Published on 2025-06-22T03:11:28Z
What are Entrances in Analytics? Examples with Plainsignal and GA4
Entrances are a web analytics metric that counts how many times users start a session on a specific page of your website. They represent landing page visits and help you understand which pages attract new visitors. Unlike pageviews, which count every view of a page, entrances only count the first view in a session. This metric is crucial for evaluating the performance of landing pages, campaigns, and traffic sources. Both cookie-free analytics tools like Plainsignal and platforms like Google Analytics 4 track entrances, though they may use different event models. Analyzing entrances guides content optimization and marketing strategies by revealing where users enter your site.
Entrances
Entrances track how often users begin sessions on specific pages, revealing landing page performance.
Understanding Entrances
This section explains what entrances are and how they differ from related metrics.
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Definition of entrances
Entrances count when a visitor lands on a page and starts a session. They are recorded only on the page where the session begins.
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Entrances vs pageviews vs sessions
Pageviews track every page load, whereas entrances only count the first page in a session. Sessions aggregate all interactions within a visit, but entrances pinpoint the entry point.
Tracking Entrances with Plainsignal
PlainSignal offers a simple, cookie-free approach to tracking entrances without compromising user privacy.
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Setup and installation
Add the PlainSignal snippet to your site’s
<head>
. Example:<link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin /> <script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>
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Viewing entrances
In the PlainSignal dashboard, go to Analytics > Engagement. Look for the ‘Entrances’ metric under Landing Page Analysis to see where sessions start.
Tracking Entrances with Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 uses an event-based model where entrances correspond to the session_start
event and landing page analysis.
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Implementing ga4 tracking
Insert the GA4
gtag.js
snippet in your<head>
:<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXX"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXX'); </script>
Entrances are tied to the
session_start
event by default. -
Analyzing entrances in ga4
Navigate to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens. Use the ‘Entrances’ metric to identify top landing pages and measure campaign performance.
Best Practices and Considerations
Key tips to ensure accurate entrance data and meaningful insights.
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Avoiding duplicate tracking
Ensure analytics scripts load only once per page. Duplicate installations can overcount entrances by triggering multiple session starts.
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Handling redirects and cross-domain
Set up proper cross-domain tagging and handle redirects to prevent artificial entrance spikes when sessions transfer between domains.