If Google Analytics is showing traffic from my digital campaign as 100% bounce and ZERO time spent does that mean the traffic you are sending me is fraudulent? NO! It’s a function of how Google Analytics calculates Average Session Duration.
How is Average Session Duration for a webpage calculated?
Google Analytics records the time stamps of user activity on a page. The formula is “the first click time stamp minus last click time stamp”
For example:
User #1 lands on yourdomain.com/services at 10:15 am (1st time stamp)
Then clicks to yourdomain.com/info page at 10:25 am (2nd time stamp)
Then exits the website at 10:30 am
User #1’s session duration will be recorded as 10 minutes even though he was on the site from 10:15-10:30 which is 15 minutes because GA doesn’t time stamp exits/bounces.
So when would it show Average Session Duration as ZERO?
For example:
User #2 lands on yourdomain.com/blog at 10:15 am (1st time stamp)
Then exits the website at 10:30 am (without going to other pages)
User #2’s session duration will be recorded as ZERO even though he was on the site from 10:15-10:30 which is 15 minutes because GA doesn’t time stamp exits/bounces.
So low average session duration or even a ZERO does not mean that the content is not useful or that the traffic was fraudulent.
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