Why do all traffic curves show a "saw tooth" pattern in Google Analytics
-
Greetings Mozzers
This sounds like a dumb question, but it's bothering me just the same and I would like to think what the fine community of SEO experts at MOZ thinks
I have taken a look at the traffic curve for about 20 different sites in very different industries (home improvement, wedding party supplies, pet feeding systems) and it seems to me that they all show a saw tooth pattern, more or less like the one below.
-
Also, the weekend patterns get further amplified if you turn ppc off for the weekend.
-
I see something similar; in my case it's because we get less traffic on weekends, so there is a weekly sawtooth. Do your dips correspond to weekends?
-
Hi Tom
Thanks for your answer. And yes, this jagged edge (saw tooth) pattern changes with the timescale. Sorry about the attachment, here it is again http://imgur.com/c9w4IkF
What i would really like to know is: does someone does NOT see this pattern in their daily traffic?. I would find it remarkable if everyone showed the saw tooth pattern, independent of industry.
Cheers
-
Hey there
Looks like you've left off the attachment there, but I can imagine what you mean.
Quick question - what time-scale are you using to view things in Google Analytics?
Have you tried changing the view to weekly or monthly? You can do this by clicking the buttons on the right-hand side of the dashboard, here's a screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/SEm37Kt.png
I've found that this often gets rid of that jagged effect you're talking about and allows for smoother data lines, which can help you identify trend lines a bit more easily.
Hope this helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Google web master tool - stats
Hello everyone! I have 2 questions : 1. does anyone come across this behavior ? (image 1). In the last week Page crawled per day behavior was quite wild and it wasn't affect directly on Time spent downloading a page. 2. I'm getting site map warning for high response time (image 2) i have 29M pages so I aware that 4 warning for 4 pages is almost negligible but still ? Thanks to all helpers 8OkgXp7 q3txRAb q3txRAb
Search Behavior | | Roi_Bar1 -
Google search operator "site:" show different result.
Search operator "site:" show incomplete information. When I search with just domain name it show only 3 link that got crawl in past week, this is the link https://www.google.com/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=mLr3VfrhN4_BuATQuYugBg&gws_rd=cr&fg=1#q=site:sierralivingconcepts.com&safe=off&tbs=qdr: but when i look a specific link it show them in any time (search tools), https://www.google.com/search?q=site:http://www.sierralivingconcepts.com/p-6300-white-silver-regence-louis-xiv-mango-wood-ornate-hall-console-table.aspx&safe=off&biw=1600&bih=775&noj=1&tbas=0&source=lnt&sa=X&ved=0CBUQpwVqFQoTCJ-4iOLK-McCFQFwjgod43gI9A But when i look in cached page it says "appeared on 11 Sep 2015" I am total confused why google not showing all the new link that it crawl from my site.
Search Behavior | | Sierra-Living-Concepts0 -
My site traffic decreasing day by day
unfortunately its very bad for us . after panda update not affected any more but recent time . anybody can help us to fix the issue blog http://gurujobalert.com/ please thanks in advance
Search Behavior | | jenindras10 -
SERP with no "www"
I have noticed that Google SERP without login is showing the domains without " www " - all of them. Have you seen this too? What does it mean for us?
Search Behavior | | Elchanan0 -
I need Help with Google!!!!
I am trying to have my picture on the first page just like SEOmoz when someone search just the name, I know have something to do with google plus, but I am so new doing that no luck or probably I am doing wrong, I have been looking in the internet but I haven't found anything. Is there anyone who can write a tutorial and post here. Maybe is already done and I don't know where. Please see the picture attached so you understand better what I want to do Again I want appear just like this but with my company http://www.sombras.co.uk/images/pic.jpg pic.jpg
Search Behavior | | teksyte0 -
Would it be worthwhile to update URLs to include "for sale"
My team is new to the world of SEO. We were both in other departments when our last "expert" left and we became the entire department. Needless to say, we have many questions. I have a site for an existing customer - she wants to know if it is a good idea to change her URLs. She went to a webinar that suggested she include "for sale" in URL, since that is the site's primary purpose These are the current inventory URLs: http://www.dealerskinssite.com/used-inventory http://www.dealerskinssite.com/new-inventory The change would give something like: http://www.dealerskinssite.com/used-cars-for-sale
Search Behavior | | DealerskinsSearch
http://www.dealerskinssite.com/new-cars-for-sale I did some searching and could not find a solid recommendation one way or another. If it is true that people typically search for "used cars for sale" rather than a "used inventory", then there might be benefit to including that as part of the URL... but that is as far as my knowledge got me. Please let me know your thoughts Steve0 -
Google Instant Search? REALLY?! Why is this the result???
First, this is one I thought I would never ask, but: Could this be true? I had noticed my MacBook Pro was eating some power and wanted to see if I could optimize my settings so to take advantage what battery life was available. (I swear that is the truth). So, I am at a Starbucks on someone and typed into Google search bar the following query - Best way to conserve - and, received the following instant search results before I could type - power on a macbook pro I am not putting it here as I want you to ask yourself what came up. I have attached a screenshot. My colleague arrived and without prompting she retried and got the same. So I am curious: Do you get the same result and why do you think that result is so predominant? This is funny. efuts.png
Search Behavior | | RobertFisher2 -
Have Google changed something in Analytics
Hi Mozzers, I have a client that gets loads of traffic and since the 15th February there has been a decrease in New Visitors and an Increse in Returning. Traffic levels are the same. The returning is up and new are down by a long long shot. Have Google changed the way these visits are calculated? I can't see anything on the blog - anyone experiencing similar issues Bush
Search Behavior | | Bush_JSM0