In today’s digital landscape, evaluating performance is crucial in achieving digital objectives rather than just focusing on website development. The essence of digital marketing lies in measuring the success rate of campaigns. Google Analytics Tool provides various metrics to gauge this success. One vital metric that digital marketers regularly analyze is ‘sessions’. Let’s delve into ‘sessions’ in Google Analytics and understand how to interpret them.
What Is Sessions In Google Analytics
‘Session’ in Google Analytics A session signifies an interaction between a user and a website within a specific timeframe. In Google Analytics, ‘sessions’ are computed as the number of recorded hits for a user in a given time span. Hits encompass various user actions (pageview, screen view, event, or transaction). It’s possible for a user to generate more than one session.
Let’s illustrate this definition with an example:
Consider a user who conducts a Google search, discovers an engaging article, and visits an online news portal around 12 pm. They explore different pages within the first 15 minutes. The user takes a break and resumes reading at 2 pm from where they left off earlier. Throughout these actions, the user maintains the same browser and device without clearing cookies.
In this scenario, Google Analytics will register 2 sessions and 1 user:
User 1: Google Analytics recognizes the user as the same individual due to consistent browser usage and no cookie clearance.
Sessions 2: The first session concludes after 30 minutes of inactivity during the break. Subsequent actions are recorded in the second session, commencing immediately after the break.
When does Google Analytics Session Expire? By Default: A session in Google Analytics concludes after 30 minutes of inactivity.
By Midnight: Sessions in Google Analytics automatically end at midnight. For instance, if a user accesses a website around 11:45 pm, the session concludes at 11:59:59 pm, even if the user remains engaged on the site. At 12 am, a new session initiates for the same user. In this scenario, Google Analytics counts 1 user and 2 sessions.
By Campaign Source: Google Analytics sessions expire when a user employs a different campaign source to access the website, such as organic, paid, referral, or social.
How to Determine the Duration of Google Analytics Session? There’s no set rule for keeping the session length at 30 minutes. The duration can be adjusted based on user activity. Some users might spend extended periods engaging with a website.
For instance – Suppose, on average, a user spends 2 hours on a website. In this case, a session length of 30 minutes won’t provide actionable insights. It becomes necessary to set the session timeout to align with the average time spent by users. If the average time spent is 2 minutes, then the session length should be adjusted accordingly.
Conclusion Now, take a closer look at your sessions and observe if you discover anything intriguing!
