Session
A session represents a single visit to your website, encompassing all pageviews and interactions from arrival until the visitor leaves or becomes inactive.
A session (also called a visit) is a group of interactions with your website that take place within a given time frame. A session starts when a visitor arrives on your site and ends when they leave or after a period of inactivity (typically 30 minutes).
During a single session, a visitor might view multiple pages, click links, submit forms, and trigger events. All of these interactions are grouped together as part of that session.
Session-based metrics help you understand user engagement patterns. Average session duration tells you how long people typically spend on your site. Pages per session indicates how much content they explore.
Sessions differ from users: one user can have multiple sessions over time. If someone visits your site Monday morning, leaves, and returns Monday evening, that counts as two sessions from one user.
Privacy-focused analytics tools like Glyphex track sessions without cookies by using privacy-safe visitor identification methods.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a session last?
A session typically ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or when the visitor leaves your site. If someone is inactive for 30 minutes and then continues browsing, that starts a new session.
What is the difference between sessions and users?
A user is a unique visitor to your site. A session is a single visit. One user can have multiple sessions over time. If someone visits Monday and Tuesday, that's one user with two sessions.
Why do I have more sessions than users?
Sessions exceed users because the same person can visit multiple times. If 100 users each visit twice, you'll have 100 users but 200 sessions. The ratio indicates how often visitors return.