Session Count Chart

Session Count shows how many tracked sessions occurred on each day and how those sessions were distributed across devices.

Overview

The chart uses stacked daily columns:

the horizontal axis shows the date;
the vertical axis shows the number of sessions;
Desktop, Mobile and Tablet appear as separate coloured series; and
the full height of a column represents the total sessions recorded that day.

Use Session Count to identify traffic peaks, quiet periods, campaign effects and differences between device or audience segments.

A session is not necessarily a unique visitor. One visitor can create more than one session.

Access and scope

Session Count is workspace- and website-aware.

The active workspace controls which websites are available.
The website selector restricts the report to one accessible website.
You can select one tracked page or All Pages.
A selected page must belong to the selected website.
Markets and search groups are not used.

Wheremore validates workspace and website access whenever the chart loads. It does not silently include websites from another workspace.

Before you begin

You need:

A website assigned to the active workspace.
The Wheremore pixel installed.
Tracking enabled.
One or more pages added in Manage Session Tracking.
Processed session aggregate data for the selected filters.

Recent activity may take time to pass through collection and background aggregation.

Quick start

Open the User Behaviour Dashboard.
Confirm the active workspace.
Select a website.
Select a tracked page or All Pages.
Leave Referrer set to All Referrers for the overall session trend.
Select an audience.
Select a date range.
Choose a device or leave Device set to All.
Review peaks, quiet dates and changes in the device mix.

Apply the filters

Website

The selected website controls which tracked pages and session records are available.

Changing the website clears the previous page context while the new page list loads.

Page

Choose a specific tracked page to see its daily session trend.

Choose All Pages to see daily sessions across all tracked pages belonging to the selected website.

The page list comes from Manage Session Tracking. It is not a list of every URL discoverable on the live website.

Referrer

Choose All Referrers to show the overall session trend.

Choose a specific referrer to show sessions attributed to that exact stored referring URL. Different paths or query-string variants can therefore produce separate results.

Choose Direct to show sessions for which no usable referrer value was stored.

Direct can include:

a typed or bookmarked address;
an application that did not pass a referrer;
privacy controls that removed referrer information;
redirects that lost attribution; or
another source that could not be identified.

Direct does not prove that every visitor typed the address manually.

Audience

Choose:

All traffic to include all recorded audience classifications;
Prospects to include activity not classified as authenticated or identified; or
Identified visitors to include activity classified as authenticated or identified by the tracking configuration.

Audience classification depends on the Cookie or Cookieless setup, authenticated-user rules and exclusions configured in Manage Session Tracking.

“Identified” is an audience classification. The chart does not reveal a visitor’s private identity.

Date range

Choose:

7 days
30 days
60 days
90 days
All time

The 7-, 30-, 60- and 90-day periods include the current day. For example, a 30-day report includes today and the preceding 29 calendar dates.

All time removes the date restriction and can combine activity from different campaigns, tracking configurations or versions of a page.

Device

Choose:

All
Desktop
Mobile
Tablet

When All is selected, each device appears as a separate part of the stacked daily column.

If one device has no qualifying sessions on a date where another device does, its contribution for that date is zero.

Read the chart

Column height

The total height of each column is the number of qualifying sessions recorded for that date.

A tall column indicates more sessions than a shorter column, but it does not explain why traffic changed or whether those sessions were valuable.

Device segments

Each coloured segment represents one device category.

A change in the device mix can reflect:

a campaign targeting a particular device;
different search or social traffic;
a change in audience behaviour;
responsive-page issues;
seasonal patterns; or
a small sample.

Move over a column to see the date and session count for each displayed device.

A missing date

If no aggregate row exists for any device on a date, the chart does not invent a zero-session column.

The absence can mean:

no qualifying sessions were processed;
tracking was disabled;
the page was not yet tracked;
the selected segment had no data; or
aggregation had not completed.

Treat a missing date as unavailable data rather than a confirmed zero.

A traffic peak

A peak can be caused by:

a campaign;
search or social visibility;
an email;
a referral;
internal navigation;
repeated sessions from the same visitors; or
automated or low-quality activity that was not excluded.

Use the Referrer filter, Referrer Pages vs Sessions, Session Replay and conversion reporting to understand the source and quality.

A quiet period

A quiet period can reflect lower demand, reduced visibility, a tracking interruption, an exclusion rule or a page that was unavailable.

Confirm tracking health before treating every fall as a genuine traffic decline.

How sessions are calculated

For All Referrers, Wheremore uses the daily page aggregate:

matching rows are restricted to the selected workspace website;
the page, date, device and audience filters are applied;
session_count is summed by date and device; and
the resulting device values are stacked for each date.

For a specific referrer or Direct traffic, Wheremore uses the daily referrer aggregate and applies the same page, date, device and audience scope before summing sessions.

This separation avoids adding referrer-level rows to page-level totals and double-counting the same activity.

The chart sums stored session_count values. It does not count database rows as sessions.

Add a chart annotation

You can mark an important date directly on the chart.

Select the correct workspace, website and page scope.
Click the chart plot area on the relevant date.
Enter a short label.
Select Save.

The annotation appears as a labelled vertical line.

To remove an annotation, select its label and confirm the deletion.

Annotations provide context such as:

a campaign launch;
a redesign;
a tracking change;
a publication date;
an outage; or
a promotion.

An annotation does not change the underlying session data.

Interpret the result carefully

More sessions are not automatically better.

A rise can include:

engaged prospects;
returning visitors;
low-quality campaign traffic;
repeated visits by the same people;
internal staff not excluded from tracking; or
traffic that did not convert.

A fall can be negative, expected or desirable if low-quality traffic was removed.

Use conversion, engagement and referrer reports before deciding whether a traffic change represents improvement.

Analyse with AI

Use Analyse with AI after selecting the intended workspace, website, page, referrer, audience, date range and device.

The analysis should be interpreted within that active scope. Confirm important findings using Referrer Pages vs Sessions, Page Engagement, Session Replay and conversion reporting.

Recommended workflow

Start with All Pages, All Referrers, All traffic, 30 days and All devices.
Identify traffic peaks and quiet dates.
Select an individual page to isolate its trend.
Compare Desktop and Mobile.
Compare Prospects with Identified visitors when both have enough data.
Select an important referrer or Direct traffic.
Add annotations for known campaigns or site changes.
Use Referrer Pages vs Sessions to examine traffic sources.
Use Session Replay and Page Engagement to assess behaviour.
Check the Conversions Dashboard before judging session quality.

Data timing

Session Count uses processed aggregate data rather than live events.

Recent visits may not appear immediately. The chart loads when it approaches the visible part of the dashboard, so it may not request data until you scroll towards it.

Changing a filter replaces the previous result. An unfinished older request is discarded so that it cannot overwrite the latest selection.

What should I do next?

Use Referrer Pages vs Sessions to identify which pages or sources generated sessions.
Use Session Replay to inspect individual recorded journeys.
Use Page Engagement to see scroll, time and click behaviour.
Use Rage Click Elements to investigate frustrated interaction.
Use the Conversions Dashboard to determine whether sessions produced an outcome.
Use Manage Session Tracking when a website or page is unavailable.

Troubleshooting

The chart asks me to select a workspace

Select an active workspace and confirm that you have access to it. Session Count does not fall back to another workspace.

The chart asks me to select a website

Select an accessible website. If it is missing, confirm that it is assigned to the active workspace.

A tracked page is missing

Confirm that the page has been added in Manage Session Tracking and belongs to the selected website.

No data appears

Confirm the Wheremore pixel is installed.
Confirm tracking is enabled.
Select All Pages.
Select All Referrers.
Select All traffic.
Select All devices.
Increase the date range.
Allow recent activity to finish processing.

A particular referrer has no data

The selector uses the exact stored referrer value. Try All Referrers, inspect Referrer Pages vs Sessions, and check whether a different path or query-string variant was recorded.

Direct traffic looks high

Referrer information can be removed by browsers, applications, privacy controls and redirects. Direct should not be interpreted only as typed or bookmarked visits.

Identified visitors show no data

The selected scope may contain no activity classified as identified. Review authenticated-user detection in Manage Session Tracking, increase the date range or select another page.

One device is missing

No qualifying aggregate data exists for that device under the current filters.

A date is missing

No qualifying aggregate row exists for that date. It is deliberately not converted into a confirmed zero.

The chart differs from Session Replay

Session Count uses processed daily aggregates. Session Replay lists individual recorded sessions and can be affected by its own filters, retention and processing state.

Frequently asked questions

Does Session Count show unique visitors?

No. It shows sessions. One visitor can create multiple sessions.

Does All Pages count the same session more than once?

The chart sums the stored page aggregate for the selected website. It should be interpreted as tracked page-session activity according to Wheremore’s aggregation rules, not as a website-wide unique-person count.

Can I filter by a referrer?

Yes. A specific referrer uses exact stored referrer-level aggregates. Direct selects rows without a usable referrer.

Are device totals combined?

They are stacked into the same daily column when All is selected, while retaining separate Desktop, Mobile and Tablet segments.

Do annotations alter the report?

No. They add contextual labels only.

Does the chart use markets?

No. Session Count is scoped by workspace, website, tracked page and behaviour filters, not SEO markets.