All the GA4 metrics that matter
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With the deadline to migrate to GA4 long passed, most marketers and businesses will be using GA4 to measure website performance and marketing campaigns. Whilst there is some similarity with the metrics used in the now defunct Universal Analytics and GA4, some are different and some are measured differently. Below you’ll find a breakdown of the key metrics to be aware of when using GA4, what they mean, and why they matter to you.
What is a metric in GA4?
A metric is a quantitive measurement of something and it’s always a number. The number could be a percentage, a single number, a ratio, an average, or anything along those lines. A metric is used to measure the amount of something.
A metric is separate from a dimension that details what happened, such as an event name, or a page URL. For example, the number of times an event fired in GA4 would be classed as a metric, whilst the URLs the event fired on would be classed as a dimension.
The key metrics to look out for when using GA4
With over 100 built-in and the option to create custom-calculated metrics to meet your needs, there’s no shortage of metrics to monitor when using GA4. Below you’ll find some examples of the most important metrics you should be measuring and reporting on.
Event Metrics
- Key events – the number of times users triggered a key event (previously named conversions)
- Event count – the number of times an event was triggered by users
- Event count per user – the number of times on average an event was triggered by a single user
- Events per session – The average number of events triggered in a single session
- First visit – The number of times users visited your website for the very first time
Page/Screen Metrics
- Entrances – per page based on the number of first events that start a session
- Exits – per page based on the number of last events per session
- Views – the number of page_view events triggered by a user
- Views per session – the average number of page_view events per session
- Views per user – the average number of page_view events per user
Session Metrics
- Sessions – the total number of sessions that occurred on the website
- Average session duration – the average session duration of user sessions
- Engaged sessions – the total number of sessions that either lasted 10 seconds or more, triggered a key event or triggered more than one page_view event
- Engaged sessions per user – the average number of engaged sessions that occurred on the website per user
- Engagement rate – the percentage of sessions that became an engaged session
- Low engagement sessions – the total number of sessions that did not become an engaged session
- Session key event rate – the percentage of sessions that triggered a key event (conversion)
- Sessions per user – the average number of sessions that happened on the website per user
User metrics
- Active users – the total number of ‘active users’ which are users that have triggered an engaged session
- (1,7,28)-day active users – the total number of active users in the respective day period
- Average daily purchasers – the average number of purchasers daily across the selected timeframe
- First-time purchasers – the total number of users who purchased something on a website for the first time
- New users – the total number of users who were
- New user rate – the percentage of new users out of the total number of users
- (1,2-7,8-30,31-90-day) repeat purchasers – the total number of users who make a purchase and have previously purchased something within the respective date range
- Returning purchasers – the total number of users who have visited the website before and come back
- Total purchasers – the total number of users who purchased on the website
- Total users – the total number of users who visited the website regardless of whether they engaged or not
- User key event rate – the percentage of users who triggered a key event (conversion)
- User engagement – the length of time a user had the website visible on a screen
User lifetime metrics
- Lifetime engaged sessions – the number of engaged sessions a user has had across the lifetime of visiting the website
- Lifetime engagement duration – the length of time since the user first visited the website
- Lifetime event count – the total number of events triggered by a user since visiting the website for the first time
- LTV (Lifetime value) – the total amount of purchase revenue a user has tracked since first visiting the website
- Lifetime session duration – the total duration of time a user has spent with the website in focus
- Lifetime sessions – the total number of sessions a user has had since visiting the website for the first time
- Lifetime transactions – the total number of purchase events triggered by a user since their first time on the website
Revenue metrics
- ARPU – the average revenue per user calculated by dividing the total revenue by the number of users
- Average daily revenue – the average revenue generated on the website per day within the selected date range
- Average purchase revenue – the average revenue of all purchase events that happened on the website
- Total revenue – the total revenue generated on the website
- Max daily revenue – the highest daily revenue generated within the selected date range
- Min daily revenue – the lowest daily revenue generated within the selected date range
E-Commerce metrics
- Add-to-cart to purchase rate – the percentage of items added to a cart which were then purchased
- Add to carts – the total number of add-to-cart events triggered
- Checkout – the total number of times the checkout process was started on your website
- Items purchased – the total number of items purchased
- Items view – the total number of items viewed
- Items viewed in list – the total number of items viewed within lists on the website
- Items revenue – the total amount of revenue generated from items only, so excluding postage/shipping + any tax
- Purchase revenue – the total sum of all purchases made on the website
- Purchases – the total number of purchases made on the website
Predicted metrics
- Churn probability – this is the probability that a user who was active in the last 7 days will be active on the website again in the next 7 days
- Purchase probability – this is the probability that a user who was active in the last 28 days will make a purchase within the next 7 days
- Predicted revenue – this is the estimated revenue from purchases within the next 28 days from users who were active in the last 28 days
A small caveat on predicted metrics, they aren’t yet available for all websites. They are only available for e-commerce websites, and you must meet high thresholds before these metrics are automatically enabled within GA4. You can find out more about these thresholds here.
Using metrics to measure marketing performance
These are what we consider to be the metrics that matter when using GA4. Individual use cases will of course vary and those important to you may not be important to another user. This also isn’t an exhaustive list of all available metrics. Some metrics will apply to all of your marketing efforts, whilst others may be more suitable for paid campaigns or organic marketing. Choosing the right ones should be a key focus before starting any marketing activity.
We’re often asked about important metrics that are either new or the user isn’t used to seeing, so hopefully the above list will help you get your head around some of the more uncommon ones.
