and laptop as new. Comparing the share across tools. Counting your own team's daily check-ins.
In practice
Track returning share by channel for a month. If it is flat, give people a reason to come back: a series, a digest, a saved search. Re-measure after four weeks, and keep staff traffic filtered out.