Google Analytics 4 (GA4) new and updated interface offers numerous opportunities for users to analyze and measure their website and app data effectively. Understanding the navigation choices will allow you to easily access and use the different features and reports provided by GA4. This article will walk you through the essential features you need to know and tour the GA4 interface to find exactly what you need. We will help you get familiar with the GA4 interface, navigate the platform effortlessly, and help you make the most of your analytics data!
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Looking for help or support on Google Analytics 4?
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In case you prefer to watch a video tutorial instead, here's one you can follow from XYZ Lab's YouTube Channel!
Topics Covered:
1. Click on the dropdown menu on the first column of every report to change the dimension
4. Click on the Share symbol on the top-right-hand-side to download or share your GA4 report
6. Use the filter feature to narrow down to specific dimensions
7. Use the comparison feature to compare traffic coming from various dimensions
Sections in Google Analytics 4
When you first access Google Analytics 4, on the left-hand side you can find 4 sections: Home, Reports, Explore, and Advertising.
Home shows the overview of all the reports that can be found in GA4. This is a page that we rarely visit.
Reports show all the information that is available in GA4 and the different reports that the system offers. This is the most important part of Google Analytics that we will frequently use.
Explore is the section where we can create custom reports such as free-form reports, funnel exploration, path exploration, segment overlap, and other reports.
Advertising is relevant to attribution. Here, you can navigate to 'Conversion paths' to find your attribution reports that track your conversion events, including path length, time lag, and more.
Basics of Google Analytics 4 Reports
1. Click on the dropdown menu on the first column of every report to change the dimension
In every report, there is a dropdown menu in the first column that allows you to change the dimension. For example, in the Traffic Acquisition report, you will find a report that starts with the dimension 'session default channel group', but you can click on the dropdown to change the dimensions.
Similarly, you can navigate to your Demographic Details report, you will find a report that starts with the dimension 'Country', but you can click on the dropdown to change the dimension to others such as city, language, gender, etc.
2. Use the search bar to bring up certain dimension values
For example, you can search 'organic' and bring up all the values and dimensions that are relevant to 'organic'.
3. Use the data range control on the top-right-hand side to change the date range and compare date ranges
On the top right, you can change the dates and click on 'compare' to compare two different time periods.
You will then be able to see indicators to suggest how your website or business is performing in two different time periods.
4. Click on the Share symbol on the top-right-hand-side to download or share your GA4 report
If you want to download or share a report, click on the share symbol.
You have the option to share the report as a link or download the file and you can download as a PDF or CSV.
5. Click on the pen symbol on the top-right-hand-side to modify your report (add new metrics to your report)
If you're looking for certain metrics to add to your report, you can click on the pen symbol to customize your report.
1. Click on Metrics.
2. Type the metric of choice on the 'Add metric' dropdown.
3. Add your metric.
4. Drag and drop the metric to reorder them.
5. Click on Apply to save the changes.
6. Use the filter feature to narrow down to specific dimensions
You can click on 'add filter' to narrow down to specific dimensions.
For example, in the traffic acquisition report, we want to see traffic that is coming only from the United Arab Emirates. We can create a filter for "Country that contains United Arab Emirates" to narrow down the traffic specifically from the UAE.
7. Use the comparison feature to compare traffic coming from various dimensions
Click on 'Add comparison' to compare two different dimensions.
For example, we want to compare the traffic acquisition and channel performance between mobile vs. desktop.
1. Build your first comparison and apply it.
2. Click on 'Add new comparison'
3. Build your second comparison and apply it.
4. Click on the ellipsis to remove the comparison that you don't want to see.
Now you'll be able to see the comparison between mobile vs. desktop performance on the graph as well as their breakdowns on the report.
Now you've learned the basics of navigating the Google Analytics 4 interface! If you want to dig deeper, we also have some other articles that dive into various Google Analytics 4 reports and functions listed below, along with many more resources on our database!