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Understanding Article Views vs Total Sessions

When you're diving into your HelpDocs analytics, you'll notice we track both Article Views and Total Sessions. Understanding the difference between these two metrics is crucial for getting accurate i…

River Sloane
Updated by River Sloane

When you're diving into your HelpDocs analytics, you'll notice we track both Article Views and Total Sessions. Understanding the difference between these two metrics is crucial for getting accurate insights into how your customers use your Knowledge Base šŸ“Š

Screenshot of Article Views and Total Sessions in Stats Overview

Article Views vs. Total Sessions

Article Views

Total Sessions

Counts every single article view, regardless of who's doing the viewing

Counts unique visits to your Knowledge Base during a continuous period

If the same person views three articles, this records as three separate views

If the same person views three articles in one visit, this counts as just one session

Perfect for understanding which content gets the most attention

Great for measuring actual user engagement and repeat visits

Higher numbers. Shows total content consumption

Lower numbers. Shows unique visitor activity

Here's How It Works in Practice

Let's say Ronnie visits your Knowledge Base and reads three articles about setting up their account. Here's what gets recorded:

  • Article Views: 3 (one for each article they read)
  • Total Sessions: 1 (because it was all during one continuous visit)

If Ronnie comes back later that day and reads two more articles, their stats would show:

  • Article Views: 5 total (3 from first visit + 2 from second visit)
  • Total Sessions: 2 total (first visit + return visit)
Use Article Views to identify your most popular content and Total Sessions to understand how often people actually visit your Knowledge Base. Both metrics tell different parts of your success story!

This distinction helps you separate content popularity from user engagement, giving you a complete picture of how your Knowledge Base performs.

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