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Metrics Explained

This section explains the key metrics you'll see in your GoodMetrics dashboard — what they mean, how they're calculated, and why they matter.

Active Visitor​

An active visitor is someone who has triggered a page view, custom event, or session engagement — such as a click or scroll — within the past 60 seconds.

If a visitor has your website open but hasn’t taken any action in the last minute, they’ll no longer appear as active in the report. As soon as they re-engage, they’ll be counted as active again.

This ensures that the Realtime report reflects meaningful activity — not just open browser tabs.

Average Time on Page​

The average amount of time visitors spend viewing a specific page.

We calculate average time on page by measuring the time between when a visitor lands on a page and their next pageview or interaction.

  • If the visitor moves to another page, we use the time between the two pageviews.
    Example: If someone visits Page A at 5:01pm and then Page B at 5:03pm, we record 2 minutes on Page A.

  • If the page is the last one visited, we look at the timestamp of their final engagement (click or scroll).
    Example: If they land at 5:01pm and last scroll at 5:02pm, we record 1 minute.

  • If there’s no interaction before they leave, we record 0 seconds.

Average Visit Duration​

The average amount of time a visitor spends on your website during a single session, measured from their first pageview to their last tracked interaction — including pageviews, clicks, and scrolls.

  • Example: A visitor lands at 2:00pm and their final scroll is at 2:05pm — their visit duration is recorded as 5 minutes.

  • If they only view one page and their last interaction is a scroll 30 seconds after landing, we record 30 seconds.

  • If there are no interactions beyond the initial pageview, the session is recorded as 0 seconds.

Bounce Rate​

The percentage of sessions where a visitor lands on your website and leaves without viewing any other pages or triggering any tracked events.

Example: If 100 people visit your website and 60 of them bounce, your bounce rate is 60%.

Completion Location​

The specific page URL where a custom event was completed.

This helps you understand which pages are driving conversions.

Example: If a "signup" event is triggered on multiple pages, the completion location shows where each signup happened.

Conversion Rate​

The percentage of total visits that result in a tracked conversion event.

Calculated as:
(Conversions ÷ Visits) × 100

Example: 25 conversions out of 500 visits = 5% conversion rate.

Event Completions​

The total number of times a specific custom event was triggered on your website.

Example: If a user clicks a play button three times in one visit, that counts as three event completions.

Event Completion Rate​

The percentage of visits that resulted in a specific event being completed.

Calculated as:
(Event Completions ÷ Visits) × 100

Example: 50 completions from 200 visits = 25% event completion rate.

Event Value​

The total value associated with a specific event, based on the values passed when the event is triggered.

Example: If you track purchases and send a value of 5000 (representing $50.00), the total reflects all values combined.

Exit Page​

The last page a visitor views before ending their session on your website.

Exit pages help you identify where users are dropping off. A high exit rate might signal friction or simply a natural stopping point.

Initial Landing Page​

The very first page a visitor lands on during their first-ever visit to your site.

This value is tied to the visitor and stays consistent across future sessions.

Example: If a visitor first lands on your homepage, that will remain their initial landing page — even if they return later and land on a different page, like your pricing or contact page.

Initial Referrer​

The referral source that brought a visitor to your site for the very first time.

This value is tied to the visitor, not the session.

Example: If they first arrive via Google, that will remain their initial referrer even if they return directly later.

Initial UTM Source/Medium​

The UTM source and medium parameters that first brought a visitor to your site during their very first visit.

This value is tied to the visitor, not the session, and remains consistent across all future visits.

Example: If a visitor first arrives on your site through a campaign tagged with utm_source=newsletter and utm_medium=email, those values will remain their initial UTM source/medium — even if they later come back through another referral source.

Landing Page​

The first page a visitor lands on during a specific session.

This can vary across visits.

Example: A user might land on your homepage in one session, and your pricing page in another.

New vs. Returning Visitor​

This breakdown shows whether a visitor is accessing your site for the first time or has visited before.

  • New Visitors are users who have not previously been identified by GoodMetrics.
  • Returning Visitors are identified using a privacy-friendly fingerprint based on anonymized IP and user agent.

Note: If a user returns using a different IP address or device/browser, they will be treated as a new visitor.

Pageview​

A pageview is counted each time a visitor loads a page on your website.

This metric increases whether the visitor is seeing the page for the first time or reloading it.

Example: If a visitor loads your homepage, navigates to your blog, and then refreshes the blog post, that’s three total pageviews.

Pageviews Per Visit​

The average number of pages a visitor views during a single visit to your website.

Referrer​

The referral source that brought a visitor to your site during their current or most recent session.

Example: If a user arrives directly this time but originally came from Google, their current referrer will be "Direct."

Unique Visitors​

The total number of distinct individuals who visit your site over a given time period.

GoodMetrics uses a privacy-friendly fingerprint combining anonymized IP and user agent to identify unique users — no cookies or persistent IDs required.

Visit​

A visit (also known as a session) represents a single continuous interaction a visitor has with your website. A visit may include multiple pageviews, events, and interactions.