Virtual Pageviews vs. Destination URL for Goal tracking
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I am working on setting up goal tracking. Currently when we receive a new signup, the person gets sent to their dashboard homepage and this is not a valuable a goal tracking destination. My suggestion was to build a "Welcome" interstitial page to send a user to when they create an account.
Our tech team suggested using a Virtual pageview instead as it is their thinking that a "Welcome" page adds little value.
Is there any downside to using Virtual Pageviews with regards to goal tracking?
Are interstitial page more reliable?
Can you still use funnel visualization with Virtual Pageviews? -
Hi Eric,
It all depends a bit on your site and particular setup. Virtual views might not affect your other numbers much at all depending on which metrics are important for you. If you are using virtual views for new registrations only then it doesn't sound like it would be much of a problem (users are already into the funnel, converted and then do their next steps). It is in essence the same as adding the real welcome page in that respect.
As for multiple conversions, it depends where you are looking at them. GA counts goals by session, adwords (which is where the many per click numbers are) counts conversions a bit differently. Check this page for an overview on the differences.
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Thanks for the response. Yes, the bounce rate and time on site data will definitely be off with VPVs. To scrub the data we could create a GA profile. If we did that, though, would that remove the goals as well?
If we decide to use a real Welcome page as our goal tracking success page, what happens if a user clicks off the welcome page and then clicks the back button? Wouldn't that then trigger another conversion or would that simply be counted in the many-per-click-column? Our developers mentioned using a "trigger on first view" script. Would that solve the problem?
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Hi Eric,
Analytics treats real page views and virtual page views as the same thing so yes you can use virtual page views in funnel visualization and other relevant reports. As long as the virtual page view is set up ok it should be as reliable as a real page. The only 'downside' is that since virtual views are counted as real views it can have an effect on other metrics/reports that use page views (pages per visit for example) but this doesn't sound like it would be an issue in your case.
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