Google Analytics 4 is the latest analytics property offered by Google, replacing Universal Analytics, which was the tech giant’s standard property for data collection since its launch in 2012. Universal Analytics stopped processing new data on July 1, 2023, so anyone looking to measure and analyze their website’s performance needs to accustom themselves to Google Analytics 4! While GA4 & UA look similar at a glance, you’ll soon realize that Google Analytics 4 is more focused on providing data throughout a user’s journey, from acquisition, to engagement, to monetization, to retention. In this article, we’ll talk about three ways that you can easily measure your website’s performance using Google Analytics 4!
Traffic Acquisition
One of the most important datasets on Google Analytics 4, especially from an SEO perspective, is the traffic acquisition report. The traffic acquisition report, which can be accessed through Reports > Life Cycle > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, is meant to help you understand the channels in which users are using to get to your website, and their behaviors thereafter. This report will give you a chart that breaks down the number of users that are coming from the different channels (Organic Search, Direct Traffic, Referral, Paid Search, Social, etc.), along with the number of sessions acquired by that channel, the users average engagement time based on the channel they arrived from, and more. You can use this report to get insights on the channels that are performing best for you and which could use some work!
Conversions
The next Google Analytics 4 report that is essential for analyzing your website’s performance is the conversions report. This report is responsible for letting you know how many leads your website is bringing to your business directly. You can access the conversion report by going to Reports > Life Cycle > Engagement > Conversions. This report will provide you with a graph that breaks down the number of conversions you got during a set date range, organized into the number of conversions that each goal has led to. The conversions report will also break down the number of users that have led to these conversions, and if you have an ecommerce site or have assigned monetary values to your conversions, the total revenue that these conversions have brought in.
Landing Pages
One more Google Analytics 4 report that is essential for understanding your website’s performance is the landing pages report. This report will give you insight into which pages users are coming to when they first arrive on your website. You can access this report through Reports > Life Cycle > Engagement > Landing Page. By analyzing your landing pages report, you can determine which of your webpages are performing the best through different traffic channels, such as organic search, referral, paid search, and more.
Contact Boston Web Marketing!
If you have any questions about Google Analytics 4 or search engine optimization, please contact Boston Web Marketing today! Our team of SEO specialists help businesses in almost every industry achieve higher search results. Give us a call at (857) 526-0096 or fill out the contact form on our website, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible!