How to measure and track dark social traffic

Allan Porras -

Dark social traffic is a term used to describe website traffic that comes from private channels, such as email, messaging apps, and word-of-mouth. This type of traffic can be difficult to track because it doesn't come from traditional sources like social media or search engines. However, there are a few ways to measure and track dark social traffic, which can give you valuable insights into how your content is being shared and consumed.

Dark social traffic is often a significant portion of overall website traffic. According to a study by Shareaholic, dark social traffic accounts for an average of 84% of all website referrals. This means that if you're not tracking dark social traffic, you're missing out on a significant amount of data about how your content is being shared and consumed.

There are a number of reasons why it's important to track dark social traffic, including:

  • To understand what content is resonating with your audience: Dark social traffic is a good indicator of what content your audience is finding valuable and interesting. By tracking dark social traffic, you can see which pieces of content are being shared most frequently, and which audiences are sharing them. This information can help you to create more content that your audience will love.
  • To identify new marketing opportunities: Dark social traffic can also help you to identify new marketing opportunities. For example, if you see that your content is being shared frequently on a particular messaging app, you could consider creating targeted ads for that app.
  • To improve your website's performance: By tracking dark social traffic, you can see which pages on your website are getting the most traffic. This information can help you to improve the performance of those pages by making them more user-friendly and engaging.
  • To measure the ROI of your marketing campaigns: Tracking dark social traffic can also help you to measure the ROI of your marketing campaigns. For example, if you run a social media campaign and see a spike in dark social traffic, you know that your campaign is effective.

Overall, tracking dark social traffic is an important part of any comprehensive marketing strategy. By tracking dark social traffic, you can gain valuable insights into how your content is being shared and consumed, and where your visitors are coming from. This information can help you to improve your marketing and content strategy, and reach more people with your message.

Dark social traffic can help you to identify the people who are sharing your content most frequently and with the widest audience. These people are your most influential brand advocates, and you can reach out to them to build relationships and encourage them to continue sharing your content.

Search engines like Google take into account social signals when ranking websites. This means that if you have a lot of dark social traffic, it can help to improve your website's ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).

If you run offline marketing campaigns, such as direct mail or print advertising, you can track dark social traffic to see how effective those campaigns are. For example, if you see a spike in dark social traffic after running a direct mail campaign, you know that your campaign is driving people to your website.

How to measure dark social traffic

There are a few different ways to measure dark social traffic. Some of the most common methods include:

  • URL shorteners: URL shorteners allow you to add tracking information to your links. This means that you can see how many people are clicking on your links and where they are coming from, even if they are not visiting your website directly.
  • Google Analytics segments: Google Analytics allows you to create segments that include or exclude specific traffic sources. You can use this feature to create a segment that includes all of your direct traffic. Direct traffic is often a good indicator of dark social traffic, but it's important to note that it can also include traffic from other sources, such as people who are typing your website address directly into their browser.
  • Dark social tracking tools: There are a number of dark social tracking tools available that can help you to track and measure dark social traffic. These tools work by tracking all of the shares of your content, regardless of where they are shared.

How to track dark social traffic over time

Once you have a way to measure dark social traffic, you can track it over time to see how it is changing. This can help you to identify trends and patterns in how your content is being shared.

To track dark social traffic over time, you can create a simple report in Google Analytics or your dark social tracking tool. This report should show you the total number of dark social visitors to your website each month. You can also create a report that shows you the top sources of dark social traffic.

How to use dark social traffic data

Once you have collected data on your dark social traffic, you can use it to improve your marketing and content strategy. For example, you can use this data to:

  • Identify which content is being shared most frequently through dark social channels.
  • Understand which audiences are sharing your content through dark social channels.
  • Experiment with different ways to encourage people to share your content through dark social channels.

For example, if you see that a particular blog post is being shared frequently through dark social channels, you know that it is a topic that your audience is interested in. You can then create more content on similar topics, or you can promote the blog post to other audiences who may be interested in it.

By tracking and measuring dark social traffic, you can gain valuable insights into how your content is being shared and consumed. This information can help you to improve your marketing and content strategy, and reach more people with your message.

Conclusion

Dark social traffic is a valuable source of website traffic, but it can be difficult to track and measure. By following the tips in this blog post, you can track dark social traffic more effectively.

Tracking dark social traffic is important because it helps you to understand how people are sharing your content and what content they are most interested in. This information can help you to improve your marketing strategy and reach more people with your message.

If you are not tracking dark social traffic, you are missing out on valuable insights that can help you to improve your marketing results.