When you're running a website, it's essential to have some way of tracking how well it's doing.
Google Analytics is one of the most popular options available, and it offers various ways to track your site's performance.
One of the things that Google Analytics tracks are hits. But what exactly are hits? Which kinds of hits does Google Analytics track? And what can they tell you about your site?
Tracking hits allows you to see how people interact with your website, what pages they visit, how long they stay on each page, and where they come from.
Here’s a closer look at each type of hit and what it can tell you about your website traffic.
1. PAGEVIEW HIT
A page view is a Google Analytics metric representing the number of times someone views your website. This can include unique visitors and repeats on pages, so tracking what people like about specific parts or areas within your site is essential!
Page views are a great way to see how many people visit your site and what they do.
You can also break down the data by device, which will help you identify where there may be room for improvement on loading speed or other factors that affect users' experience – especially if those variables change frequently!
2. SCREEN VIEW HIT
A screen view is a specific type of pageview that’s tracked on mobile devices. A screen view hit is generated when someone opens your app on their phone or tablet.
Screen views are essential for understanding how users interact with your site on smaller devices.
Screen views are essential to track because they give you an insight into how people use your site on mobile devices. This information can be used to make changes that improve the user experience, such as increasing font size or making buttons easier to press.
It will also track different types of content on your website that might not necessarily be pages. This includes videos, images, and other types of embedded content.
3. EVENT HIT
Event tracking hits monitor user interactions with content that doesn't necessarily lead to a page view, such as clicking on a video player or downloading a file.
They can be very handy for understanding what people do on your site and what attracts engagement.
If you have specific goals for your website, such as having people watch a video or download a PDF, then event tracking can help you see how well those goals are being met.
4. SOCIAL INTERACTION HIT
Social interaction hits are defined as an engagement with your website that is initiated by a social network. This means that if someone clicks on a link to your site from Facebook, it will be recorded as a social interaction in Google Analytics.
Social interaction hits don't give you much information. However, they can provide valuable insights when combined with other data, such as pageviews and events.
For example, if you see that a page with many social interactions also has a high bounce rate, it indicates that people are landing on the page but not finding what they need.
Also, social interaction hits help track interactions with ads. For example, if you're running a Facebook ad campaign, you can use social interaction hits to track how many people interact with your ad (by clicking on it, sharing it, etc.). You can use this information to optimize your ad campaigns.
5. E-commerce Hit
An e-commerce hit in Google Analytics is a pageview that results from an online purchase.
This type of hit can be helpful for understanding which pages on your website are most likely to lead to sales and tracking the success of your marketing campaigns.
E-commerce hits can also help you to identify any potential problems with your checkout process so that you can make improvements and increase your conversion rate.
In addition, e-commerce hits give you valuable insights into customer behavior. For example, you can see what products are selling well and what time of day people are most likely to purchase.
6. EXCEPTION HIT
An exception hit is a type of hit that occurs when an error or other unexpected event happens on a website. For example, sites are constantly changing, and as a result, errors can happen.
By tracking exception hits, website owners can identify and fix errors quickly. This helps improve the user experience and prevent potential customers from leaving the site prematurely.
Exception hits are good for tracking down malicious activity on your website. Several things can cause this, but most often, it is caused by a bad actor trying to access your site in an unauthorized way.
Exception hits provide clues as to where the bad actor is coming from and what they are trying to do. For example, if you see many exception hits coming from a particular IP address, you can block that address to prevent further access.
7. USER TIMING HITS
User timing hits allow you to measure how long it takes for a specific user action to happen on your website or app. It could be anything from the time it takes to load a page to the time it takes to complete a purchase.
After all, a fast-loading website is a happy website. And a happy website means happy users. Enter user timing hits.
User timing hits allow you to track how long it takes for specific events to happen on your site. This information can be invaluable in pinpointing performance bottlenecks and making necessary improvements.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS HITS SUMMED UP
All in all, Google Analytics tracks an impressive variety of hits, from the mundane to the potentially groundbreaking. Whether you're curious about how many people visited your site today or want to know which of your new products is getting the most attention, Google Analytics has the answer. So dive in and start exploring all the data at your fingertips; you might just be surprised at what you find.
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