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UNDERSTANDING GOOGLE ANALYTICS:




















                              P A G E  V I E W S



















                              V S  S E S S I O N S





























                                                                                                                       Analytics is                                                        O n the other hand, a session re�ers to                                                                                                  For exam ple, i� the user in our exam ple above




                             GOOGLE a rem arkably                                                                                                                                grouped user interactions w ith your w ebsite                                                                                                      returned to your site later that a�ternoon, a





                              pow er�ul tool �or any sm all business ow ner                                                                                                      that occurs w ithin a speci�ic tim e �ram e. Under                                                                                                 new, separate session w ould start. In �act,




                              that can o��er detailed insight about your                                                                                                         this m ethod o� analysis, m any pageview s m ay                                                                                                    let’s suppose our user spends som e tim e on





                              custom er base. Its ability to integrate w ith                                                                                                     be grouped in a single session. C onsider the                                                                                                      our site tw ice a day �or 5 days - that w ould be





                              other G oogle Suite apps, reveal trends in data,                                                                                                   �ollow ing scenario:                                                                                                                               recorded as 10 sessions!




                              and provide intelligent insight into your site’s


                                                                                                                                                                                           A user w ent to the hom epage o� your

                              analytics m akes it absolutely invaluable. But                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        What can we learn �rom pageviews


                                                                                                                                                                                 w ebsite at 10:00 am this m orning. A�ter looking

                              �or a beginner or new business ow ner, the                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            and sessions?

                                                                                                                                                                                 through the hom epage, they click on a link that

                              sheer volum e o� data and jargon can m ake

                                                                                                                                                                                 brings them to your about page at 10:02 am .                                                                                                                 Both pageview s and sessions can be used


                              the tool seem overw helm ing, and you m ay not

                                                                                                                                                                                 M aybe they like w hat they see and decide to                                                                                                      as proxies �or estim ating the tra��ic that your


                              know w here to start! Luckily, there are m any
                                                                                                                                                                                 visit the e-store that you also host on the site at                                                                                                site is receiving. Pageview s can be very help�ul


                              resources online that you can use to learn
                                                                                                                                                                                 10:04 am . They brow se �or a w hile, but decide                                                                                                   in determ ining w hat pages on your site are



                              your w ay around G oogle Analytics, and how to
                                                                                                                                                                                 not to buy anything today. H ow ever, they like                                                                                                    m ost popular and w hich ones are least popular.



                              best leverage it to better serve you and your                                                                                                      your product and w ant to learn m ore about the                                                                                                    Sessions can tell you how long the average




                              business. Even sim ple data can yield pow er�ul                                                                                                    business, so they return to the about page at                                                                                                      user spends on your site, as w ell as w hat





                              insights.                                                                                                                                          10:15 am to do som e m ore reading. The page                                                                                                       pages tend to be visited together in a single





                                                                                                                                                                                 rem ains open, but no other activity is recorded.                                                                                                  session, and the path that a user is taking on




                                       Som e o� the sim plest and m ost used                                                                                                     They close the brow ser tab your page is                                                                                                           your site. For exam ple, by looking at sessions,




                              in�orm ation provided by G oogle Analytics are                                                                                                     loaded in at 11:00 am .                                                                                                                            you’ll be able to see how o ten a user visiting





                              page view s and sessions. But w hat exactly                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           your site results in them buying som ething or





                              are page view s and sessions? This article w ill                                                                                                             G oogle Analytics w ould record all o�                                                                                                   not. In �urther detail, you can even see w hat




                              teach you the di��erence betw een a pageview                                                                                                       those interactions as a single session. The                                                                                                        pages they visit right be�ore buying som ething.



                                                                                                                                                                                 session began w hen the user �irst loaded                                                                                                          You can see i� a user visits your store, but
                              and a session, how to interpret data about



                                                                                                                                                                                 the hom epage at 10:00 am . G oogle Analytics                                                                                                      chooses not to buy anything, or you can see
                              the tw o, and w hat to do w ith the in�orm ation


                                                                                                                                                                                 sessions expire a�ter 30 m inutes o� inactivity,                                                                                                   how o�ten adding som ething to your cart leads
                              G oogle Analytics gives you.


                                                                                                                                                                                 so even though the page w as closed at                                                                                                             to a purchase! As you can see, som ething as





                                                                                                                                                                                 11:00 am , the session w ill be recorded as                                                                                                        sim ple as session or pageview data can still



                              Page Views vs Sessions                                                                                                                             ending at 10:45 am , hal� an hour a�ter they                                                                                                       o��er rem arkably detailed, and valuable insight





                                                                                                                                                                                 clicked onto the about page. This series o�                                                                                                        to user behavior on your site.

                                       G oogle Analytics records a ‘pageview ’


                                                                                                                                                                                 interactions w ould be reported quite di��erently
                              as any tim e that any page on your w ebsite


                                                                                                                                                                                 as pageview s as opposed to sessions. W hile                                                                                                                 H ope�ully, this has helped you to dem ysti�y

                              w as looked at by a user. You m ight also see

                                                                                                                                                                                 this is a single session, it can also be reported                                                                                                  pageview s and user sessions, som e o� the


                              pageview s re�erred to as a pageview hit or a
                                                                                                                                                                                 as 4 pageview s. O ne pageview �or visiting the                                                                                                    key m etrics reported by G oogle Analytics. But



                              page tracking hit. Speci�ically, G oogle Analytics
                                                                                                                                                                                 hom epage, one pageview �or visiting the store,                                                                                                    as w ith any skill, m astering G oogle Analytics


                              tracks each tim e a page w as loaded as a
                                                                                                                                                                                 and tw o pageview s �or visiting the about page.                                                                                                   requires practice and exploration. By using



                              pageview. So i� a page is reloaded or returned                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        this in�orm ation as a jum ping o�� point to begin





                              to �rom another page, both o� those exam ples                                                                                                                Because sessions expire, a single user                                                                                                   delving into the m inutiae o� G oogle Analytics,




                              w ould be recorded as separate pageview s by                                                                                                       can log m any, m any sessions over the course                                                                                                      you’ll be navigating this data like an expert in





                              G oogle.                                                                                                                                           o� a m onth, w eek, or even in the sam e day.                                                                                                      no tim e!















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