(direct) / (none).
Why It Matters
If a significant portion of your orders show as “direct” or “unattributed,” you can’t accurately measure which marketing channels are driving revenue. This affects:- ROAS calculations — Spend looks less efficient than it actually is
- Budget allocation — You can’t shift spend toward what’s working
- Channel comparisons — Organic and paid performance becomes unclear
What the Audit Shows
When you ask about attribution health, you’ll see:| Metric | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Unattributed % | Percentage of orders showing as (direct) / (none) |
| Top unattributed sources | Breakdown of what “direct” traffic looks like |
| Trend | Whether attribution coverage is improving or degrading |
Interpreting the Results
| Unattributed % | Assessment |
|---|---|
| < 10% | Healthy — your tracking captures most sources |
| 10–25% | Moderate — room to improve coverage |
| > 25% | High — significant marketing attribution is missing |
Marketplace orders are excluded. Attribution Health focuses on your direct-to-consumer (online DTC) orders — the ones where UTM tracking matters. Orders from Amazon, TikTok Shop, and other marketplaces are inherently attributed to that platform, so there’s no UTM to capture.
Common Causes of Poor Attribution
Missing UTM Parameters
Campaigns without proper UTM tagging result in traffic appearing as direct.
Cookie/Tracking Blockers
Ad blockers, iOS privacy features, and browser restrictions prevent tracking.
Cross-Domain Issues
Customers moving between domains lose UTM parameters along the way.
Delayed Purchases
Long consideration cycles mean the original touchpoint expires before purchase.
How to Improve Attribution
For detailed guidance on improving your attribution coverage, see the full Attribution Health toolkit:Attribution Health Toolkit
Comprehensive strategies for improving tracking: UTM setup, checkout attribute capture, post-purchase surveys, and more.
Quick Wins
- Audit your UTM tagging — Ensure all paid campaigns have consistent UTM parameters
- Enable checkout attribute capture — Capture UTMs at checkout to bypass cookie blockers (Shopify Plus)
- Add post-purchase surveys — Ask customers directly how they heard about you
Example Questions
- “How is my attribution health?”
- “What’s the health of my tracking?”
- “Is my UTM coverage good?”
- “Why is so much traffic direct/none?”
- “What percentage of orders are unattributed?”
Attribution Health vs Data Health
| Attribution Health | Data Health | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Tracking and UTM coverage quality | Table freshness and availability |
| Question it answers | ”Is my marketing attribution accurate?" | "Is my data pipeline working?” |
| Data source | Live SQL audit of orders | Metadata about table freshness |
| What fixes it | Fix UTM tagging, landing page parameters | Wait for sync, escalate integration issue |