Definition of Terms used (SWOOP for SharePoint)

Here we outline the definitions of the core terms we use across SWOOP for SharePoint:

Audience

A segment of users that is defined by a common attribute such as a department name or location.

Exit

An exit is registered when any of the following occurs:

• The visitor clicks on a link that takes them to a web address outside the Intranet (such as to an HR system)
• The user closes the page (browser tab)
• The page is inactive for 30 mins (the session ends)

Intranet, Sites, Pages and Files

Intranet

The overall collection of sites, pages, and files that is used to provide information and news to a wide audience within an organisation. It does not include Team sites or sites that are associated with a Microsoft Team.

There is a matching navigation item with SWOOP for SharePoint that scopes all reports to include everything within the Intranet.

Site

A distinct collection of pages and files. A site will have specific settings, name, editors and will be viewable by a substantial audience.

There is a matching navigation item with SWOOP for SharePoint that scopes all reports to include all the specified site or sites

Page

A page is defined by a unique title attribute rather than a URL. A page with a unique title may be referenced by different URLs due to parameters.

There is a matching navigation item with SWOOP for SharePoint that scopes all reports to include all the specified page or pages.

File

An item housed in a document library.

Users and Guests

User

A person who has an organisational M365 account during the selected time frame for a report.

This number can exceed the headcount for an organisation if contractors are granted M365 accounts. It can also show a higher number as it will include accounts of people who may have left within the selected time frame.

Guest

An external person who is granted access to a site that does not have an organisational M365 account. These are marked as ‘guests’ in Azure AD.

Views, Visits, Visitors and Sessions.

View

A view is recorded every time a page is loaded.

Visit

A visit is a unique page view during a session (see below). If a person visits a page multiple times during a session then it is counted as one visit. It means a visitor has seen the page one or multiple times during their session of activity.  It is not counted the same way as views, so should not be compared to "Page visits" in SharePoint's built-in analytics which are views despite the name "visits".

At the site level, the visits are unique, so if a person has 5 page visits on the same site it counts as 1 site visit.

At the intranet level, visits are also unique, so if a person has 5 site visits it counts as 1 intranet visit.

Visitors

A visitor is a user/guest who has made visited an intranet page at least once during the selected time frame. Visitor numbers can exceed user numbers if there are substantial numbers of guests.

Sessions

Sessions are used to determine when an intranet visit starts and ends. It starts from the moment the person views the first page until the person leaves the intranet by closing their browser, navigating to a page that is not part of the intranet, or the person is inactive for 30 mins.