November 5, 2024

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is an advanced analytics platform that offers a new approach to analyzing website and app traffic and user interactions. With a more event-focused model than previous versions, GA4 helps users understand meaningful data that can be used to increase visitors, conversions, and engagement. For newcomers, mastering these terms is essential to unlock actionable insights.

Below is a glossary of the key terms you may come across in GA4 to assist beginners in navigating this powerful tool.

Basic Google Analytics 4 Terms

Keywords Keywords refer to the terms and phrases used to target audiences in paid search campaigns (e.g., Google Ads). GA4 doesn’t provide a built-in report for organic search keywords but allows integration with Google Ads to track the performance of paid keywords. Selecting relevant keywords helps ensure ads reach the right users, improving conversion rates and lowering costs.

Pageviews In GA4, a pageview event is triggered whenever a user views or reloads a page. Every page visit or reload counts as a new pageview, and this data is used to track which pages receive the most engagement.

Sessions A session in GA4 measures the duration a visitor spends on your website. Sessions end after 30 minutes of inactivity or at midnight, and they don’t reset if the visitor’s campaign source changes.

Active Users GA4 focuses on active users, defined as those currently engaging with your site or app. This metric captures the number of unique users actively interacting within a specified time, giving a clear picture of audience engagement.

Unique Pageviews GA4 doesn’t provide a “unique pageview” metric as in previous versions. Instead, it focuses on “views” and “user engagement,” with engagement metrics that reveal unique user interactions rather than counting page reloads.

Event In GA4, all user interactions are events, including pageviews, clicks, video plays, and downloads. This event-based model offers greater flexibility to track specific actions, making it easier to understand user behavior on a deeper level. Custom events can also be created to track unique user interactions.

Landing Page Landing page in GA4 is often referred to as the “First Page” in some reports. It is the first page a visitor lands on during their session, helping identify which pages drive the most initial engagement.

Search Traffic: Organic vs. Paid GA4 can distinguish between organic and paid search traffic. Organic traffic represents visitors arriving through unpaid search engine results, while paid traffic tracks visits from paid ads, like Google Ads campaigns. These metrics are visible in “User Acquisition” and “Traffic Acquisition” reports.

Engagement Rate Instead of traditional bounce rate, GA4 uses engagement rate. Engagement rate measures the percentage of engaged sessions—those that last more than 10 seconds, include multiple page views, or result in a conversion. This metric better reflects meaningful user interactions.

User Flow GA4 offers a User Flow report that shows the paths users take through your site or app. You can filter flow reports to understand user journeys by location, device, or traffic source, which provides a comprehensive view of the user experience.
Acquisition Acquisition metrics in GA4 help track where your traffic originates, whether from social media, search engines, or referrals. This report categorizes traffic into channels like organic, paid, social, and referral, so you can see where visitors come from and assess their performance.

Traffic Sources – Referral Traffic vs. Direct Traffic GA4 shows traffic sources in two main categories: direct and referral traffic. Direct traffic includes users who type a URL directly, use a bookmark, or access the site when Google Analytics cannot determine a source. Referral traffic comes from users arriving from external sites, social profiles, or other online platforms.

New and Returning Users GA4 tracks new and returning users, with an emphasis on active users. “New users” are those who have never visited your site, while “returning users” have engaged in at least one prior visit. GA4 uses cookies to differentiate these users unless they have disabled them in their browser.

Conclusion

These key GA4 terms provide a foundational understanding of GA4’s metrics and data points, which help new users analyze basic patterns and give experienced users a refreshed perspective on this updated analytics model.

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As we move further into 2025 and beyond, consumer preferences continue evolving, driving a need for more personalized and transparent brand communications. Analytics, such as those provided by GA4, empower brands to understand and adapt to these shifts, making data-driven decisions to create more meaningful connections with their audience.

As we move through 2023 and beyond, there is no doubt that the pandemic-related experiences have left their mark on us, pushing consumers toward the need for more authentic human connections and experiences. As a result, brands need to engage with social issues, have a transparent and genuine voice, and showcase their social responsibilities by creating content that centers solely around the consumer. If you’d like to find out more information about these 10 trends, please contact us.