what is a session in google analytics

Question

Case 1: If user search for a keyword Key1 and my site's result Page1 comes in google search results.

User clicks that result and enters my site. So it is a session for user with on Page1

Case 2: Now from Page1 user moves to Page2. So is this a session on Page2 or just a pageview.

Case 3: User gets back to google.com search for keyword key2 and my result Page2 is displayed. User clicks this and enters site again. Now is this a session on Page2 ?

A elaborate answer with all possible cases will be appreciated - like what is counted as session and what is counted as pageview etc.

This is required to analyze which set of urls of my website are bringing the best traffic to my site which is guess is calculated by sessions on pages ?

Answer 1

Google provides a well documented answer to "How a session is defined in Analytics"

A session is a group of interactions that take place on your website within a given time frame. For example a single session can contain multiple screen or page views.

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Case 1: This would start a new session.

Case 2: As long as the session has not expired due to inactivity this would be counted as a page view.

Case 3: Every time a user's campaign source changes, Google Analytics opens a new session. It’s important to point out that even if an existing session is still open (that is, less than 30 mins have elapsed), if the campaign source changes mid-session the first session is closed and a new session is opened.

What causes updates to the campaign?

Generally speaking, the campaign updates anytime the user arrives at your site via a search engine, referring website, or campaign tagged URL. Direct traffic, however, never updates or replaces an existing campaign source.