Quick answer
Web analytics is the collection, measurement and analysis of data about how people find and use a website (visits, sources, pages, clicks and conversions) in order to understand and improve the site.
What is web analytics?
Web analytics is the collection, measurement and analysis of data about how people find and use a website, in order to understand and improve it. It answers questions such as: how many people visit, where they come from, which pages they read, what they click, where they leave, and whether they complete the site's goals (a purchase, a sign-up, a download).
Data is usually collected by a small JavaScript snippet on each page, sometimes complemented by server logs or server-side events. The tool turns raw hits into visitors, sessions, pageviews, events and conversions, and shows them in reports.
Core web analytics metrics
| Metric | Definition |
|---|---|
| Visitors (unique visitors) | Distinct people or browsers in a period, as identified by the tool |
| Sessions (visits) | Groups of activity separated by a period of inactivity, typically 30 minutes |
| Pageviews | Times a page was loaded or a single-page app route was shown |
| Bounce rate | Share of sessions with a single page and no meaningful interaction |
| Average session duration / time on page | How long visits and page views last |
| Traffic sources / channels | Where visitors came from: search, direct, referral, social, paid, email |
| Entry and exit pages | Where sessions start and end |
| Conversion rate | Sessions or visitors completing a goal ÷ total |
| Events | Actions such as clicks, downloads, form submissions, video plays |
Different tools define visitors and sessions differently, so numbers rarely match exactly between tools.
Types of web analytics
| Type | Focus | Example question |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic analytics | Volume and sources of visits | Which channels grew last month? |
| Behavior analytics | What visitors do on pages | Where do people stop scrolling? |
| Conversion analytics | Goals and funnels | Which step of sign-up loses most people? |
| Performance analytics | Speed and errors from real users | Which pages fail Core Web Vitals on mobile? |
| SEO analytics | Search visibility and clicks | Which queries show our pages? |
How web analytics works
- Collection. A script sends a request when a page loads and when tracked events happen. Data includes the URL, referrer, device type, browser and approximate location.
- Identification. Visits are grouped into visitors using cookies, device storage or, in cookieless tools, short-lived hashed identifiers.
- Processing. Bot traffic is filtered, sessions are cut, sources are classified into channels and goals are matched.
- Reporting. Reports, dashboards and alerts show trends and allow drilling into segments.
Web analytics and privacy
Web analytics processes personal data when it can single out a person (cookies, IP addresses, user IDs). In the EU, storing or reading identifiers on a device generally requires consent unless strictly necessary. Privacy-focused, cookieless analytics reduces what is stored and can often run without a consent banner, but you still need a privacy notice and data minimization.
Common mistakes
- Treating page views and time on site as goals instead of signals.
- Comparing numbers across tools without checking definitions.
- Not filtering bots and internal traffic.
- Tracking everything without a plan, then using none of it.
Web analytics in TapCub
TapCub's web analytics covers overview, realtime, pages (visited, entry, exit, 404), sources and campaigns, audience, sessions, events, goals, real-user performance and crawl health, with bots filtered and shown separately. Counting is cookieless by default. See install on any website and how cookieless counting works.
Related terms: unique visitor, session, bounce rate, source / channel, conversion rate.
Sources
- Kaushik, A. (2009). Web Analytics 2.0. Wiley.
- W3C. Navigation Timing Level 2.
- European Data Protection Board. Guidelines 05/2020 on consent.
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Product Analyst
Focuses on event analysis, conversion funnels, and retention, using clear metric definitions and structured analysis to explain product performance.