Page views and sessions are both important metrics used in web analytics to understand user behavior, but they represent different aspects of user interaction on a website:
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Page Views:
- A page view is counted every time a webpage is loaded or refreshed in a browser. It represents a single instance of a page being visited or viewed by a user.
- If a user visits a webpage and then reloads or revisits the same page, it counts as multiple page views.
- Page views are useful for understanding the popularity of specific pages on a website and how frequently users are accessing or interacting with that content.
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Sessions:
- A session refers to a period of time during which a user interacts with a website. It starts when a user first arrives on the site and ends either after a period of inactivity (typically 30 minutes by default in Google Analytics) or when the user closes the browser or navigates away from the site.
- Within a session, a user can generate multiple page views by visiting multiple pages on the site.
- Sessions provide insight into user engagement and behavior within a particular visit to the website. They help understand how users navigate through the site and the duration of their interactions.
- Nature of Measurement: Page views count individual views of webpages, while sessions track the entire visit or interaction of a user on a website.
- Counting Method: Multiple page views can occur within a single session, but a single page view is counted each time a page loads or refreshes.
- Usage: Page views help measure the popularity of specific content, while sessions give an overview of user engagement and behavior during their visit.
In summary, page views count the number of times pages are loaded or refreshed, while sessions measure the overall duration and interaction of a user on a website during a single visit. Both metrics are valuable for understanding different aspects of user behavior and website performance.
