Website Analytics and Ad Statistics: Why Do They Not Match Up?

So you want to understand the inconsistencies between your website analytics and ad statistics?

Of course you do!

But to so so, you undeniably need a comprehensive understanding of your website traffic. This includes understanding the differences between the biggest tracking platforms and simultaneously how they collect data. You'll also need to know how this creates statistical anomalies.

But firstly, it's important to remember that Google tracks clicks whereas Analytics tools instead track sessions. As a result of this, there are several reasons that these metrics may differ:

1. Firstly, a customer may click your ad multiple times. So when one person clicks an ad multiple times in the same session, AdWords then records multiple clicks while Analytics tools recognize the separate page views as one session.
2. A person might alternatively click on an ad, and then later, during a different session return directly to the site through a bookmark or a saved link. This would then register as one click in AdWords but multiple sessions in Analytics.
3. Lastly, someone might click on your ad and then change her mind and prevent the page from fully loading by clicking to another page or by pressing the browser Stop or Back buttons. In this case, Analytics will not register a session, but AdWords still counts this as a click.

It is well known that tracking platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Analytics) track visits, clicks, and traffic differently. Therefore you may see different metrics on different platforms as a result.

If this difference still isn't clear enough, let's clarify things further by looking at some use cases.

A good way to understand the differences between the insights from website analytics and ad statistics is to look at some examples.

So here are some common ones:

• Clicks vs. Sessions: This is undoubtedly a big reason for your statistical anomalies. Some services (e.g., Google Ads) track every click a visitor makes, whereas other services (e.g., Google Analytics) instead only track one click per session
• Filtering of invalid clicks: Some services also filter out invalid clicks, while others show all clicks
• Tracking blocked by browser extension: Some browser extensions block tracking by certain tracking services and then prevent these services from collecting data

For more useful information about the difference in tracking methods between Google Analytics and Google AdWords you can also check the Wix blog too, in case you are a Wix customer. But please keep in mind that some of this information applies to other services as well, such as Facebook Analytics or TWIPLA.

If you also want to learn how to improve your overall website content or traffic, check our blog and learn more about what is pay per click or unrequested advertising. And finally, you can also read about our comparison on SEO vs. Pay Per Click Search Network.

See, your mind certainly wasn't playing tricks with you.

There are some clear reasons for the statistical anomalies you see as a result of the different approaches that platforms take to analyzing data.

And armed with this information, you're therefore in a better situation to really understand your data and use it to supercharge website performance!