what is referral in google analytics

Referral traffic in Google Analytics refers to the segment of traffic that arrives on a website through another source, such as a link on another domain. Referral traffic is one of three statistics tracked by Google Analytics. When someone clicks on a hyperlink to go to a new page on a different website, Analytics tracks the click as a referral visit to the second site. The originating site is called a “referrer” because it refers traffic from one place to the next. Referral reports in Google Analytics show the sites that referred visitors to a website by clicking a link, excluding advertising visits. Referral traffic is an important metric to watch for inbound marketers, as it sends potentially valuable visitors to the website from trusted domains while getting the content in front of new people. Referral traffic is also relevant for SEO, as it can improve brand exposure and recognition, and better SEO through consistent backlinks.