The GA4 reports: how to look into the data

As an agency, we understand the importance of using data to make informed decisions about your website’s performance. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a powerful tool that can provide valuable insights into how visitors are interacting with your website. Let’s see how you can look into your GA4 reports to get valuable insights on your website, including tips on how to personalize your reports.

Understanding Standard Reports in GA4

The standard GA4 reports provide you with a broad overview of your website’s performance. Here are some of the most important reports you should be familiar with:

User Acquisition:

This report shows you where your website traffic is coming from, including the channels that are driving the most traffic.

Path: Reports => Acquisition => User Acquisition

Once you’re in the User Acquisition report, you’ll see a variety of information about how users are finding and arriving at your website.

Here are some of the key metrics and features of the report:

• Users: This is the total number of users who arrived at your website during the selected time period.
• New Users: This is the number of users who are visiting your website for the first time.
• Sessions: This is the total number of sessions (i.e., visits) to your website during the selected time period.
• Bounce Rate: This is the percentage of sessions that resulted in a bounce (i.e., the user left your website without interacting with it).
• Channels: This section breaks down your traffic by different channels, such as organic search, paid search, social media, direct traffic, and referral traffic.

If you look into the table that contains all this data and you click on the dropdown from “First user default channel group”, you can change the dimension to source, medium, source/medium, campaign etc.

You can easily adjust the date range for the report, and you can also segment the data by various dimensions such as country, device, or user type – by clicking on the (+). This can help you get a more detailed understanding of how different segments of your audience are interacting with your website.

Engagement:

Once you’re in the Engagement Overview report, you’ll see a variety of information about how users are engaging with your website.

Path: Reports => Engagement => Overview

Here are some of the key metrics and features of the report:

• Engagement Rate: This is the percentage of sessions that lasted longer than 10 seconds and involved more than one pageview or event.
• Average Engagement Time: This is the average amount of time that users are spending on your website per session.
• Active Users: This is the number of users who have engaged with your website during the past 30 minutes.

 

Monetization:

Once you’re in the Monetization Overview report, you’ll see a variety of information about how your website is generating revenue.

Path: Reports => Monetization => Overview

 

Here are some of the key metrics and features of the report:

• Revenue: This is the total amount of revenue generated by your website during the selected time period.
• Purchases: This is the total number of purchases made on your website during the selected time period.
• Products: This section shows which products are generating the most revenue.

Retention:

This report shows you how often visitors are returning to your website, which can be a good indicator of user loyalty.

Path: Reports => Retention

By default, the retention overview report will be displayed, which shows the percentage of users who return to your website or app after their initial visit. You can adjust the date range for the report by clicking on the date range selector in the top right corner. You can also filter the report by audience, acquisition source, or any other dimension by clicking on the “Add Comparison” button at the top of the report and selecting the desired filter.

Personalizing the GA4 Reports

While the standard dashboards can provide you with a lot of valuable information, customizing your GA4 reports can help you get even more specific insights tailored to your business needs. Here are some tips on how to personalize your GA4 reports:

1. Create Custom Events: Events allow you to track specific actions on your website, such as button clicks or form submissions. By creating custom events, you can track the actions that are most relevant to your business goals.
2. Set Up Custom Conversions: Custom conversions allow you to track specific actions that lead to a conversion on your website, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase. By setting up custom conversions, you can track the actions that are most valuable to your business.
3. Use Custom Dimensions: Custom dimensions allow you to segment your data by specific criteria that you define, such as age, gender, or geographic location. By using custom dimensions, you can get a more detailed view of how different segments of your audience are interacting with your website.
4. Create Custom Reports: Custom reports allow you to create reports that are tailored to your specific business needs. You can choose the metrics and dimensions that are most relevant to your business objectives, and then use these reports to get more detailed insights into your website performance.

GA4 is a powerful tool that can provide valuable insights into how visitors are interacting with your website. By understanding the standard reports in GA4 and personalizing your dashboards through custom events, custom conversions, custom dimensions, and custom reports, you can get even more specific insights tailored to your business needs.

Interested in WHY you should already switch the reporting? You can read more about Google Analytics 4.

If you need any help setting up your GA4 account or interpreting the reports, don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance.