Google analytics page per session is more than 1 for SPA

Question

I have built a SPA using Create React App. I have integrated google analytics and using google tag manager(tag) for sending events.

 window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
      function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
      gtag('js', new Date());

      gtag('config', 'UA-xxxxxxxxxx'); 

While analyzing the events I have noticed that my application is only firing landing pageview event(Only on first-page user visit).

What I am not able to figure out is even though the application has fired pageview event only once how page/session > 1. Can someone please help me understand this mystery and how does Goggle analytics calculate page per session?

Answer 1

Pages Per Session

• Quick Description = Average number of pages viewed per session
• Calculation: PageViews / Sessions
• Referred to as = Pages Per Session

This shows you how many pages the average person views on your website per session… What we mean by sessions is essentially all of the actions performed during a person visiting your site.

A person may visit your site three times, the person is defined as a user and each visit (in its entirety) is called a session.

Sessions :: A session is a collection of activities that all took place on your website within a time frame for a single user.

Pageviews :: PageViews represent the number of times pages on your site have been visited/viewed.

If a user comes to your site and views 3 pages before leaving, this will increase total PageViews by 3.

Calculating Pages Per Session

This is a good engagement metric for businesses that want low bounce rates and high levels of engagement. A number, typically measured to a single decimal place, represents this metric.

For example, a website that has had 1,000 sessions and 3,500 PageViews, we would get the following:

3,500 / 1,000 = 3.5 Pages Per Session (PageViews Per Session)

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Pages/Session Behavior for Single Page Application(SPA)

As per GA, Repeated views of a single page are counted which might be happening in your application.

You can find the data for pages per session by navigating to “Audience” > “Overview.”

Pageviews aren’t necessarily unique, as the same user can view the same page 5 times and log 5 pageviews. However, it’s still a good indicator of the overall engagement. Just be sure to place any analysis within the context of how the metric is defined.

Answer 2

The answer to this can be found here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en.

For example, if a time based expiration is considered for a session, if someone opens a page, and let's say, reloads it for some reason, his session will now comprise of 2 page views, not 1.

The existence of such instances could be the reason why your SPA has 1.28 pages / session.