Explanation of important basic metrics to start your journey with Google Analytics

1. Google Analytics Metrics
Using Google Analytics reports requires you to understand metric definitions. Google
Analytics Metrics include:
 Visit
 Pageview
 Unique Pageview
 Pageview per Visit
 Visitor
 New Visitor
 Returning Visitor
 Bounce Rate
 Exit Rate
 Time on Page
 Time on Site
 Click
Visits vs Visitors
Google Analytics measures visits and visitors to your site.
Visits (or session) are the unique sessions initiated by all the visitors. Google Analytics’
time-out period for a visit is 30 minutes.
 If a user leaves your site and returns within 30 minutes, the user’s subsequent
activities on your site will be attributed to the original session.
 If a user is inactive on your website for 30 minutes or more, the original session will
be terminated.
A visit consists of one or more web site page views.
The difference between a visit and a visitor in Google Analytics’ definitions is:
 The initial session by a user regardless of date range is an additional visit and an
additional visitor.
 Any future sessions from the same user during the selected time period are counted
as additional visits, but not as additional visitors.
Page views vs Unique Page views
Page views are the number of times a web page (an analyst-definable unit of content) is
viewed. Additional page view counts can be triggered via visiting the same web page
multiple times by the same visitor, when the visitor:
 Reloads after reaching the web page.
 Navigates to a different webpage and then returns to the original webpage.

2. Unique page views are the total number of unique visitors to a given web page during the
same session. A unique page view is the number of sessions during which the page is
browsed one or multiple times.
Visits vs Pageviews
Visits are the number of times your visitors has been to your website, while pageviews are
the number of times web pages are viewed.
Visits and pageviews form the pageviews per visit metric: The number of page views
divided by number of visits in a given time period.
New Visitors vs Returning Visitors
Google Analytics can identify new visitors and returning visitors.
 A new visitor is a user that visits your site for the first time.
 A returning visitor is a user that has previously browsed your website.
Bounce Rate vs Exit Rate
Google Analytics records bounces and exits.
What are exits, exit pages and exit rate?
 Exits are the number of users that leave your site.
 Exit page is the last page on your site accessed during a visit.
 Exit rate is the percentage of site exits that occurred from a webpage or set of
WebPages. Exit rate will always be identical to the number of visits when applied
over your entire site.
What are bounces and bounce rates?
 Bounces are the number of single-page visits to your site, regardless of the number of
times the page is viewed.
 Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits to your site – Visits in which the
user leaves your site from the entrance page.
Time on Page vs Time on Site
Time on Page is the time a visitor spent on a particular web page or set of pages. It is
calculated by subtracting the initial view time for a particular page from the initial view
time for a subsequent page. So time on page does not apply to exit pages of your website.
Time on site is the time a visitor spends on your site.

3. Clicks vs Visits
Clicks are the number of times a user has clicked on your ads, for example your Google
Adwords ads. In Google Analytics reports, often the number of clicks does not match the
number of visits.
Google Analytics reports more visits than Adwords reports clicks, when:
 AdWords automatically filters invalid clicks (due to Adwords click fraud), but
Analytics reports all visits to your website.
 A visitor clicks on your ad, and then during a different session returns to your site
through a bookmark or visits your site directly. Google Analytics reports multiple
visits as the referral information from the original visit is retained, but Adwords
reports one click.
Adwords reports more clicks than Google Analytics reports visits, when:
 A visitor may click your ad multiple times during a session, AdWords records
multiple clicks but Google Analytics reports the separate pageviews as one visit.
 A visitor may click on your ad, but closes his browser before your web page fully
loads, Google Analytics does not recognize the visit, but Adwords records the click.
 A visitor with either javascript or cookies disabled clicks on your ad, Google Analytics
cannot record this visit, but AdWords reports this click.
 Redirects in landing pages prevent Google Analytics tracking code from loading, but
Adwords records the click.
 Adwords auto-tagging is turned off and the destination URLs do not contain manually
tagged campaign tracking variables, the visits (that come through Adwords) are
recorded as Google Organic visits instead of Google CPC visits.