26th July 2023

Getting to grips with Google Analytics 4

Welcome to the first step towards gaining a comprehensive understanding of Google Analytics 4. In this article, we'll delve into some key terminology and metrics, providing you with a quick breakdown that can significantly enhance your business. By grasping these fundamental concepts, you'll be equipped to make informed decisions, optimise your strategies, and unlock the true potential of GA4 for driving success in your business endeavours. Let's dive in!

Traffic and User Acquisition Report

The Traffic Acquisition Report in GA4 shows the sources from which new and returning users originate. It provides insights into where website traffic comes from, including direct visits, organic search, referrals, social media, paid advertising, and more. Whereas, the User Acquisition Report focuses on how new users discover and access a website or app for the first time. It examines the channels and methods through which new users are acquired, allowing marketers to optimise strategies for attracting new visitors. While both reports provide useful information in their own right, by combining this data E-commerce businesses can gain a much more holistic view of customer acquisition and help focus resources and investments on the most productive channels for best results.

User Lifetime Value

User Lifetime Value (LTV) represents the overall value that a customer contributes to your business throughout their entire relationship with your company. This essential key performance indicator holds particular significance for E-commerce websites, as it enables you to discern the most valuable customers to your enterprise. Within GA4, you can effectively monitor LTV by implementing user-based custom dimensions. These dimensions provide valuable insights into the lifetime value of individual users, thereby offering a deeper understanding of your customer base's overall worth to your business.

Revenue by Product SKU

Average Revenue Per SKU represents the average revenue generated by a specific product during a defined period. With GA4, E-commerce businesses can easily monitor this information, which is especially useful to those offering a diverse range of products. By tracking revenue on a per SKU basis, you gain valuable insights into the profitability of each product in your catalogue. This data empowers you to make informed decisions, such as focusing on promoting best-selling products or strategising to improve the performance of underperforming ones. Ultimately, leveraging Average Revenue Per SKU enables you to fine-tune your marketing approach and maximise overall profitability.

Engagement Rate

In Universal Analytics, website engagement was traditionally measured using the bounce rate, which indicated the percentage of sessions on a specific page where no interactions occurred.

However, in the newer approach of GA4 (Google Analytics 4), the concept of Engagement Rate has replaced the sole reliance on bounce rate. Engagement Rate takes into account various factors, including:

  • A page view session that lasted for at least 10 seconds.
  • A session that triggered at least one conversion event.
  • A session with two or more page views.

Since Engagement Rate is also determined by events triggered (conversions), it can provide a more comprehensive view of user interactions and their level of engagement on the website. This enhanced metric helps businesses identify opportunities that lead to a higher engagement rate, enabling you to optimise your strategies accordingly.

Tags

Tags are essential lines of code that reside within your webpages, serving the purpose of tracking specific user actions on your site. These actions could include various events such as signing up for a newsletter or adding items to their cart in your online shop. These Tags are sometimes referred to as pixels or snippets.

For those who are new to Google Analytics, it is highly recommended to set up a Google Tag Manager account. This platform allows you to efficiently manage and store your GA4 configuration tag, making it easier to track and analyse user interactions on your website.

Conclusion

While the features highlighted here provide valuable insights to shape your business strategy, GA4 offers a plethora of additional functionalities waiting to be utilised. To ensure your GA4 property is set up correctly and optimised to its full potential, or if you simply want to expand your knowledge, you can explore more details here -> Link