Definition
Visits (or sessions) is a measure of the number of times individuals request a page on the firm’s server.
The first request counts as a visit. Subsequent requests from the same individual do not count as visits unless they occur after a specified timeout period (usually set at 30 minutes).
For example, when an individual goes to a website on Tuesday, then again on Wednesday, this is recorded as two visits from one visitor.
Purpose
The purpose of tracking unique visitors to help marketers understand website traffic and user behavior. A visit can consist of a single page view or multiple pageviews, and one individual can make multiple visits to a website.
Construction
The exact specification of what constitutes a visit requires an accepted standard for a timeout period, which is defined as the number of minutes of inactivity from the time of entering the page to the time of requesting a new page.
Page views and visits are related. A visit consists of a series of page views grouped together in a single session (so the number of page views will exceed the number of visits).
It is possible to dig even deeper and track the paths visitors take within a visit. This path is called the clickstream and refers to the sequence of clicked links while visiting multiple sites. Tracking at this level can help a firm identify its most and least appealing pages, as well as the path a customer is likely to take prior to purchase.
See also
References
- Farris, Paul W.; Neil T. Bendle; Phillip E. Pfeifer; and David J. Reibstein (2010). Marketing Metrics: The Definitive Guide to Measuring Marketing Performance (Second Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.