# Web Analytics



VitalSentinel Web Analytics gives you privacy-focused insights into your website traffic without tracking individual users. No cookies required, fully GDPR compliant.

## Getting Started [#getting-started]

Web Analytics requires the Web Analytics script installed on your website:

```html
<script
  src="https://analytics.vitalsentinel.com/analytics.js"
  data-key="YOUR_TRACKING_ID"
  async
></script>
```

See [Web Analytics Script Installation](/installation/analytics-script) for full details.

## Dashboard Overview [#dashboard-overview]

Web Analytics is organized into several views inside the domain dashboard (**Domain** → **Analytics**):

* **Overview** - Aggregated traffic, sources, behavior, and device data for any time range.
* **[Realtime](#realtime-view)** - A live view of active visitors, current pages, recent activity, and where visitors are coming from right now.
* **[Audience](#audience)** - Visitor segments, geo/language checks, and visitor anomalies.
* **[Acquisition](#acquisition)** - Referrer quality, campaign efficiency, and the search-to-visit bridge.
* **[Engagement](#engagement)** - Scroll depth, rage clicks, bounce diagnosis, and the engagement quadrant.
* **[Journeys & Goals](#journeys--goals)** - User journeys, custom funnels, site-search insights, and outbound-click hubs.
* **[Ecommerce](#ecommerce-view)** - Revenue, orders, conversion funnel, and per-product performance (only populated when the analytics script detects a supported store).
* **[Ecommerce funnel](#ecommerce-funnel)** - A per-product breakdown of the shopping funnel.
* **[Performance & Reliability](#performance--reliability)** - How Core Web Vitals relate to conversion.
* **[Trends & Anomalies](#trends--anomalies)** - Page decay, traffic anomalies, and search clusters.
* **[Experiments](#experiments)** - Statistical before/after tests for site changes.

Every view can be filtered by date range, and most support period-over-period comparison.

### Key Metrics [#key-metrics]

The Overview's headline cards:

| Metric            | Description                      |
| ----------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Total views       | Total pages viewed               |
| Unique visitors   | Unique visitors in the period    |
| Total sessions    | Number of sessions               |
| Views per session | Average pages viewed per session |
| Bounce rate       | Single-page sessions             |
| Session duration  | Mean session length              |

### Main Chart [#main-chart]

Pick up to **two metrics** from the headline list to plot on a dual-axis chart. Toggle comparison mode to overlay the previous period.

### Tabs [#tabs]

Below the chart, the Overview surfaces five drill-down tabs:

| Tab             | What's inside                                                                |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Traffic Sources | Channel breakdown, individual sources, referring domains, and UTM campaigns  |
| Pages           | All pages, entry pages, and exit pages                                       |
| Geography       | Countries, continents, and language preferences                              |
| Devices         | Device type, browser, and operating system                                   |
| Events          | Custom events, outbound link clicks, file downloads, and site search queries |

Click any row in the tables to apply it as a filter – for example, click "Mobile" in the Devices tab to scope the entire dashboard to mobile traffic.

## Traffic Sources [#traffic-sources]

### Source Types [#source-types]

Visitors are categorized by how they arrived:

| Source      | Description                                         |
| ----------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| Direct      | Typed URL or bookmark                               |
| Search      | Organic search engine results                       |
| Social      | Social media platforms                              |
| Referral    | Links from other sites                              |
| Email       | Email marketing                                     |
| Newsletter  | Newsletter links                                    |
| Paid        | Advertising campaigns                               |
| Paid Search | Paid search ads                                     |
| Paid Social | Paid social ads                                     |
| AI Search   | AI assistants and tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) |
| Internal    | Navigation from within your own site                |

### Referrer Details [#referrer-details]

For each source, see:

* Specific referring domains
* Landing pages
* Conversion rates

### UTM Tracking [#utm-tracking]

Track campaign effectiveness with UTM parameters:

| Parameter     | Purpose                             |
| ------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| utm\_source   | Traffic source (google, newsletter) |
| utm\_medium   | Marketing medium (cpc, email)       |
| utm\_campaign | Campaign name                       |
| utm\_term     | Paid keywords                       |
| utm\_content  | Ad variation                        |

Example URL:

```
https://example.com?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=spring_sale
```

## User Behavior [#user-behavior]

### Top Pages [#top-pages]

See which pages get the most traffic:

* Page views per page
* Average time on page
* Bounce rate per page
* Entry and exit rates

### Engagement Metrics [#engagement-metrics]

* **Scroll Depth** - How far visitors scroll (25%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%)
* **Time on Page** - Active engagement time
* **Pages per Session** - Average pages viewed

### Site Search [#site-search]

If your site has search functionality, track:

* Search queries used
* Search result clicks
* No-result searches

<Callout type="info">
  Site search is automatically detected from common query parameters (q, s, search, query, keyword, term, k).
</Callout>

## Device & Location [#device--location]

### Device Breakdown [#device-breakdown]

* **Desktop** vs **Mobile** vs **Tablet**
* Operating systems
* Browsers and versions
* Screen resolutions

### Geographic Data [#geographic-data]

* Country-level breakdown
* Top regions by traffic
* Performance by location

## Realtime View [#realtime-view]

The Realtime page (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Realtime**) is a live snapshot of what's happening on your site right now. It's useful for confirming that a campaign launch, deploy, or marketing push is landing.

### Active Visitors [#active-visitors]

A live **Active visitors** count in the page header shows visitors active in the last 5 minutes.

### Sections [#sections]

| Section         | What it shows                                                            |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Recent Activity | Feed of the latest pageviews – device icon, country flag, path, time-ago |
| Active Pages    | Paths currently being viewed, with visitor counts and proportional bars  |
| Active Events   | Events firing right now (clicks, scrolls, and custom events)             |
| Traffic Sources | Channels driving live traffic                                            |
| Top Referrers   | Domains sending visitors right now                                       |
| Devices         | Live device type breakdown                                               |
| Countries       | Where active visitors are located                                        |

The page polls every 10 seconds. A **Live / Paused** toggle lets you freeze the view if you want to read a snapshot without it shifting under you.

## Audience [#audience]

The Audience view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Audience**) groups your visitors and flags unusual patterns.

* **Visitor segments** - Compare cohorts such as new vs returning, mobile vs desktop, and by traffic source.
* **Geo/language mismatch** - Surfaces visitors whose country and browser language don't line up, which is useful for spotting localization gaps.
* **Visitor anomalies** - Highlights unexpected spikes or drops in visitor counts.

Cards support period-over-period comparison.

## Acquisition [#acquisition]

The Acquisition view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Acquisition**) focuses on where traffic comes from and how well it performs.

* **Referrer quality** - Ranks referring domains by engagement and conversion, not just volume.
* **Campaign efficiency** - Compares UTM campaigns on engagement and conversion signals.
* **Search bridge** - Connects search-driven visits to on-site behavior.

## Engagement [#engagement]

The Engagement view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Engagement**) shows how deeply visitors interact with your pages.

* **Scroll-depth map** - How far visitors scroll on each page.
* **Rage-click hotspots** - Pages and elements where visitors click repeatedly in frustration.
* **Bounce diagnosis** - Explains why specific pages bounce.
* **Engagement quadrant** - Plots pages by traffic vs engagement to find high-traffic, low-engagement pages.

## Journeys & Goals [#journeys--goals]

The Journeys & Goals view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Journeys & Goals**) maps the paths visitors take and the goals they reach.

* **User journeys** - Common page-to-page paths through your site.
* **Custom funnel builder** - Define your own multi-step funnels and measure drop-off.
* **Site-search insights** - What visitors search for on your site, including no-result queries.
* **Outbound-click hubs** - Pages that send the most traffic to external destinations.

## Ecommerce View [#ecommerce-view]

If your site has the analytics script installed and the script detects a supported store, the Ecommerce page (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Ecommerce**) fills with revenue and conversion data.

### Headline Metrics [#headline-metrics]

| Metric              | Description                                       |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Revenue             | Total revenue in the workspace's display currency |
| Orders              | Number of completed purchases                     |
| Average order value | Revenue / orders                                  |
| Conversion rate     | Purchases / visitors, expressed as a %            |
| Items sold          | Total units sold across all orders                |

Each metric supports comparison mode for period-over-period change.

### Main Chart [#main-chart-1]

Pick which of the four headline metrics to plot. Comparison overlay is available.

### Conversion Funnel [#conversion-funnel]

A four-stage funnel showing how many users reach each step:

1. **Product Views**
2. **Add to Cart**
3. **Checkout**
4. **Purchase**

Each stage shows the count and its share as a percentage of Product Views (the first stage), so you can spot the biggest drop-off.

### All Products Table [#all-products-table]

Per-product breakdown with views, add-to-carts, purchases, revenue, and per-product conversion rate.

### Tracked Events [#tracked-events]

The script automatically detects the following events on supported platforms:

| Event            | Description             |
| ---------------- | ----------------------- |
| Product View     | Visitor views a product |
| Add to Cart      | Item added to cart      |
| Remove from Cart | Item removed from cart  |
| View Cart        | Cart page viewed        |
| Begin Checkout   | Checkout started        |
| Purchase         | Order completed         |

### Supported Platforms [#supported-platforms]

* Shopify
* WooCommerce
* Magento
* Squarespace

See [Web Analytics Script Installation](/installation/analytics-script) for setup details.

## Ecommerce funnel [#ecommerce-funnel]

The Ecommerce funnel view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Ecommerce funnel**) breaks the standard shopping funnel (product view to add to cart to checkout to purchase) down per product, so you can see which products lose the most visitors at each step.

## Performance & Reliability [#performance--reliability]

The Performance & Reliability view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Performance & Reliability**) connects site speed to business outcomes.

* **Core Web Vitals vs conversion** - Whether faster pages convert better.

## Trends & Anomalies [#trends--anomalies]

The Trends & Anomalies view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Trends & Anomalies**) watches your metrics over time and calls out what changed.

* **Page decay** - Pages steadily losing traffic.
* **Traffic anomalies** - Statistically unusual spikes or drops.
* **Search clusters** - Groups of related on-site search queries.

## Experiments [#experiments]

The Experiments view (**Domain** → **Analytics** → **Experiments**) runs statistical before/after tests so you can tell whether a change (a redesign, a new campaign, a content update) actually moved a metric. It supports difference-in-differences, Bayesian structural time series, and Mann-Whitney tests.

## Custom Events [#custom-events]

Track custom actions using the JavaScript API:

```javascript
// Track a button click
window.VitalSentinelAnalytics.track('button_click', {
  button_id: 'signup-cta',
  location: 'homepage'
});

// Track a form submission
window.VitalSentinelAnalytics.track('form_submit', {
  form_name: 'contact',
  success: true
});
```

### Data Attribute Tracking [#data-attribute-tracking]

Track events without JavaScript:

```html
<button data-vs-event="signup_click" data-vs-plan="free">
  Sign Up Free
</button>
```

## Filtering & Segmentation [#filtering--segmentation]

### Filter by: [#filter-by]

* Date range
* Traffic source
* Device type
* Country/region
* Page URL

### Segment Analysis [#segment-analysis]

Compare performance across segments:

* Mobile vs Desktop
* New vs Returning
* By traffic source

## Privacy Features [#privacy-features]

### No Cookies by Default [#no-cookies-by-default]

VitalSentinel Analytics works without cookies:

* No consent banner required
* Fully GDPR compliant
* No cross-site tracking

### Data Collection [#data-collection]

What we collect:

* Anonymous session data
* Page views and events
* Device/browser information (anonymous)
* Geographic region (city level)

What we don't collect:

* Personal information
* IP addresses (hashed/discarded)
* Cross-site tracking data

### Consent Levels [#consent-levels]

If you want enhanced tracking (returning visitors), use consent:

```javascript
// After user consents
window.VitalSentinelAnalytics.grantConsent('persistent');
```

See [Privacy & Consent](/installation/analytics-script#privacy--consent) for details.

## Comparing with Google Analytics [#comparing-with-google-analytics]

| Feature             | VitalSentinel   | Google Analytics |
| ------------------- | --------------- | ---------------- |
| Cookies required    | No              | Yes              |
| GDPR compliant      | Yes, by default | Requires consent |
| Real-time data      | Yes             | Yes              |
| E-commerce tracking | Auto-detect     | Manual setup     |
| Data ownership      | You             | Google           |
| Interface           | Simple          | Complex          |

## Best Practices [#best-practices]

### Focus on Key Metrics [#focus-on-key-metrics]

* **Traffic** - Are you attracting visitors?
* **Engagement** - Are they interested?
* **Conversion** - Are they taking action?

### Set Up Custom Events [#set-up-custom-events]

Track actions that matter to your business:

* Sign-ups
* Downloads
* Video plays
* Feature usage

### Monitor Trends [#monitor-trends]

Look for:

* Traffic changes over time
* Seasonal patterns
* Campaign effectiveness
* Content performance

## Related Features [#related-features]

<Cards>
  <Card title="Web Analytics Script Installation" href="/installation/analytics-script">
    Set up web analytics
  </Card>

  <Card title="RUM Monitoring" href="/features/rum-monitoring">
    Track performance metrics
  </Card>

  <Card title="Google Analytics Integration" href="/features/google-analytics">
    Import GA4 data
  </Card>
</Cards>