In this article, We will explore what web sessions are and how we use them for our pricing.
Understanding Web Sessions:
Web sessions refer to the interactions between a user and a website or application during a specific period. When a user visits a website, a unique session ID is assigned, enabling the server to track and record the user's activities. These activities may include page views, clicks, searches, and other interactions that provide valuable insights into user behavior and preferences. You can think of a session as the container for the actions a user takes on your site.
A single user can open multiple sessions. Those sessions can occur on the same day, or over several days, weeks, or months. As soon as one session ends, there is then an opportunity to start a new session.
How do we calculate/track Web sessions?
When you install Rapid Search we insert our session tracking code into your store. The tracking is automatic just like our installation process, you don't need to do anything.
About Session Expiration:
- Time-Based Expiration of Web Sessions:
Web sessions typically have a time-based expiration, which ensures that inactive sessions are automatically terminated to conserve server resources. Time-based expiration defines the duration a session remains active without any user activity. For instance, if a session has a time-based expiration of 30 minutes, it means that if a user remains inactive for more than 30 minutes, their session will be considered expired, requiring them to log in again to continue their session.
- End-of-Day Expiry:
In addition to time-based expiration, some web sessions may also have an end-of-day expiry. This means that regardless of user activity, the session will be automatically terminated at the end of the day, usually at midnight. End-of-day expiry is particularly useful in scenarios where businesses want to enforce user authentication periodically or when session data becomes irrelevant after a certain period.
- Campaign based expiration:
Every time a user's campaign source changes, it triggers a new session. It’s important to point out that even if an existing session is still open (that is, less than 30 mins have elapsed), if the campaign source changes mid-session the first session is closed and a new session is opened. For example: Your visitor comes from an organic keyword and visits a page, then he closes the page then come back from a paid keyword.
Where can you find your session numbers?
Please open Rapid Search admin > Subscription tab to see your numbers.
You can also access your session numbers in Shopify admin > Analytics tab > Sessions section
NOTE: There might be slight differences in the Rapid Search sessions and Shopify sessions number. Due to the calculation differences. That is completely normal.
Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions regarding sessions.
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