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I have a website using Google analytics but it is counting way to much.

To test this i was logging all entry's to my database with time and IP address.

My result for one day was:

Google analytics:

Visits:                     4078
Absolute Unique Visitors:   3758

My Database:

Visits:                      4182
Unique Visitors(Only by IP): 905

I use the tracking option "One domain with multiple subdomains" because the website is accessible both on www.example.com and example.com.

I'm i missing something or what could be wrong?

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The first thing I notice is that your database shows 905 unique visitors, but 4182 visits - if my understanding of visitors/visits is correct it means each unique visitor visited your site approximately 4 times. Unless you run a constantly updating news/sports/weather website this doesn't seem realistic to me.

Compared to google's stats which show each visitor visited your site once, with a small number visiting more than once - this sounds more realistic to me.

Update

Googles definition of a visit:

"Visits represent the number of individual sessions initiated by all the visitors to your site. If a user is inactive on your site for 30 minutes or more, any future activity will be attributed to a new session. Users that leave your site and return within 30 minutes will be counted as part of the original session."

http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57164

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  • A lot of my visitors is people who bought access to the website an will therefore hit the front page several times(I log to db on the front page). And if people is surfing around and go the back to the front page I will log them again. So i don't think it's unrealistic that people see my front page 4 times in average.
    – Luticka
    Mar 17, 2011 at 9:00
  • I've updated my answer to include google's definition of a visit - it makes for easier reading than it being nested in the comments. I think your definition of a "visit" is different to that of googles.
    – MrG
    Mar 17, 2011 at 9:38
  • My problem is not the visitors, but the "Absolute Unique Visitors". My tracking gets 905 different IP addresses, but Google says that there have been 3758 absolute unique visitors, which I find kind of strange?
    – Luticka
    Mar 17, 2011 at 9:51
  • analytics.blogspot.com/2007/01/… either google is not picking up unique visitors correctly, or you are not collecting/querying your database correctly. Do you have any server logs to verify?
    – MrG
    Mar 17, 2011 at 11:26
  • A good way to test this is by clearing your cookies, accessing your site via Google, and then navigating around your site while this extension is enabled: chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/… If at any point it changes the source and medium (Google, Organic), then it means that a problem with your tracking has initiated a new visit. Also worth noting that GA does not take IP Address into consideration; absolute unique visitors is defined by cookies, so if you visit once in Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on your computer, you're counted as 3 visits.
    – Yahel
    Mar 17, 2011 at 12:01

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