Traffic Volume
BeginnerTraffic volume is the size of traffic for a defined slice of a site, always expressed with a named unit and a named range, as opposed to the quality of that traffic.
Stating a volume requires naming the unit first and the slice second: pageviews, sessions or users, for a channel, a campaign or a page. Volume without a unit is meaningless, because the three units can move in opposite directions; a campaign that pushes people to reload raises pageviews while the user count stays flat. The common failure is deciding on volume alone: the largest channel is not the best channel until depth, time on site and conversion sit next to it. Comparison has conditions too, and two ranges of unequal length, or a range containing one extra weekend or holiday, cannot be compared directly.
How it is calculated
Traffic volume = count of the chosen unit, meaning pageviews or sessions or users, for the selected slice within the time range
The unit and the range are both part of the number, and without them the figure cannot be quoted. Comparisons are only valid between ranges of equal length using the same unit, and when the slice is a subset of the site the volume should be read next to its share of total traffic rather than on its own.