Google Analytics - Increase In Users This Week

[Chimpie]

Has anyone noticed an increase in users beginning on Monday (August 12, 2019)? Looking at our Google Analytics, I'm seeing a 30% increase in users, but we haven't made any changes nor created any marketing campaigns.

We lost about the same percentage back in 2018 when they did their August core update.

Google Medic Update: The Core Search Update Had Big Impact On Health/Medical Web Sites

The big core Google search algorithm update is being named the Google Medic Update. The reason for this name is because it seemed to be heavily targeting the health and medical space based on our survey data.

www.seroundtable.com

Google's Aug. 1 core algorithm update: Who did it impact, and how much?

A week after the big Google algorithm update, nicknamed the Medic Update, here is everything we know about it, including official information from Google and non-official insights from across the industry.

searchengineland.com

Thoughts?

 

[webbouk]

With our previous forum software I was using serverside stats reporting software and there was a marked difference between the stats being reported by that compared to those from Google.
I don't believe Google stats are perfect and accurate despite being widely used

 

[djbaxter]

With our previous forum software I was using serverside stats reporting software and there was a marked difference between the stats being reported by that compared to those from Google.
I don't believe Google stats are perfect and accurate despite being widely used

If by "server side" you mean stats packages like AWSTATS and WebStats, there have always been discrepancies, likely because those packages aren't great at filtering hits.

I would recommend that you pay more attention to Google Analytics. I don't even have AWSTATS and WebStats enabled on servers I manage. They are pretty much worthless.

 

[djbaxter]

Has anyone noticed an increase in users beginning on Monday (August 12, 2019)? Looking at our Google Analytics, I'm seeing a 30% increase in users, but we haven't made any changes nor created any marketing campaigns.

I noticed the description in your signature is "Discussion forum for Paramedics, EMTs & other first responders".

Have you looked at news stories about disasters, shootings, funding controversies, and the like on or shortly before August 12, 2019? Chances are something in the news that is linked to search terms "paramedics", "emt", or "first responders" is triggering extra traffic. Or a mention on one of the social media sites mentioning those keywords.

Alternatively, look for a reference on another site (including social media) to your forum/URL. I have seen this happen repeatedly on forums I manage.