# Web Analytics: Trends & Anomalies

The Web Analytics **Trends & Anomalies** page shows what changed in your traffic, when it changed, and what to check. It has two tabs: **Traffic changes** and **Pages**.

## Before you start [#before-you-start]

- Install the Web Analytics script. See [Analytics script](/connect/analytics-script). Without the script, the page shows **Install Web Analytics to see what changed in your traffic**.
- Verify the domain. See [Verify ownership](/getting-started/domain-setup/verify-ownership).
- In the sidebar, select **Web Analytics** > **Trends & Anomalies**.
- The page has fixed windows. **Traffic changes** always covers the last 90 days. **Pages** compares weeks over the last 180 days. The filter dock has filters only, no date range.

Days that are still counting are left out. The page needs a few weeks of visits. Until then, it shows **Not enough traffic data yet** and **Trends appear once the site has a few weeks of visits to compare.**

VitalSentinel calculates these reports in advance, so the page has no refresh button. If you add filters, the reports calculate when you open the page.

## Traffic verdict [#traffic-verdict]

The Web Analytics **Trends & Anomalies** page starts with one sentence about your traffic:

| Sentence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Your normal traffic level moved 2 times in the last 90 days** (example) | Traffic moved to a new normal and stayed there |
| **Your normal traffic level has held** | No lasting move of 15% or more |
| **Your traffic has been steady** | No standout days and no level shifts |
| **Not enough days of traffic yet** | VitalSentinel needs about two weeks of traffic |

A figure next to the sentence shows the biggest move, such as **Biggest move on** (or **Level move on**) and a date, or **Last 28 days vs the 28 before**. The **?** at **What counts as a move** gives the rule: a size of **15% or more**, held for **7 days or more**.

If Web Analytics found problems, a banner such as **Trends & Anomalies: 2 open issues** shows. It links to [Site Health](/site-health/overview).

## Tiles [#tiles]

The Web Analytics **Trends & Anomalies** page shows two tiles:

- **Traffic changes**: level shifts and standout days in the last 90 days. If there are too few days, it shows **Not enough days to judge yet**.
- **Pages losing readers**: pages whose weekly views fell over the last 180 days. The note shows how many pages are gaining readers.

## Traffic changes tab [#traffic-changes-tab]

The Web Analytics card **What changed** shows daily sessions for the last 90 days, with the changes marked. A session is one visit. The **Normal level** line steps up or down at each level shift.

### What the marks mean [#what-the-marks-mean]

| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Level shift** | Traffic moved to a new normal, such as **Level shift 1: down 20%** |
| **Spike** or **Dip** | A standout day, far from the usual for that weekday, such as **+340 sessions off normal** |
| Notes | Other things that happened that day |
| **Today so far** | Today is still counting, so its number is low and not used in the summary |

Hover a mark to see the day. A level shift says **From about** one number **to about** another number of sessions a day.

### Changes, newest first [#changes-newest-first]

The list **Changes, newest first** shows each change with what else happened that day. Examples are an outage, a site change, **Google update rolling out:** and a name, or **Tracking note:** and a title. A **Lasting** chip marks a level shift that held.

The same change on many pages is one line. Hover it to see the pages. Notes may be related to a change, or not. Start with the newest change.

If there is too little data, the card shows **Not enough daily traffic data yet**. With filters, it can show **No visits match these filters**.

### 7 day trend [#7-day-trend]

Lower on the **Traffic changes** tab, the tile **Trend 7 days** compares the average daily sessions of the last 7 days with the 7 days before. It includes today, which is still counting. The note shows both figures, such as **Recent 120 vs prior 104**.

## Pages tab [#pages-tab]

The Web Analytics card **Pages that lost or gained readers** compares each page week by week over the last 180 days. It has two tabs: **Lost readers** and **Gained readers**.

On **Lost readers**, a chip shows how the page lost readers:

- **Dropped off**: the page went from real traffic to almost none.
- **Fading**: the page loses readers more slowly.

| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| **Page** | The page address |
| **Earlier weekly avg.** | Average page views per week earlier in the period |
| **Recent weekly avg.** | Average page views per week in the most recent weeks |
| **Last 12 weeks** | Page views per week for the last 12 weeks, oldest on the left |
| **Views lost a week** | How many fewer page views the page gets each week now (on **Lost readers**) |
| **Change** | How much higher the recent weekly average is, in percent (on **Gained readers**) |

**Gained readers** lists only pages with at least 200 views in total. The **?** at **How sure the trend is** shows the **Chance it is noise**.

Refresh or redirect the fading pages. If there is not enough data, the card shows **Not enough weekly data per page yet**.

### Pages by weekly movement [#pages-by-weekly-movement]

Lower on the **Pages** tab, the tiles **Pages by weekly movement** show four counts. The first tile counts the pages with enough weekly views to judge a trend. The other tiles are **Decaying**, **Rising** and **Flat**.

## Troubleshooting [#troubleshooting]

### Why does Trends & Anomalies say "Not enough days of traffic yet"? [#why-does-trends--anomalies-say-not-enough-days-of-traffic-yet]

VitalSentinel needs about two weeks of daily traffic to find unusual days and level shifts. Wait until your site has more days of visits.

### Why can I not change the dates on this page? [#why-can-i-not-change-the-dates-on-this-page]

The page always uses the last 90 days for traffic changes and the last 180 days for pages. The filter dock on this page has filters only.

### What is the difference between a level shift and a spike? [#what-is-the-difference-between-a-level-shift-and-a-spike]

A level shift is a lasting move: traffic changed by 15% or more and stayed there for 7 days or more. A spike or a dip is one day far from the usual for that weekday.

### Why is today not in the summary? [#why-is-today-not-in-the-summary]

Today is still counting, so its number is low. The chart marks it as **Today so far**, and the summary leaves it out.

## Related [#related]

- [Overview](/web-analytics/overview) - traffic for any date range
- [Realtime](/web-analytics/realtime) - check that tracking works now
- [Google Search Console trends](/google-search-console/trends-and-anomalies) - changes in Google clicks
- [Page Monitoring](/page-monitoring/overview) - changes on your pages
- [Site Health](/site-health/overview) - traffic drop and page issues