What is a session in Google Analytics 4?

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a session refers to a set of events recorded for a user in a given time period.

In other words, a session represents a user's interaction with your website or mobile application during a continuous period of activity .

This activity may include several actions such as:

• Visit pages
• Interact with content, complete forms
• Make purchases
• Among others.

It is important to note that in GA4, sessions are based on events instead of hits, as was the case in Universal Analytics (GA3).

This means that each user interaction is recorded as an event within a session, providing a more detailed and flexible view of user behavior.

In contrast, a GA4 session can start with or without a pageview or screenview.

For example, a session in GA4 can start with user engagement. Therefore, you could end up with views or user interaction without sessions.

In GA3, these actions would be recorded within a single session, since they all occurred during the same user's visit to the site.

Imagine the following situation:

Imagine that a user visits your website and performs several actions, such as viewing some pages, adding a product to the cart and then leaving the site without completing the purchase.

Later, the same user returns to the site from a link they received via email and completes the purchase.

In GA3, these actions would be recorded within a single session, since they all occurred during the same user's visit to the site.

However, in GA4, these actions could be recorded as two separate sessions.

The first session could include the user's initial actions before leaving the site, while the second session could include the purchase made later.

In GA3, the duration of a session is calculated as the time elapsed between the first and last hit in the session. While in GA4, the duration of a session is calculated as the elapsed time between the first and the last event in the session..

In GA4, a session expires if no new event is sent to the GA server within 30 minutes after the last event was sent.

However, you can change this setting by modifying the session timeout settings in your GA4 property.

How to adjust the web session timeout in GA4

For example, you can have a web session in GA4 expire after 10 minutes of user inactivity or after 5 hours of user inactivity:

On the other hand, the GA4 session does NOT expire if a user returns to your website through a different campaign source in the middle of an active session.

As a result, the session count in your GA4 property may be lower than the session count in your GA3 property.

In addition, you could see a single GA4 session coming from multiple traffic sources.

Hypothetical situation:

On your website, users tend to multitask while browsing, such as checking products, reading reviews and comparing prices.

In addition, many of them work with multiple browser tabs open, alternating between your website and other online activities.

However, you have noticed that the session metrics in GA4 do not accurately reflect the behavior of these users.

For example, sessions are recorded as shorter than expected, and session counts for the same user are often inflated due to the default session timeout setting of 30 minutes.

To address this problem, you decide to adjust the session timeout setting on your GA4 property.

By extending the idle time required for a session to expire, you hope to more accurately capture the behavior of users interacting with your website.

You set the session timeout to 45 minutes of user inactivity, which will allow users to have longer periods of inactivity without being automatically logged out.

In addition, for those users who work long hours on your website, you configure an extended session timeout option of up to 7 hours of inactivity.

This setting allows you to capture more complete and accurate sessions, which in turn improves the quality of your GA4 data and gives you a clearer picture of your users' behavior as they navigate your website.

Engaged session and engaged sessions per User

GA4 property reports on 'engaged session' and 'engaged sessions per users'.

GA4 defines a 'session with interaction' as one that:

• Lasted 10 seconds or more, or
• Had one or more conversion events triggered, or
• Had two or more page views or screens.

GA4 defines 'engaged sessions per user' as the number of sessions with interaction divided by the number of users.

Where to view session metrics in GA4?

In conclusion, adjusting the session timeout settings in GA4 can significantly improve the accuracy of your metrics and provide a more complete understanding of user behavior on your website.

By extending the idle time before a session expires, you can avoid session count inflation and get a more accurate picture of user interaction.

If you need advice on how to interpret your reports in GA4 or how to optimize the configuration for better results, do not hesitate to contact us.

We're here to help you get the most out of Google Analytics 4 and make informed data-driven decisions.

Contact us today for a personalized consultation!