What is Pages Per Session?
Pages Per Session (PPS), sometimes called page depth, is the average number of pages viewed in a single session. It helps you gauge how deeply visitors navigate your site and whether your information architecture encourages exploration. In most tools, a page is counted via a Pageview event; a session is the visit container that groups hits over a time window (see Session).
How is Pages Per Session calculated?
Formula:
PPS = Total Pageviews ÷ Total Sessions (for the same date range and scope)
Example: if you record 12,000 pageviews across 4,000 sessions, PPS = 3.0.
Different analytics platforms (GA4, Matomo, Plausible, Simple Analytics) expose this metric under similar names. The underlying concept is the same: aggregate pageviews divided by sessions.
Why it matters
- Content depth & IA checks. Higher PPS can indicate effective internal linking and navigation. Pair with User Flow to see where visitors go next.
- Acquisition quality. Compare PPS by Source, UTM, Referral, or Organic Search to find channels that bring engaged traffic.
- Conversion context. While not a KPI on its own, PPS can support hypotheses about friction or interest when read alongside Engaged Sessions and Conversion Rate.
Implementation tips & pitfalls
- Single-page apps (SPA). Trigger virtual Pageview events on route changes. Use your Tag Management setup to avoid double counts.
- Auto-load patterns. Infinite scroll, slideshows, and pagination can inflate PPS. Count only meaningful views or switch to event-based content depth (see Event and Screen View for apps).
- Bots and spam. Apply filters before analysis; noisy traffic distorts averages.
- Segment, then compare. Report PPS by device, landing page, and channel to diagnose UX gaps.
- Interpretation. High PPS isn’t always “good” (users might be hunting for answers). Low PPS isn’t always “bad” (fast journeys to CTA). Always evaluate with task success and conversions.