Sales Loves MarketingReturning visitors are people who come back to your website after visiting it before. In Google Analytics 4 they are called returning users: users who have started at least one previous session.
Why track returning visitors?
New visitors show that your marketing reaches people. Returning visitors show that something brought them back. For B2B companies with long buying cycles, a growing share of returning visitors from target accounts is a good sign, because people who come back are still considering you.
Comparing the two groups also tells you:
- Which content and channels bring people back.
- Whether returning visitors convert better than new ones on your key goals, such as demo requests or sign-ups.
- Whether a drop in traffic comes from fewer new people or fewer people coming back.
How do you calculate the returning visitor rate?
Divide returning visitors by total visitors over the same period:
Returning visitor rate = returning visitors ÷ total visitors
If 8,000 of your 20,000 visitors in May had been to the site before, your rate is 8,000 ÷ 20,000 = 40 percent.
There is no standard "good" rate. A product with daily logins will score far higher than a blog that lives on search traffic. Track your own trend, and compare by channel and by page.
How does Google Analytics 4 count returning visitors?
Universal Analytics, with its "New vs Returning" report, stopped processing data on July 1, 2023. In GA4:
- Returning users counts users who started at least one previous session, whether or not that session was engaged.
- New users counts users who triggered their first visit or first open event.
- Total users counts every unique user who triggered any event.
One person can be new early in a date range and returning later in it, so new users plus returning users can add up to more than total users. The GOV.UK analytics team explains this in its GA4 guide.
Why are returning visitor counts often too low?
Analytics tools recognise a returning visitor by a cookie or similar ID in the browser. If someone clears cookies, uses a different device or declines analytics cookies, they come back as "new". Browsers also limit cookies: Safari's tracking prevention deletes cookies set by JavaScript after seven days without interaction with the site. Treat returning visitor numbers as a trend, not an exact count.
How can you get more visitors to return?
- Email. A newsletter or useful updates give people a reason to come back. See opt-in.
- Fresh, useful content. Publish on topics your buyers return to, and update key pages.
- Retargeting ads. Show ads to people who visited before, within the consent rules where they live.
- Tools and templates. Calculators, templates and other resources people use more than once give them a reason to come back.
- Social channels. Share new content where your audience already spends time.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the returning visitor rate?
Divide returning visitors by total visitors for the same period. If 8,000 of 20,000 visitors in May had visited before, the returning visitor rate is 8,000 divided by 20,000, or 40 percent.
What is a good percentage of returning visitors?
There is no standard benchmark. A support site or a SaaS app with daily logins will have a far higher share than a blog that lives on search traffic. Compare your own trend over time and by channel rather than chasing a single number.
Why are returning visitor numbers often too low?
Analytics tools recognise a returning visitor by a cookie or similar identifier. When someone clears cookies, switches device or uses a browser that limits cookies, they show up as new. Safari, for example, deletes script-set cookies after seven days without interaction with the site.