Traffic
Entrance
Also called entry, landing.
Entrance is the first pageview of a session, the page where a visit began. The count of entrances to a URL is the number of sessions that started there.
How it is measured
Mark the first pageview of each session as an entrance. Count entrances per URL per period. The sum of all entrances across the site equals total sessions, because each session has exactly one.
Tarsier's session id lives in the tab, so opening an article in a new tab or returning after the tab was closed creates a fresh entrance on that URL.
Worked example
A bakery site has a /sourdough-guide page that gets 1,900 pageviews in a month. Only 600 of them are entrances. The rest come from people who started at the home page or a category page and clicked in.
The owner sees that 31 percent of guide pageviews are entrances and decides the page needs a stronger first screen, because it behaves as a front door for a third of its traffic.
How it differs
An entrance is the first page of a session. A landing page is the same page seen from the campaign or search side, usually with attached source data. Exit is the mirror image at the end of the session.
Common errors
Using entrances and pageviews interchangeably. Assuming the home page is the main entrance. Forgetting that deep links, search and email send people to inner pages. Ignoring bounces on entrance pages.
In practice
Open the entrances report and sort by volume. Make sure every high-entrance page has a clear next step, a header link back to the main site and fast load. Check the ten pages that are entrances even though you never thought of them as landing pages.