The Only 3 Google Analytics Metrics You Need to Track

Google Analytics collects a monolithic magnitude of information astir idiosyncratic postulation and behaviour connected your website, ranging from acquisition to conversion.

While the magnitude of information you tin get is amazing, you don’t request to way each azygous thing. Trying to bash truthful volition nonstop you down a rabbit spread with nary existent outcome. There are lone 3 metrics you request to way maturation over time.

But first, let’s marque definite we’re connected the aforesaid leafage astir what a metric is.

What is simply a metric successful Google Analytics?

Metrics are quantitative measurements that archer you however immoderate facet of your website performed. For example, the fig of times a circumstantial leafage was viewed oregon however galore times a definite video was played.

It’s important to enactment that metrics are antithetic from dimensions. Dimensions are what your metrics are measured against. This means alternatively of conscionable measuring users, you could measurement users (metric) by transmission (dimension).

Three Google Analytics metrics you should beryllium tracking

There are implicit 100 antithetic metrics available successful Google Analytics (GA), but lone 3 metrics are utile for tracking maturation over time.

1. Users

At the astir basal level, you request to cognize if the selling efforts are resulting successful tract growth.

Users volition archer you precisely that. The users metric successful GA tells america however galore unsocial visitors a website received wrong a acceptable play of clip and provides a high-level presumption of whether selling efforts are resulting successful tract growth.

To presumption each users by postulation source, unfastened the Life rhythm > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition report and acceptable your desired date range.

The study volition automatically show the league default transmission grouping. Default transmission grouping is the marketing transmission defined by GA and utilized by caller and returning users to get connected your tract or app.

For example, the screenshot beneath shows that we received 3,666 users from Organic Search successful Q4 2021:

To find the traffic’s source, we tin adhd a secondary magnitude by clicking connected the bluish “plus” motion adjacent to Session default transmission grouping and selecting Session Acquisition > Session source.

To spot the percent change, we tin adhd a examination period. In the apical right, click connected the day scope drop-down arrow and prime a custom day scope for Q4 > Compare > Preceding play (match time of week) to comparison performance.

Which examination play you should take volition beryllium connected assorted factors similar however aged the GA relationship is, if seasonality plays a relation successful the business, oregon if the institution is caller to investing successful the selling channel.

We chose the erstwhile play for this illustration due to the fact that the tract did not person GA acceptable up past twelvemonth and seasonality does not play a major role.

The screenshot beneath shows an wide alteration successful users by 18.95%, but Google/Organic Search accrued by 24.75% successful Q4 2021 arsenic compared to Q3 2021.

2. User engagement

Now that we cognize wherever users are coming from, we request to recognize what contented they’re engaging with and what fails to gain their attention.

Average engagement time tells america the mean magnitude of clip that the tract had absorption in the user’s browser. (Meaning the idiosyncratic was astir apt looking at it.)

By viewing this metric for antithetic pages connected our site, we tin larn what articles to constitute much of (those with the highest engagement time) and which articles necessitate further investigation (low engagement time).

To presumption each users by postulation source, unfastened the Life rhythm > Engagement > Pages and screens report and acceptable your desired date range.

Now we request to conception this information to conscionable the postulation root we are analyzing.

Take Google organic. We tin adhd a magnitude by clicking connected Add examination in the apical left, adding the “session/source medium” dimension, adding the “google/organic” magnitude values, and removing “All Users” by hovering implicit substance and clicking the “x.”

You tin alteration however the information is displayed successful the array utilizing the drop-down arrow. If you similar to spot the leafage title, prime “Page title.” Or if you privation to cognize the URL, take Page path + query drawstring and surface class.

Lastly, click connected the Average engagement clip file to benignant the array from highest to lowest.

In the illustration below, Google integrated hunt users are funny successful fixing GA4 missing oregon invalid ID errors. Creating much contented astir fixing GA errors whitethorn beryllium helpful.

Now that you cognize what topics are resonating with your readers the most, plug them into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer to find akin topics radical are searching for.

3. Conversions

The astir important metric is conversions. Conversions are idiosyncratic activities that lend to the occurrence of your business.

A Conversion in GA4 is equivalent to what we cognize arsenic a Goal in Universal Analytics (UA).

To presumption the Conversions study successful GA4, unfastened the Life rhythm > Engagement > Conversions report. You volition spot collected events automatically marked arsenic conversions and immoderate lawsuit that you manually marked arsenic a conversion.

The representation supra shows conversions successful Q4 2021 compared to Q4 2020 (matching time of the week). You tin drill down to a circumstantial conversion by clicking connected the bluish text, specified arsenic clicking connected purchase.

Now we tin spot the selling transmission wherever purchases came from.

Going beyond the basal metrics

The 3 metrics supra are large for tracking your site’s maturation implicit time, but they don’t archer you overmuch beyond that.

If you privation to cognize much astir who’s visiting your site, however they’re interacting with it, and what you tin bash to amended performance, you’ll request to analyse different metrics successful the discourse of what you’re trying to achieve.

Let’s look astatine a fewer of these metrics and however they tin beryllium useful.

1. New and returning visitors

By viewing caller and returning users, you tin recognize which channels bring successful the astir engaged users and if your customers are much apt to person connected their archetypal sojourn oregon instrumentality visits.

A caller idiosyncratic is idiosyncratic who visits your website for the archetypal time. GA tracks this by looking astatine whether idiosyncratic has a User ID oregon a Device ID from your site/app. If they don’t, they’re counted arsenic a new user.

It is important to analyse new users because knowing wherever they travel from tin assistance amended inbound selling efforts and conversion funnels.

Looking astatine returning users is important due to the fact that it tin assistance you amended recognize which products oregon contented pages bring your customers back.

To presumption caller and returning users, unfastened the Life rhythm > Retention report in GA4 and acceptable a examination day range. The study volition automatically show caller users, and you tin toggle to spot returning users.

In the supra example, we tin spot New users increased by 181.7% compared to the preceding period.

For a much robust report, we request to unfastened the Audience > Behavior > New vs Returning report in UA.

The UA study volition amusement you acquisition, behavior, and conversion metrics by idiosyncratic type: caller and returning visitors.

In the supra report, we spot much conversions travel from caller visitors, but returning visitors person astatine a higher rate.

From here, we tin conception to Organic traffic and adhd a secondary dimension: landing page. This volition let america to spot which integrated landing pages caller users are converting on.

We whitethorn find patterns successful the contented that converts and place pages to A/B trial CTAs (call to actions) on.

2. Events

Events supply penetration into what users are doing connected the site. This accusation tin beryllium utilized to amended pass A/B testing.

To presumption idiosyncratic lawsuit metrics, unfastened Life rhythm > Engagement > Events study in GA4. The study volition amusement the automatically collected events and immoderate enhanced measurement events you added.

Right now, the accusation disposable successful GA4 is limited. We tin click connected the lawsuit sanction to spot lawsuit number by country, sessions, and leafage location. But we cannot unfastened the Page Location tile to get thing utile from the data.

For a much robust report, usage UA. The UA study tin show revenue, transactions, and eCommerce Conversion complaint information by lawsuit label. Here’s however to do it.

Open UA. Click connected Behavior > Events > Top events report. You volition spot a array of each your lawsuit categories. Event categories volition beryllium connected however lawsuit buckets are acceptable up successful Google Tag Manager (GTM).

For this example, we volition prime the Enhanced Ecommerce event category. Now we spot lawsuit actions. Event Action is going to archer america what the user did.

In this example, we volition click connected “Quickview Click” due to the fact that we privation to cognize each the antithetic products users selected arsenic a “quick view.”

One much step, find the tab labeled Explorer above the events graph and beneath the segment All Users, then click Ecommerce.

Now our array is pulling successful our merchandise pages that person triggered the “quick view” lawsuit and displaying the eCommerce conversion complaint for these circumstantial merchandise pages.

Here is wherever the investigation truly begins. We tin commencement to recognize however idiosyncratic behaviour is helping oregon hurting conversions and yet specify immoderate A/B tests.

3. Pageviews

Pageviews archer america the fig of times a circumstantial webpage was viewed, which by itself isn’t precise helpful. But erstwhile segmented by a selling channel, it tin archer america however to amended performance.

To presumption pageviews, unfastened Life rhythm > Engagement > Pages and screens report. Filter the study to a source/medium similar google/organic by clicking “Add comparison” and selecting a league source/medium magnitude with a worth of google/organic.

Scroll down and instrumentality a look astatine the leafage rubric table. You volition spot views and engagement metrics similar mean engagement clip and unsocial idiosyncratic scrolls here.

If determination are a batch of pageviews but the mean engagement clip oregon scroll extent is low, past it whitethorn not beryllium the contented radical were expecting. Try rewriting the instauration recovered successful these articles to drawback the readers’ attention.

In the lawsuit of google/organic, you whitethorn privation to analyse however good pages with precocious pageviews are performing successful integrated hunt for their people keywords.

If they’re successful positions #2–10, you tin get mode much postulation conscionable by ranking a fewer positions higher—so that whitethorn beryllium a bully focus. Of course, you tin cheque ranking positions by plugging the URL into Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker.

Final thoughts

GA tin rapidly go confusing due to the fact that determination are truthful galore numbers and truthful overmuch method jargon.

But for tracking success, you lone request to absorption connected the fistful of important metrics shared successful this article: users, engagement, and conversions.

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