# Why are some leads marked “direct”?

> What “direct” attribution means and how to reduce it.

A lead is marked **direct** when iTracker360 can't see where the visit came from — there are no campaign parameters in the URL and the browser didn't report a referring site.

## Common causes

- Someone **typed your URL** or used a bookmark.
- The visit came from an **app** (an email client, a social app) that strips the referrer.
- A link went from a **secure (HTTPS) page to a non-secure (HTTP) page**, which drops the referrer.
- The visitor **cleared their cookies** between the first visit and converting.

## How to reduce it

- Make sure the snippet is on **every page** so first visits are always captured.
- Serve your whole site over **HTTPS**.
- Add **UTM parameters** to the links you control — email, social posts, ads — so the source is explicit even when the referrer is missing. The [URL Builder](/features/url-builder) makes this easy.