Manage Session Tracking

Set up visitor tracking across your websites

Track how visitors interact with your pages. Capture their journey, spot conversion blockers, and fix usability issues before they cost you sales.

This guide shows you how to configure tracking and manage your monitored pages.

Getting started

Add your first domain

Choose which website you want to track. Click Select Domain and pick from your available properties.

Don't see your domain? Click Add Domain to enable tracking for a new site.

Choose your tracking mode

Pick how you want to track visitors. You'll see two options after selecting a domain.

Cookieless tracking runs session-only monitoring. Each visit creates a separate session that ends when visitors close their browser. This approach respects privacy by design and requires no consent banners.

Cookie-based tracking follows visitors across multiple sessions for up to one year. You'll see returning visitors and track behaviour over time. This mode requires cookie consent under GDPR.

Click the card that matches your needs. Your selection saves automatically.

Control your tracking

Turn tracking on or off

Toggle the Tracking Enabled switch to pause or resume monitoring. When disabled, your tracking pixel stops collecting data but your existing sessions remain viewable.

Use this when testing changes or during site maintenance.

Remove all tracked pages

The Delete All Pages button removes every monitored URL for the current domain. This action permanently deletes all tracking data and removes the domain from your active tracking list.

You'll need to re-add the domain and configure pages again if you want to resume tracking later.

Add pages to track

Enter a URL

Type the page address you want to monitor in the Add URL to Track field. Enter the full path like /products/item-123 or the complete URL including https:// .

The system normalises your URL automatically. It removes the protocol, trims trailing slashes, and stores a clean version for matching.

Click Add URL to start capturing.

What happens when you add a URL

The system captures your page in two ways: HTML content and screenshots across three devices (desktop, mobile, tablet).

HTML capture happens immediately. The system fetches your page source and stores it for session replay. This takes about 5-10 seconds.

Screenshot capture queues in the background. You'll get three images showing how your page renders on different screen sizes. Processing completes within 5-10 minutes.

HTML displays by default for session replay. Switch to screenshots if your HTML rendering looks incorrect.

Manage your tracked pages

Search and filter pages

Use the search box to find specific URLs. Type any part of the page address to filter your list instantly.

Change Show to display more or fewer pages per screen. Pick from 10, 25, 50, or 100 results.

Understand the action buttons

Each tracked page shows four buttons in the actions column.

HTML button switches session replay to use your captured HTML. The green highlight shows it's active. Click to toggle this view mode.

Screenshot button switches to screenshot-based replay. The green highlight confirms it's active. Click to toggle this view mode.

Refresh button updates both HTML and screenshots with fresh captures. Use this after changing your page content. HTML stays as the default display method.

Delete button removes the URL from tracking. This action deletes all associated data including HTML, screenshots, and session recordings.

Toggle between HTML and screenshots

Click HTML or Screenshot to change how visitors see your page during session replay. The active method shows with a green background.

Choose HTML when your page structure is clean and renders correctly. HTML loads faster and shows interactive elements accurately.

Choose Screenshot when your page uses complex JavaScript, dynamic content, or heavy animations. Screenshots capture the exact visual appearance but don't show interactions.

Refresh your page captures

Page content changes regularly. Click Refresh on any URL to recapture both HTML and screenshots.

The system fetches fresh HTML immediately and queues new screenshots for background processing. Your previous captures delete automatically when new ones complete.

HTML remains the default display method after refreshing. Switch to screenshots manually if needed.

Understanding the capture process

HTML capture explained

HTML capture fetches your page source code and stores it in the database. Session replay reconstructs your page from this HTML when visitors watch recordings.

The system strips sensitive fields like passwords and credit card inputs automatically. Your visitors' private data never appears in replays.

Screenshot capture explained

Screenshot capture renders your page on three device sizes and saves images. Each capture creates desktop (1200px), mobile (375px), and tablet (768px) versions.

Screenshots queue for background processing. Processing takes 5-10 minutes per page depending on page complexity and server load.

Tracking modes in detail

Cookieless tracking

Each browser tab creates a separate session. Visitors who close their browser and return later start a fresh session.

What you track:

Complete session journey from entry to exit
All page interactions during the visit
Device type and browser information
Traffic source and referrer

What you don't track:

Returning visitors across sessions
Long-term behaviour patterns
User retention metrics

Best for: Privacy-focused sites, GDPR compliance, basic conversion tracking

Cookie-based tracking

Persistent cookies track visitors across multiple sessions for up to one year. You'll see when visitors return and how their behaviour changes over time.

What you track:

First-time vs returning visitors
Total visit count per user
Behaviour changes across sessions
Long-term conversion journeys

What you don't track:

Anything after cookie expiry (365 days)
Visitors who decline cookies
Users in private browsing mode

Best for: Retention analysis, multi-visit funnels, behaviour cohorts

Important: Cookie-based tracking requires user consent. Implement a cookie consent banner before enabling this mode.

Working efficiently

Check capture status

Green buttons show the active display method active for session replay.

When to refresh captures

Refresh after making content changes to your page. This ensures session replays show your current page structure, not outdated versions.

Troubleshooting

Domain doesn't appear in dropdown

Check these items:

The domain exists in your account
You have permission to access it
The domain has been added to tracking (check available domains list)

If the domain exists but isn't tracking-enabled, click Add Domain to activate it.

HTML capture fails

HTML captures fail when pages timeout, block scraping, or require authentication.

Try these fixes:

Check the URL loads in your browser
Verify the page doesn't require login
Ensure your site allows scraping (check robots.txt)
Wait and retry—temporary server issues resolve themselves

Screenshots fail repeatedly

Screenshots fail when pages timeout, have complex animations, or load too slowly.

Try these fixes:

Simplify page animations
Reduce page weight and load time
Check for JavaScript errors in browser console
Contact support if one specific page consistently fails

Page shows in table but buttons are grey

The page exists in tracking but captures haven't completed yet.

Check capture status:

HTML captures complete within 10 seconds
Screenshots queue for background processing (5-10 minutes)
Failed captures retry automatically up to 3 times

Wait 10 minutes then refresh the page list. Contact support if buttons stay grey after 30 minutes.

Can't delete a page

You need permission to access the domain that owns the page.

Verify your access:

Check you're viewing the correct domain in the dropdown
Confirm you have edit permissions for this domain
Switch domains if you selected the wrong one

Tracking disabled but can't re-enable

The Tracking Enabled toggle requires domain permissions.

Check these requirements:

You own or have admin access to the domain
The domain hasn't been deleted from your account

Contact your account owner if you lack the required permissions.

Best practices

Start with key pages

Add your most important pages first: homepage, main product pages, checkout flow, and pricing page.

Monitor these for a week before expanding. You'll learn the tool faster with focused tracking.

Use consistent URL formats

Pick one URL format and stick with it. Either use full URLs with https:// or just the path like /products/example .

Refresh after changes

Schedule a refresh whenever you update a page. Set reminders after deployments to keep captures current.

Stale captures confuse you when analysing sessions. You'll wonder why visitors interact with elements that don't match your current page.

Document your tracking strategy

Note which pages you track and why. Document your mode choice (cookieless vs cookie) with reasoning. This helps team members understand your setup when they access the account later.

Need help?

Can't find what you need? Contact our support team at help@serp360.ai