The Analytics tab shows how visitors use your directory: listing views, unique visitors, searches, and taps on phone, website, email and directions links. It is for site owners who want to see what people look for and which listings get attention.
Before you start
- You need an administrator account (the dashboard needs the
manage_optionscapability). - Tick Enable analytics tracking in Directory > Settings > General (shown below).
How to use it
- In the WordPress admin, open Directory > Dashboard.
- Select the Analytics tab.
- Read the four cards: Total Views, Unique Visitors, Search Queries and Click-throughs.
- Choose Last 7 days, Last 30 days or Last 90 days at the top right. Every card, chart and table updates. Last 30 days is selected first.
- Check Views Over Time for the daily pattern of listing views.
- Read Top Search Terms to see what visitors type into search.
- Scroll to Top Listings to see the most viewed listings. Select a listing name to open its edit screen.
What is tracked and when
- Views: recorded when someone opens a single listing page.
- Searches: recorded when a visitor searches with text. Browsing by filters alone, with no search words, is not logged. The same search from the same visitor within 60 seconds counts once.
- Click-throughs: recorded when a visitor taps a link marked for tracking, such as the website and directions buttons, or a
tel:,mailto:or Google Maps directions link on a listing page. The Click-throughs card counts website, phone, email and directions taps. - Repeat events: the same visitor, listing and event type is recorded once every five minutes, so refreshing a page does not inflate the numbers.
- Prior period: the percentage under Total Views compares with the same number of days just before.
The Unique Visitors card counts distinct visitors who viewed a listing in the period.
Privacy and data retention
- Visitor IP addresses are stored only as a one-way hash, not as raw addresses.
- A cookie called
sdp_sidholds a random session ID for up to 30 days. It is used to count unique visitors and to avoid duplicate searches. - The record also keeps the referring page and the browser user agent.
- Old rows are removed once a day. The default is 180 days, and you can change it in Directory > Settings > General. Setting it to 0 keeps everything.
- If your privacy policy or cookie notice needs to list cookies, add the
sdp_sidcookie and check the wording with your own legal adviser.
Good to know
- Search terms are ranked by how often they were searched. The card shows up to eight terms.
- Top Listings shows up to ten listings, ranked by views.
- The Revenue and conversion row (Pro listings, MRR, Claim conversion, Leads) sits under the four cards and uses the same period selector.
- Until visitors arrive, the cards show zero and the panels say No search data yet or No listing data yet.
FAQ
Why are my numbers lower than my other stats tool?
Repeat events from the same visitor are counted once every five minutes, and only listing pages and directory searches are tracked. Other tools count every page.
Can I see how many times a listing website link was clicked?
Website taps are included in the Click-throughs card total. The dashboard does not split that total by type.
How long is the data kept?
180 days by default. Change the number under Keep analytics, search and AI usage logs for, or enter 0 to keep everything.
Are visitor IP addresses stored?
No. Only a hashed value is saved, which is used to count unique visitors.
Can I turn tracking off?
Untick Enable analytics tracking in Directory > Settings > General and save.