Has Anyone Else Noticed A Jump In Google Analytics Traffic Since Session Parameters Were Changed?
-
Ever since Google Analytics changed their session parameters August 12th I have seen a 20% jump in organic traffic & bounce rates along with a decline in pages/visit and conversion rate.
To be clear, I don't put a whole heck of a lot of stock in these metrics as stand-alone indications of how my site is performing. I'm just trying to get to the bottom of this blip.
I noticed some other people mentioned a similar phenomenon in other SEO forums and blog comments, but nobody seems to be talking about this here at SEOMoz (unless I just haven't looked in the right place).
I'm not saying the change I noticed has anything to do with the session update, I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar so that I can either cross it off the list of possible causes or explore further.
-
Hi mate - yes I am also seeing a percentage increase of returning visitors from around 20%-80%.
This is definitely related to the session parameter change. Although I find it hard to believe that it is a "bug". Rather, as you say, I think it is because they are now calculating the ended session differently.
This does make past and present comparisons slightly challenging
Cheers
Henry
-
My returning visitor count has jumped 20% - 80% as well depending on the source. I think the key here is the following from Barry Schwartz's article:
A session now counts as "ended":
"When any traffic source value for the user changes. Traffic source information includes: utm_source, utm_medium, utm_term, utm_content, utm_id, utm_campaign, and gclid."
So returning visitors are getting counted as a separate session each time they visit your site via a different source type - at least that's how I interpret that.
It would make sense then why returning visitors has gone up... But that would mean returning visitors would go up for everyone to one degree or another depending on how engaged and how many visits to conversion a site's returning visitors average.
Hence why I want to know if everyone is seeing this phenomenon to one degree or another or are just some people seeing it?
-
Hi James,
Can I ask if you have seen a big jump in returning visitors please since the session upadate? The growth I've seen in Google is mainly returning visitors and I think GA has calculated these visits twice as the session parameters are out of whack.
Cheers
Bush
-
Since Thursday 8/11/11 some of my clients have seen a reported 20 to 150% increase in traffic from Google in their analytics stats.
Sales have increased on some of those sites as well, which makes me think it's a real increase in traffic.
their pages per visit and bounce times have also gone to hell, but I don't know if it's a session issue, or just the extra traffic they are getting isn't as targeted as before.
-
Thanks for responding Gareth. Anyone else seen weird stuff going on with their analytics?
-
Hi - Yes I've seen my clients metrics move and there are a tonne of p155ed off people out there on the Anlaytics forum and here as well - http://www.seroundtable.com/google-analytics-session-definitions-13872.html
I've been looking into this and I think just as many who have left comments, that there is a bug when calculating the session times or returning visits incorrectly being flagged as a traffic source.
There is definitely big issues around the session update.
Bush
-
I didn't say I was bothered... All I've done is put together a list of possible causes and now I am crossing them off one by one. This is a possible cause based on what I have seen other people saying... and all I want to know is if anyone else has seen a similar phenomenon.
PS - How can you be so sure?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Do I need a separate Google Analytics ID for a subdomain on my website?
Hello Everyone, I would like to know if I need a separate Google Analytics ID for a subdomain on my website? I have a sub-domain within my website, and the software for the site on the subdomain is asking for a Google Analytics ID. Should I be using the same Google Analytics ID as the main domain or should I be creating a new Google Analytics profile or ID? Thanks. Ryan
Reporting & Analytics | | RyanUK0 -
How to Configure & Tracking Images in Google Analytic?
Hello Experts, Can anyone tell me for my eCommerce site how to configure images tracking in google analytic? And where can I see the image traffic in google analytic? Not sure I am asking correct question but confuse about image traffic. Thanks! Wrights!
Reporting & Analytics | | wright3350 -
We have a client that wants to apply UTM URL tagging to track local organic traffic in Google Analytics. Is there any benefit in doing this?
One of our clients requested that we apply UTM URL tagging to better track organic traffic in Google Analytics. We found this to be an odd request because we are most familiar with UTM tracking for special campaigns (referral tracking, PPC, email tracking, etc). Is there any benefit of applying UTM tags to urls to analyze local organic traffic in Google Analytics? Are there any resources out there about this? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | RosemaryB0 -
Google Analytics - Average Position
Hi Just trying to get some clarity on Google Analytics Average Positions in "Aquistions/Search Engine Optimisation". For a very competitive keyword Google Analytics is saying i am on average position of 6. Is this Page 6? I am assuming position six would be 1.6?
Reporting & Analytics | | Cocoonfxmedia0 -
Google Analytics unexplainable traffic spike
Viewing this report **Behaviour > Site content > All pages **with primary dimensions of **Page ** and **Page title **are showing different results for one specific page on our site. We noticed a huge spike in pageviews and entrances to that specific page on our site. The user flow report shows traffic going through and from the page (in high volume) from other pages on the site which suggests that it's not the usual case of spam referrals. When I view the report above by page, I get unrealistic data. Over 600% increase in pageviews and over 900% increase in entrances. When I view by page title however, I get realistic results. Can anyone help shed some light on why these two reports will be different? Anyone else seeing similar issues?
Reporting & Analytics | | OptiBacUK0 -
Google Analytics Average Position
I'm looking at Google Analytics -> Acquisition -> Search Engine Optimization -> Queries reports. I'm looking at keywords and the average position. What Google reports and what I see in a Google incognito search is different (usually my search is much lower). For example, for one search term, Google reports 5.8 average position and every time I search it is 8. My local result is 4. Anyone know why this is? I'm wondering if Google is averaging the Local results into number?
Reporting & Analytics | | CalicoKitty20000 -
What is the best way to embed Google Analytics charts on our site?
We want to build out this functionality so a client can log into our site and view data. I know its possible but I can't find any articles about the steps so that my team can move forward.
Reporting & Analytics | | appbackr0 -
What is the best way to track mobile sites in Google Analytics?
Hello! I am wondering what the pros and cons of using the regular Google Analytics tracking code on a mobile site versus the tracking documentation from Google specifically on it found at http://code.google.com/mobile/analytics/docs/web/ which is still in labs mode. Does the mobile specific tracking have the same features as the regular one to be able to track events and report the same statistics? Thanks for the help on this one!
Reporting & Analytics | | CabbageTree0