Google Analytics Compliance with WAA Standard Metrics

A page is an analyst definable unit of content.

The number of times a page (an analyst-definable unit of content) was viewed.

Unique Visitors

Same as WAA

Note: Google Analytics defines this term as Absolute Unique Visitors.

A visitor is defined using a unique numeric identifier stored in the Google Analytics tracking cookies. This value is set when the visitor’s first visit is created.

Each visitor is counted only once in the Absolute Unique Visitor metric, regardless of how many times they return to the site during the reporting period.

New Visitor

The number of Unique Visitors with activity including a first-ever Visit to a site during a reporting period.

Same as WAA

Note: While GA does share the same definition for a new visitor it does not does not count the number of new, unique people (visitors) that have visited the site during the reporting period. GA counts the number of VISITS generated by new people.

Google Analytics calculate the number of New visitors by identifying the number of new unique visitor IDs that were created during the reporting period.

It is possible to measure the number of new visitors using a profile and include filter.

Repeat Visitor

The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting

of two or more Visits to a site during a reporting period.

Return Visitor

Same as WAA

Note: While GA does share the same definition for a return visitor it does not does not count the number of returning unique people (visitors) that have visited the site during the reporting period. GA counts the number of VISITS generated by people coming .

GA identifies a return visitor as any visit generated by a person who’s unique identifier cookie was set prior to the reporting period.

Entry Page

The first page of a visit.

Landing Page

A page intended to identify the beginning of the user

experience resulting from a defined marketing effort.

Same as WAA

Exit Page

The last page on a site accessed during a visit, signifying the end of a visit/session.

Same as WAA

Visit Duration

Same as WAA

Note: Google Analytics uses a different name for this metric. It is called ‘Average Time on Site’.

The average time on site is calculated by dividing the total time spent on the site by the total number of Visits.

Referrer

The referrer in Google Analytics is the page URL that originally generated the request for the current VISIT. This value is then added to all pageviews in that visit.

The referrer is identified in GA as any source whose medium is “referral”.

GA also has a field called ‘Referral’ which does conform to the WAA’s definition. However; this is not a field displayed in any report, only available as a filter field.

Internal Referrer

N/a

This metric is not available in GA.

External Referrer

The external referrer is a page URL where the traffic is external or outside of the website or a web property defined by the user.

Search Referrer

The search referrer is an internal or external referrer for which the URL has been generated by a search function.

Visit Referrer

The visit referrer is the first referrer in a session, whether internal, external or null.

Same as WAA

Note: This data is called a Referral in Google Analytics and can ONLY be the external referrer.

Original Referrer

The original referrer is the first referrer in a visitor’s first session, whether internal, external or null.

N/a

This metric is not available in GA.

Note: See information about Referrer above.

Yes

Click-through

Number of times a link was clicked by a visitor.

Same as WAA

Note: Google Analytics refers to Click-throughs as ‘clicks’.

This metric is only available in the AdWords reports.

Click-through Rate/Ratio

The number of click-throughs for a specific link divided by the number of times that link was viewed.

Same as WAA

Note: Click-through and Click-through Rate is the percentage of impressions that resulted in a click. It is calculated by dividing the number of clicks on an ad(s) by the number of impressions for the ad(s).

This metric is only available in the AdWords reports.

Yes

Page Views per Visit

The number of page views in a reporting period divided

by number of visits in the same reporting period.

Same as WAA

Page Exit Ratio

Number of exits from a page divided by total number of

page views of that page.

Same as WAA

This metric is called ‘Exit %’.

N/a

Single-Page Visits

Visits that consist of one page regardless of the number

of times the page was viewed.

N/A

This metric is not available in GA.

Yes

Single Page View Visits (Bounces)

Visits that consist of one pageview.

Same as WAA

Note: Bounces can be modified by other Google Analytics features; specifically Custom segmentation and event tracking.

When either of the previous features are used the Google Analytics tracking code will request the invisible gif from the Google Analytics server.

Google Analytics will interpret this GIF request as a visitor action and conclude that they are engaged with the webpage and will NOT count them as a Bounce.

To be clear, if a visitor lands on a page, and views a video that is tracked using event tracking, and then leaves the site from the original landing page, a bounce will NOT be counted.

The same is true for custom segmentation. If a visitor is placed in a custom segment on a landing page, and does not view any other pages, a Bounce will NOT be counted.

Bounce Rate

Single page view visits divided by entry pages.

Same as WAA

NOTE: See comment above regarding how the number of bounces can change based on the use of Event Tracking or Custom Segmentation.

Yes

Event

Any logged or recorded action that has a specific date and time assigned to it by either the browser or server.

Same as WAA

Note: There are multiple attributes to an event in Google Analytics. There are objects, actions and labels.

Event Tracking is a Google Analytics Beta feature and may not be enabled in your account. You can read more about Event tracking in this post or on the GA Code Site.

Yes

Conversion

A visitor completing a target action.

Same as WAA

Note: In addition to conversions, Google Analytics will also calculate Conversion Rate. Conversion rate is the total # of visits resulting in a desired action divided by the total number of visits.

Also note that a conversion will only be recorded ONCE per visits. Visitors can not convert more than one time per visit.

You can read more about goals in this post: All About Google Analytics Goals.