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Google Analytics has been the backbone of marketing and a big help for them in the past years. It has helped marketers with lots of beneficial reports about their customers and how they behave. However, there are questions around GA in the market such as ‘When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions from the same user by default?’ which need to be answered.
One of the most important reports that can be gathered with GA is customer sessions. This factor can help a lot and raise questions like ‘When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions from the same user by default?’ at the same time. It also can help you to analyze your customer behavior.
Here in this article, we will go through everything you need to know about Sessions and how to use them for your benefit. So, if you ever had the question ‘When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions from the same user by default?’ stick with us till the end.
What Is a Session in Google Analytics?
Every time someone visits your website, Google Analytics logs a session. When a page loads, a session begins immediately and terminates when no action is taken for thirty minutes.
During this period of activity, each logged pageview, click, transaction, etc. is referred to as a ‘Session.’
A fresh session is recorded if the same visitor returns the following day or after several hours. As a result, one individual can record numerous sessions. You can easily use session replay tools to see what has happened in each of these sessions.
What Is The Difference Between Session and User in Google Analytics?
Despite their apparent similarities, sessions and users are very different from one another.
As we said before, a GA session is defined as a visitor’s set of actions on your website within a 30-minute timeframe. This is where the root of the question ‘When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions from the same user by default?’ comes from which will be answered in the next sections.
A session can involve many things such as several clicks, transactions, and pageviews, among other things. However, keeping your customers on your website for that long is only possible by optimizing your website.
On the other hand, a user is a specific person who has visited your website and started a session. Users can be thought of as the number of distinct visitors to your website. Users can also be tracked in the GA which can be used to improve and optimize the website.
A user will not be counted again after they land on your website. Unless, of course, they have deleted their cookies or are using a different device to visit.
When Will Google Analytics Be Unable To Identify Sessions From The Same User By Default?
Now that we have an overall understanding of how sessions work, let’s get to the main question that brings us all here. When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions from the same user by default?
The answer to this question is ‘When the sessions happen in different browsers on the same device‘. Let us see what exactly this answer means.
When a user is on a website, they accept the cookies, which are small files of information that a web server generates and sends to a web browser. Web browsers store the cookies they receive for a predetermined period of time, or for the length of a user’s session on a website. This way the website knows the browser users are using and adjusts to them.
However, when the same user decides to use a new browser on the same device to visit that website, it’s like a new user. The website does not have cookies from a new browser so the sessions won’t be identified for the user.
Which Is More Important to Rely on? Sessions or Users
By using website visitor tracking software, you can track both of these metrics plus many other metrics that can help your business. However, how much you should rely on these metrics, and when are they beneficial to you?
The answer to these questions depends on your business entirely. According to DataBox, 58.8% of users prefer Sessions as a metric to rely on and make decisions based on it.
Sessions can show you how much your website is attracting your customers and whether they prefer to stay on it. On the other hand, Users in GA show you the number of people visiting your website and have the potential to convert.
Therefore, it is you who need to decide which one is more important to you based on your business size and goals in mind.
Conclusion
Google Analytics is meant to help you with lots of metrics that show you how well your business is moving toward its goals. However, it is sometimes hard to decide which one of these metrics is useful in the current situation. In this article, we went through two of the most useful and easy-to-calculate metrics that are crucial in special cases.
In addition, we answered the question ‘When will Google Analytics be unable to identify sessions?’ which is important to know. Hope these will help you through your decision-making process.
FAQs
By using Google Analytics, you have access to metrics that are helpful to your business. However, GA is a complex software that needs to be studied to be able to show its best qualities and potential. Here we try to answer some of the most asked questions about GA to help you understand this software even better:
1. What Is The Difference Between a Session And an Event in Google Analytics?
Sessions are like time frames in which many events can happen inside it. Every Session starts with a Session_strat event. Afterward, many other events such as clicks, loading pages, completing purchases and many more can happen. Therefore, each session is like a bracket for different events.
2. What Is The Difference Between Sessions And Pageviews?
Pageviews offer a detailed perspective of individual pages viewed inside a session, whereas a session includes all user activity throughout a visit. Understanding these indicators enables website owners to understand user involvement better and arrive at data-driven conclusions for enhancing their business revenue.
