Do I have to add Google Analytics events if I have Javacsript buttons on a page or can Analytics track time on page without them by itself?

Question

On one of my pages I have Javascript code, so when the user clicks buttons the page responds without going to an other page or doing an Ajax call.

So the user can be on the page for a while pushing the buttons. Does Analytics track time on page by monitoring button clicks automatically?

Or do I have to create an analytics event explicitly in the code run by the buttons, so Analytics knows the user is still on the page interacting with it?

Answer 1

Google Analytics by default only measures time on page between page views. All in-page interactions such as button presses, mouse movement, and scrolling do not cause any data to be sent to Google Analytics.

You need to implement events for in page interactions that you want to count towards time on the page. That includes button presses that don't load a new page.

See the Google Analytics event help documents for information about how to implement that.

Answer 2

I have to say, that much easier way is for you to use Google Tag Manager. 1.You will end up with less code on site 2.You can add/remove/reconfigure tags at any moment you want without bothering programmers or entering the code. 3.You can set a lot more tracking scripts easier 4.You can pull out and send a lot more data with a lot less effort.