Page Views Per Session

Page Views per Session: Meaning, Calculation, Importance 

What does page views per session mean? Learn about this performance metric, how to calculate it, and how it is difference from unique page views.

When you use Google Analytics to monitor your website's performance, you will encounter important metrics that provide insights into user interactions.

One such metric is Page Views per Session. Here is everything you need to know about it.

What Are Page Views per Session? 

Page Views per Session is a web analytics metric that measures the average number of pages a user views during a single visit to a website. It provides insights into user engagement and the effectiveness of a website's content and navigation.

This metric is valuable for website owners and marketers as it helps assess user behavior. Higher Page Views per Session often indicate that users find the content engaging and are exploring the website further, which can be a positive sign of user satisfaction and potential for achieving website goals, such as conversions or ad revenue.

On the other hand, a low Page Views per Session may suggest that visitors are not finding what they're looking for or that the website lacks engaging content or intuitive navigation. It's important to analyze this metric alongside other web analytics data to make informed decisions about optimizing user experience and content strategy.

How To Calculate Page Views per Session? 

The formula to calculate your average page views per session using data from Google Analytics is as follows:

Average page views per session = (Page View Events + Screen View Events) / Total Sessions

Here is a breakdown of the components:

1. Page View Events: These are instances where a user loads a page on your website. It represents each time a visitor views a different page within a single session.
2. Screen View Events: Screen view events are like page views but are more commonly used in mobile app tracking. If you are primarily dealing with a website, you may not need to consider screen view events.
3. Total Sessions: This refers to the total number of individual visits or sessions to your website during a specific time.

By summing up the page view events and screen view events (if applicable) and then dividing this total by the number of sessions, you arrive at your website's average page views per session.

Monitoring this metric can help you assess the effectiveness of your content, layout, and user experience, ultimately enabling you to make data-driven decisions to improve your website's performance and user satisfaction.

What Is a Good Number of Page Views per Session? 

When it comes to assessing the quality of your website's user engagement, Page Views per Session is a valuable metric. But what numbers should you aim for, and what's considered good or bad?

Good Page Views per Session:

• An average of around 2.6 pages per session is a solid benchmark for most websites. This indicates that visitors are exploring multiple pages during their session, which can lead to achieving sales or marketing goals.
• If your website is performing exceptionally well, it could be in the top 20%, where the average is about 4.0 pages per session. For the top 10%, the average goes even higher, reaching 5.2 pages per session. These figures represent great goals to set because they suggest that users are deeply engaged with your content.

Poor Page Views per Session:

• If your website is averaging only 1.5 pages per session, it is lower than the average. However, it is essential to put this in context. The lowest performing 20% of websites typically receive around 1.7 page views per session, with the worst falling at 1.4 views. So, while 1.5 is below average, it's not drastically off.
• Generally, page views per session can range from 1.7 to 4.0, so falling somewhere within this range is quite typical. If you find yourself below average, view it as an opportunity for improvement rather than a complete failure. It's an indication that there's room to enhance user engagement and the overall quality of your website's content and layout.

In summary, the ideal number of Page Views per Session can vary depending on your industry and website type. Comparing your performance to industry benchmarks is crucial. Falling below average isn't necessarily bad. Rather, consider it an opportunity to optimize and enhance your website's user experience to increase engagement.

What’s the Difference Between Page Views and Unique Page Views? 

Page Views per Session is a metric that measures the total number of times a page on your website is viewed during a user's session.

Unique Page Views per Session, on the other hand, measures the number of times a unique user views a particular page within their session. It compiles views generated during the same session from the same user and counts them as a single unique page view. This metric is valuable for tracking how many distinct users engage with a specific page during their session, removing the influence of repeated visits by the same user.

The primary distinction between these two metrics lies in how they handle repeat visits within a user's session. Page Views per Session counts all views, including duplicates, while Unique Page Views per Session tallies the number of unique users who viewed a specific page during their session, regardless of how many times they revisited it.

Page Views per Session: Key Takeaways 

• Page Views per Session is a web metric measuring average pages viewed per user visit, revealing engagement and content effectiveness.
• The formula for calculating it is: (Page Views + Screen Views) / Total Sessions.
• Aim for around 2.6 pages per session as a solid benchmark; higher numbers suggest engaged users. Falling below is an opportunity to enhance engagement rather than a failure.