The source dimension is a descriptive attribute of data that indicates where readers are coming from when they visit your Turtl Docs. It helps categorize and segment data, making it easier to analyze trends.
Understanding the source of your readership is vital for fine-tuning your distribution processes, choosing and nurturing your channels, streamlining your campaigns, and finally tracking your results.
You can find the source as one of the filters available on Team, Turtl Doc, and Reader analytics dashboards.
As a Tableview dimension on the same dashboards:
On the reader profile as top sources:
You will also find sources on the Source tab of the Overview report data.
What do the different source values mean?
Website: If a Doc was embedded or linked on a website and accessed from there, the main domain of the website will be given.
Note: You will only see the main domain as a source, for example, turtl.co but not any of the subpages the traffic may have come from, such as turtl.co/blog/.
Social media: If a Doc was accessed on X, Facebook, Linkedin, etc, the source will state the name of the social media, not a specific link.
Google: The Doc was accessed through Google search.
Direct: A user types the URL of a Doc directly into the browser, and accesses it via a browser's bookmark, offline document (Word, PDF, etc), desktop messaging apps (Slack, Whatsapp, etc), or any desktop application. Traffic from your email marketing campaigns is often categorized as direct.
Note: If we can't identify the source, the source will also be labeled as direct.
What is a direct source?
Turtl Analytics is similar to Google Analytics when it comes to direct traffic, which is defined as when "no information about the referral source is available, or when the referring source or search term has been configured to be ignored."
Some scenarios of Direct sources:
Reader types in the Turtl doc URL.
Reader clicks on a bookmark to the Turtl doc.
Reader clicks on the Turtl doc link in an e-mail from Outlook or Thunderbird or similar desktop software.
Depending on your email marketing tool, traffic from your email marketing campaigns is often categorized as direct.
Reader clicks on a link in Skype or other desktop messengers, or Social Media that can’t be tracked, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
Reader clicks on a link in offline documents, such as PDF or Word documents.
Reader clicks on a link in any desktop software in general.
If you’d like to breakdown what are the possible sources for your direct traffic, you can ask a few questions:
Are readers landing on Turtl docs that you’ve used in e-mail campaigns?
Are readers landing on Turtl docs to which there are links in your desktop or mobile software (for example, intranet software)?
Are readers landing on Turtl docs that are only accessible to logged-in readers?
To better understand where your readers are coming from, we also recommend using UTM source tags.
The difference between the source and UTM source
Tagging links with UTM parameters specifically the utm_source tag will supply Turtl Analytics with the referral data that accurately reflects the traffic source.
The UTM source tags are defined by the user, which means they can be more specific compared to the source, which is read from the HTTP request header. You can use Google’s URL builder tool to assist in this task.
For example, you can generate UTM tags to track which of the several pages or blogs where the same Turtl Doc was embedded drove more traffic to the Turtl Doc, whereas the source would always give just the main domain of your website.
However, in cases where the UTM source tags get stripped, or, for some reason, you don’t want to use UTM tags, the source will still display. In cases where the utm_source tag is missing, the utm_source will display as "undefined".
Note: Turtl Doc links using UTM_source will only track data from the moment it is set up. To review past direct sessions, you'll need to rely on your own research.