Expectation vs. Reality: Clicks = Sessions?

How often do you receive the question from the client: “Why Session volumes on 3rd party platform, Google Analytics, do not match clicks that the campaign has reached?” The question is a big head ace for advertisers. However, we wish to give clear answers and demolish the ongoing myth that Clicks = Sessions.

First, it is necessary to understand both concepts. Clicks indicate how many times your content was clicked by people while they were browsing online. Sessions, on the other hand, are a group of interactions that take place on your website within a given time frame.

Second, it is relevant to know the cause of the ongoing mismatch between different metrics. There are several reasons why these two numbers may not match:

Ads may be clicked multiple times. A user can click on an ad multiple times, but Google Analytics will only count these clicks as one session.

Returning users. A user can click on your ad, bookmark your site, and come back later during a different session. In this scenario, only one click would be recorded, while Google Analytics would recognize this as two separate sessions.

A user clicks and leaves quickly. A user may click on your ad but leave quickly by hitting the “back” or “stop” button before Google Analytics has a chance to load its tracking code and record the visit as a session. However, this would be counted as one click.

Session timeout.  Google Analytics’ sessions are timed out after 30 minutes of inactivity. This means that if a user gets distracted and does something else during that time, then comes back and browses the site again later, it would be counted as two sessions.

That being said, while there may be discrepancies between these two metrics, everything comes down to clear arguments. Therefore, when the next time your client will come with questions do not hesitate to use solid answers exclusively granted by the Eskimi team.