Some metrics in GA4 are so buried, it feels like you need a treasure map just to find them.

One of the most frustrating ones was average session duration. I used to rely on it all the time in Universal Analytics to spot weak pages and figure out what was keeping visitors engaged. But in GA4? It’s renamed, hidden, and way too easy to miss.

If you’ve been digging around and still can’t find it, you’re not alone. In this guide, I’ll walk you through exactly how to find average session duration in Google Analytics 4, what the updated metric actually means, and how I track it faster using OnePageGA.

What Is Average Session Duration in GA4?

In Universal Analytics, average session duration told you how long people typically stayed on your site. It was one of those quick-glance metrics that helped me spot which pages were holding attention and which ones weren’t.

In GA4, that metric has been replaced by average engagement time per session, and it works a little differently. I still call it session duration out of habit, but the above label is the correct name.

Instead of counting the total time someone spends from entry to exit, GA4 only tracks active time. If someone opens your site and walks away for five minutes, that idle time doesn’t count.

Even with that change, I still find it useful. If people are leaving after a few seconds, there’s usually a reason. It might be slow loading, poor content, or a mismatch between the page and their search intent. But when I see engagement time ticking up, especially past the one- or two-minute mark, that usually tells me visitors are sticking around, scrolling, reading, and maybe even converting.

On one of my own landing pages, the average session time was under a minute. After tweaking the headline and moving the CTA higher, people stayed longer and conversions doubled.

Most sites I work with average somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes per session. Databox reports a median of 77.61 seconds for B2B and 92.33 seconds for B2C, which lines up with what I’ve seen. In niches like fintech or SaaS, engagement times often reach 4 to 5 minutes.

If you’re not sure what counts, here’s a simple breakdown of what a metric is in GA4.

Steps for Finding Average Session Duration in GA4

Finding average session duration in GA4 isn’t hard, but it does take a few steps since it’s not included in your default reports.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Open the Engagement Report

First, log into your Google Analytics account.

From the left-hand menu, go to Reports » Engagement » Overview.

This gives you a general view of how people are interacting with your site, including key metrics like engaged sessions, engagement rate, and engagement time.

If you haven’t used this report before, it’s also where you can track website visitors in GA4.

Step 2: Customize the Report

Once you’re in the Engagement Overview report, look for the pencil icon in the top-right corner of the screen. Click it to enter Edit mode.

This lets you add or remove metrics from the report, so you can manually include the session duration metric.

Step 3: Add a Session Duration Metric

In the report editor, click on Metrics in the right-hand panel. Then click Add metric.

Search for and select Average engagement time per session.

This is the GA4 version of average session duration. It shows how long users were actively engaging with your site during a session, not just how long the tab was open.

Once your report includes the metrics and dimensions you want, click the Save button in the top-right corner.

Choose Save as a new report, give it a name like “Session Duration Overview,” and click Save again.

This way, you won’t have to rebuild the report every time you log in. You can find it anytime under Library » Reports.

Step 4: (Optional) Export and Calculate

If you want to match the old Universal Analytics metric more closely, you can calculate it manually.

Click the Share icon at the top of the report, then choose Download file » CSV.

In your spreadsheet, divide the Total engagement time by the Number of sessions. This gives you a rough version of traditional average session duration.

For example, if your report shows 15,000 seconds of total engagement time and 500 sessions, the calculation would look like this:

15,000 ÷ 500 = 30 seconds

So your average session duration would be around 30 seconds.

It’s not perfect, but it can help if you’re comparing old data with your GA4 setup.

Step 5: Add a Secondary Dimension

To dig deeper into your session data, click the “+” icon next to the primary dimension in your report.

This lets you break down session duration by things like:

• Page path – see which pages are holding attention
• Traffic source – compare how users from search, social, or email behave
• Device category – check whether mobile or desktop users stay longer

Adding a secondary dimension helps you understand not just how long people stay, but also where and why they’re spending that time.

When I compared traffic sources, I noticed users from my newsletter were staying for over 3 minutes, while Facebook traffic dropped off in under 30 seconds. That helped me shift focus to channels that brought in more engaged visitors.

How to View Session Duration in OnePageGA

If you’re tired of jumping through hoops just to see how long people stay on your site, OnePageGA makes it much easier.

It’s a clean, beginner-friendly dashboard that connects to your GA4 account and helps you create simple GA4 reports without digging through menus. That includes session duration, which shows up right on your main dashboard without any extra setup.

You can also customize your view. Click the Edit Metrics icon and turn on Average Session Duration if it’s not already selected.

From there, you can filter the data by:

• Page
• Traffic source
• Campaign
• Device

I used this to check how different landing pages were performing. Visitors were spending more than 4 minutes on the pricing page, which gave me the confidence to increase my ad budget for that campaign. The numbers helped confirm that the page was doing its job.

With OnePageGA, it only takes a few clicks to see the data that matters most.

Smart Ways to Use Average Session Duration

It’s easy to assume that longer session times are always better, but that’s not always true. Sometimes people stay longer because they’re confused or stuck. Other times, a short session means someone found exactly what they needed right away.

Here’s what I’ve learned from using this metric on my own sites.

What Not to Do

• Don’t assume a longer session automatically means better performance
• Don’t compare GA4 session duration to old Universal Analytics reports — they use different tracking models
• Don’t look at session time on its own. It’s more useful when you pair it with bounce rate, conversion rate, or scroll depth.

What to Do Instead

• Use it to spot weak pages or traffic sources that aren’t bringing in engaged visitors
• Watch for changes over time when you update your content or layout
  
  The European Sealing Association made some key improvements to their site and increased their average session duration to 56 seconds. They also saw a 3% drop in bounce rate and a 51% increase in page views (source).
  
• Compare your numbers to others in your industry to see if you’re in a healthy range

Here are some average session duration benchmarks, based on data from Hike SEO:

I also like to pair session duration with scroll tracking. You can track scroll depth and other events to get a fuller picture of how people interact with your content.

If visitors are spending time and scrolling to the end, that usually tells me they’re reading and engaging, not just idling with the tab open.

FAQs About Average Session Duration

Wrapping Up: Make Session Time Work for You

Average session duration is still one of the clearest ways to understand how people engage with your website. Even though GA4 makes it harder to find, it’s a metric worth paying attention to.

It helps you see what’s working, where users might be losing interest, and how changes to your content or layout affect real behavior. The key is not just finding the number, but knowing how to use it.

If GA4 feels like too much effort, OnePageGA gives you a faster, simpler way to track session duration alongside all your other key metrics, with no digging required.

Try OnePageGA free for 14 days and see how much easier it is to understand your website performance.

Want to keep learning? Here are some helpful guides to explore next:

• GA4 Pros and Cons: Is It Worth Using?
• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works
• How to Add Annotations in Google Analytics 4
• How to Find Your Top Converting Traffic Sources in GA4
• Types of Web Analytics Every Website Owner Should Know

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

Last month, I opened Google Analytics to check on a friend’s campaign and saw zero users. Not one. My stomach dropped.

If you’ve been there, you know the feeling. You’re expecting to see a steady stream of data, and instead it looks like your entire website vanished. Google Analytics not working is more common than most people realize, especially with all the changes and limitations baked into the newer version.

The thing is, Google Analytics is used by over 83% of websites that track data. That’s a huge chunk of the internet relying on it to work every day. But when it doesn’t, it’s easy to panic.

In this guide, I’ll show you the exact steps I take when GA4 stops working, even if you don’t have any technical experience.

Common Reasons for Google Analytics Not Working

These are the first things I check when GA4 suddenly goes quiet. In my experience, it’s usually something small. But it’s easy to miss if you don’t know where to look.

1. The Tracking Code Isn’t Firing

When GA4 stops recording data, this is the first thing I check. If the GA4 tag isn’t firing, none of your tracking will work. Make sure it uses the gtag.js snippet, which is the recommended setup for GA4.

Your GA4 tag needs to be installed across your entire site, not just the homepage. Even missing it on one key landing page can throw off your reports. The tag should use the gtag.js snippet, which is the recommended setup for GA4 tracking.

The easiest way to check is by using the Google Tag Assistant extension or opening your browser’s developer tools.

You’re looking for your Measurement ID, which should start with G-. Make sure it matches the one listed in your GA4 data stream settings, which you’ll find under Admin » Data Streams.

If it’s not showing up, the tag might be missing, misconfigured, or blocked by another plugin or script.

2. You’re in the Wrong Property or Account

This has tripped me up more times than I care to admit. If you manage more than one site or work with clients, it’s surprisingly easy to open the wrong GA4 property.

The interface doesn’t make it obvious which property you’re looking at, especially if your sites have similar names. I’ve had moments where I thought tracking was broken, only to realize I was checking a staging site or someone else’s account entirely.

Before you panic, double-check the property name in the top left corner of GA4. It only takes a second and might save you a lot of time.

3. Ad Blockers and Cookie Banners Are Interfering

Sometimes GA4 is working just fine, but the data never makes it to your reports.

Ad blockers like uBlock, Ghostery, and Brave can block Google Analytics scripts completely. If your audience is even slightly tech-savvy, there’s a good chance some of them are invisible in your stats.

Some browsers also apply a content security policy that can block GA4 scripts from loading. If that’s the case, you may need to adjust your settings or whitelist analytics URLs.

On top of that, cookie banners can cause issues too. In the EU and other regions with privacy laws, GA4 won’t track visitors unless they give explicit consent. If your site’s cookie setup is missing consent mode or isn’t firing the GA tag properly after someone accepts, it can look like traffic has dropped when it really hasn’t.

This support thread from Google has a good breakdown of how cookie opt-ins can interfere with tracking.

4. Filters Are Hiding Data

GA4 gives you the option to filter out certain types of traffic, like bots or internal visits. That’s helpful, but it can hide real data if something’s misconfigured.

I’ve seen this happen when someone sets up an IP exclusion and forgets they’re using a VPN or shared network. Suddenly, all their team’s visits disappear, and it looks like the site has gone silent.

After a high-profile data breach, Blue Shield of California tried to tighten up their tracking setup. In the process, they ended up filtering out more than they meant to.

If your numbers look suspiciously low, check your filters. You can find them in GA4 under Admin » Data Settings » Data Filters.

5. You’re Checking the Wrong Date Range

I’ve had friends message me in a panic because their traffic “disappeared,” only to find out they were looking at future dates or an empty time period by mistake.

It happens more often than you’d think. Maybe the calendar didn’t update. Maybe someone clicked a custom segment and forgot to clear it.

Before diving into deeper fixes, double-check your date range in the top-right corner of GA4. Make sure you’re viewing the right time period and that no filters are hiding your data.

If everything looks right, but your numbers are still way off, the problem might not be with your setup. It could be that your events aren’t firing properly. Since GA4 is built around events, broken tracking can make your reports look completely empty.

GA4 Isn’t Tracking Events Properly

When GA4 stops showing conversions or other key actions, it’s usually an event issue. Here’s how I figure out what’s gone wrong.

Realtime Report

This is the fastest way to check if your tracking is working. Go to Reports » Realtime and open your website in another browser tab. You should see at least one user appear, even if it’s just you.

If the Realtime report stays blank while you’re visiting the site, something’s not connecting properly. Either the tracking code isn’t firing, or GA4 isn’t receiving the data.

DebugView

If your Realtime report is empty, DebugView is the next place I check. It shows you exactly what GA4 is picking up in real time. That includes page views, scrolls, clicks, form submissions, and more.

To open it, go to Admin » DebugView in your GA4 account.

To start seeing data, you’ll need to trigger a test session using debug mode. This lets GA4 know you’re actively testing and sends data to the DebugView panel.

There are two simple ways to do this:

• Google Tag Assistant is a free Chrome extension that helps you test your tracking setup. Once it’s installed, visit your website and it will show you which tags are active.
  
• Google Tag Manager preview mode lets you test events before they go live. If you’re using Tag Manager to manage GA4, click Preview, follow the prompts, and interact with your site to start a session.

As you click around your site, you should see a live feed of events appear in DebugView. If nothing shows up, the tracking code might be missing, blocked, or not set up correctly. In Google Tag Manager, make sure your GA4 configuration tag is firing on all pages and is not limited by a faulty trigger.

This tool has helped me catch everything from typos in event names to form triggers that silently failed. I’ve also seen issues where the event tag was set up incorrectly and never fired at all.

Advanced Problems That Can Affect GA4 Tracking

Most tracking issues come from things like missing tags, filters, or cookie banners. But if you’ve already checked the basics and GA4 still isn’t working, here are a couple of less common problems that could be affecting your setup.

Server-Side Tagging Setups

If you’ve switched to server-side tagging, your tracking works a little differently. Instead of sending data straight from the browser to Google Analytics, it routes through your own server first. This setup can help with performance and privacy, but it also adds more steps to get things working correctly.

GA4 won’t receive any data unless your server is forwarding events properly. You’ll want to double-check that:

• Your server container is connected to the right GA4 property
• Your Measurement ID is included in the configuration
• All your event tags are still firing from the server side

If something is missing, your reports might show zero users even though your site is getting traffic. Google Tag Manager’s server-side tagging guide walks through the full setup if you need help checking your configuration.

Google Analytics Property Suspensions

In rare cases, Google may suspend a GA4 property for violating its terms of service. This usually happens when personally identifiable information (PII) is sent to Analytics, which isn’t allowed.

If your tracking suddenly disappears, and you’ve ruled out every other issue, log into your Google Analytics account and check for any warning messages or suspension notices. You can also reach out to Google support if something looks off.

Why I Use OnePageGA to Track If GA4 Is Working

OnePageGA is a clean, beginner-friendly dashboard that connects to your GA4 account and shows all your key metrics in one place. It’s the easiest way I’ve found to spot tracking issues without digging through reports or switching between screens.

When I open it, I can quickly see:

• Real-time sessions, bounce rate, and conversions
• Which pages are getting the most traffic
• Whether my key events are being recorded
• Where visitors are coming from

Everything is laid out on one screen with no setup and no custom reports to build. It pulls the data straight from GA4 and organizes it in a way that actually makes sense.

One feature I rely on is annotations. I use them to leave notes when I launch a campaign, publish a new blog post, or update a landing page. For more details, you can see my guide on how to add annotations in Google Analytics.

Later, if my traffic changes, I can see exactly what happened that day without digging through my calendar or emails.

It also saves me time. If GA4 stops tracking, I can tell right away. I don’t have to guess whether something is broken or just slow. OnePageGA shows me what’s working and what needs attention.

FAQs About Google Analytics Not Working

Fix Google Analytics Not Working

When Google Analytics stops working, it’s stressful. Especially if you rely on it to track your traffic and conversions. The good news is that most problems come down to a simple setup issue, a blocked tag, or an event that isn’t firing correctly.

I’ve dealt with all of these on my own sites and learned exactly what to check and fix. Tools like Tag Assistant and DebugView can help, but they still take time to work through.

That’s why I use OnePageGA. It pulls all my GA4 data into one simple dashboard so I can see right away if something is broken or if everything’s running normally.

If you want a faster way to keep your tracking on track, start your free 14-day trial of OnePageGA. It’s the easiest way I’ve found to take the guesswork out of Google Analytics.

If you found this guide helpful, here are a few more resources that can help you get the most out of GA4:

• How to Track Website Visitors in GA4
• 4 Types of Events in Google Analytics + How to Use Them
• What Is a User in Google Analytics?
• GA4 Pros and Cons: Is It Worth Using?
• How to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports

The first time I opened GA4, I thought bounce rate was gone.

I was trying to figure out why one of my landing pages wasn’t converting. I went straight to where bounce rate used to live, but it wasn’t there. No column. No toggle. Nothing.

If you’ve had that moment of confusion too, you’re not imagining it. GA4 hides bounce rate by default, and it doesn’t work the same way it did in Universal Analytics.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to find bounce rate in GA4, how the new version works, and the faster way I check it now without customizing reports every time.

What Is Bounce Rate in GA4?

Bounce rate in GA4 works differently than it did in Universal Analytics. Instead of measuring how many people left your site without visiting another page, it now looks at engagement.

In GA4, bounce rate is the percentage of sessions that weren’t considered “engaged.” So a session counts as a bounce if the visitor:

• Stays on your site for less than 10 seconds
• Doesn’t trigger any conversion events
• Views only one page or screen

If none of those things happen, GA4 marks the session as a bounce.

Here’s the formula:

Bounce Rate = 100% minus Engagement Rate (Source: Google Support)

For example, let’s say someone lands on your homepage, scrolls a bit, but leaves after five seconds without clicking anything. That’s a bounce. But if they hang around longer, view another page, or submit a form, the session is marked as engaged and won’t count as a bounce.

Step-by-Step: How to Find Bounce Rate in GA4

GA4 doesn’t show bounce rate by default, so you’ll need to add it manually to your reports. You can add it in just a few clicks.

Step 1: Go to the Right Report

Log into your Google Analytics account, then go to Reports » Engagement » Pages and screens

This is where you’ll see how individual pages are performing.

Step 2: Click the Edit Icon

In the top-right corner of the report, click the pencil icon to customize the report layout.

Step 3: Add Bounce Rate

In the panel on the right, look for the Metrics section. Click into it, then search for “Bounce rate.”

Once you see it, click to add it to the report.

Step 4: Apply and Save

Click Apply, then hit Save at the top of the page.

Step 5: View and Explore Your Data

Now, scroll through the table to see the bounce rate for each page.

Click the Bounce rate column header to sort it from highest to lowest.

You can also click the + icon above the table to add a second dimension like traffic source, device type, or landing page path.

A Simpler Way: Track Bounce Rate with OnePageGA

GA4 makes it harder than it should be to find simple stats. That’s why I use OnePageGA to track my website analytics.

It connects to your Google Analytics account and shows your key metrics on a single page, including bounce rate, with no need to edit reports or click through menus.

Bounce rate is included by default, right alongside sessions, users, conversions, and revenue.

You can filter everything by:

• Page
• Source/medium
• Campaign
• Device

This makes it easy to spot pages with high bounce rates and start asking why. You might test a different layout or update your copy to keep people on the page longer.

With OnePageGA, there’s no need to change any settings or remember where to find things. All the key stats are waiting as soon as you log in.

Smart Ways to Use Bounce Rate in GA4

Bounce rate can be useful, but only if you know how to read it. A high number doesn’t always mean something’s wrong, and a low one doesn’t always mean everything’s working.

What to Avoid

• Don’t assume that a high bounce rate is always bad. Some pages are meant to be short visits, like a contact page or blog post. For example, blog posts often see bounce rates over 70%, which is considered normal in many industries.
• Don’t compare GA4 bounce rates to your old Universal Analytics data. GA4 uses a completely different definition based on engagement, so the numbers won’t match.
• Don’t rely on bounce rate alone to judge performance. It doesn’t tell you why someone left, just that they didn’t stay long or interact.

What to Do Instead

• Use bounce rate to spot pages with low engagement. Pages with bounce rates over 70–80% and little conversion activity are worth a closer look.
• Keep an eye on your top-exit pages. If visitors are consistently leaving from a particular page, it might point to friction or confusion. According to Hotjar, high exit rates can be a sign that users didn’t find what they were looking for or hit a dead end.
• Pair bounce rate with other metrics like time on page, scroll depth, and conversion rate. A low time on page and high bounce rate often means the content didn’t match what visitors were expecting.

Bounce rate is a starting point. It helps you spot red flags and test improvements. Most of all, it helps you ask better questions about how people are using your site.

FAQs About GA4 Bounce Rate

Track Bounce Rate the Easy Way

Bounce rate didn’t disappear in GA4, but it is harder to find. You can still access it with a few quick steps, and once you know where to look, it’s easier to track over time.

That said, GA4 isn’t always the most user-friendly. If you want a faster way to check bounce rate and all your other key metrics in one place, OnePageGA can help.

Start your 14-day free trial and take the guesswork out of GA4.

If you’re working on understanding GA4 or making your reports easier to read, these guides might help:

• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works
• How to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports
• What Is a Metric in Google Analytics (And What to Track)
• How to Find Your Top Converting Traffic Sources in GA4
• Types of Events in Google Analytics + How to Use Them

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

When I first started working with analytics tools, I remember how overwhelming it felt. There was so much data, and I just wanted a clear answer to simple questions. Where are people coming from? What’s actually helping them buy?

Over time, I figured out which tools are helpful and which ones just add more confusion. That’s what I want to share with you here.

In this guide, I’m walking through the best ecommerce analytics tools I’ve tried myself. Some are simple. Some go deeper. But all of them can help you get a better handle on what’s really going on in your store.

Quick Summary of the Best eCommerce Analytics Tools

How I Tested the Best eCommerce Analytics Tools

I didn’t put this list together by reading feature lists or copying what other blogs say. I actually spent time exploring each of these tools to see how they work in real life.

Here’s what I looked for:

• Setup process: Was it quick, or did it feel like jumping through hoops?
• Ease of use: Could I find the important stuff without clicking through ten menus?
• Ecommerce-specific reports: Things like revenue, conversions, and cart activity.
• Dashboard clarity: How easy it is to check stats at a glance.
• Pricing and value: What you get on the free plan, and whether the paid versions are worth it.

I tested each tool from the perspective of someone running an online store, not a data analyst. My goal was to figure out which tools make it easier to understand what’s working and what needs fixing.

Best eCommerce Analytics Tools (Reviewed)

There are a lot of tools out there claiming to help you track your store’s performance, but not all of them are built with ecommerce in mind. I’ve tested each of the tools below myself to see how well they actually work, what they’re like to use, and whether they’re worth your time.

Let’s start with one you’ve probably already heard of, Google Analytics 4.

1. Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the new standard for tracking website data, but it’s not exactly beginner-friendly. I’ve used it across several projects, and while it’s powerful, it takes some time to get used to, especially if you’re trying to track ecommerce data like product views, add-to-carts, and purchases.

My Experience

Setting up GA4 wasn’t the easiest. You have to manually create events to track things like revenue or checkout steps, and there’s a learning curve if you’ve never used it before.

Once it’s set up, though, the reporting is detailed and really useful. I liked the Monetization reports, especially when I needed to see how individual products were performing over time.

One thing that helped was using Google’s own documentation, but I still found myself going back and forth a lot just to figure out how to build a simple ecommerce report.

Pros:

• Free to use, even with advanced features
• Really detailed reports once you know where to look
• Works well with Google Ads and other Google tools

Cons:

• Steep learning curve for new users
• Setup is manual and takes time to get right
• Some reports feel buried under too many clicks

Pricing & Plans

Google Analytics 4 is completely free, which makes it a popular choice for a lot of ecommerce stores. There’s a paid version called GA360, but most smaller stores won’t need it.

My Review

GA4 is a great tool if you’ve got the time (and patience) to learn how it works. It’s packed with features and works for just about any kind of store. But if you’re brand new to analytics or short on time, you might want to pair it with a simpler tool that makes the data easier to understand.

For a more detailed overview, see my guide: Is Google Analytics 4 Worth It? The Pros and Cons

2. OnePageGA

OnePageGA is a simple, beginner-friendly dashboard that pulls your Google Analytics data into one clean, easy-to-read screen. I started using it because I was tired of digging through GA4 to find the info I actually needed, like where sales were coming from or which pages were performing best.

My Experience

The setup was super quick. I just connected my Google account and the dashboard was ready in seconds. No settings to configure and no custom events to set up.

Everything was already organized in a way that made sense for ecommerce. I could see traffic, conversions, top pages, and revenue all in one place.

One thing I really liked is how easy it is to spot patterns. If I ran a promo or changed something on a product page, I could quickly see if it made a difference in traffic or sales.

There’s also a built-in way to add notes, which makes it easy to keep track of changes without digging through old messages or emails.

Pros:

• Fast and easy to set up
• Can easily see ecommerce data
• Lets you add notes to explain traffic spikes or drops
• Great if you want a clearer view of your GA4 reports
• Includes conversion funnel tracking

Cons:

• Only works with GA4 data

Pricing & Plans

You can try OnePageGA free for 14 days. After that, pricing starts at $9 per month, which is affordable if you want something easier than GA4.

My Review

If GA4 feels too complicated, OnePageGA is a great way to get the data you care about without the hassle. I like using it when I want quick answers and a clean view of what’s working. It’s ideal for solo store owners or small teams who don’t need a full-blown analytics setup.

3. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is a WordPress plugin that makes Google Analytics a lot easier to understand, especially if you’re using WooCommerce. I’ve used it on several WordPress sites where I wanted to skip the GA4 setup headache and just see the numbers that matter, right inside the WordPress dashboard.

My Experience

Setting up Google Analytics was straightforward. I installed the plugin, connected my Google account, and right away I could see reports without needing to open GA4. It pulled in ecommerce data like revenue, conversion rate, and top products, which saved me a lot of clicks.

What I liked most was being able to view key metrics on the WordPress dashboard without jumping between tools. That said, you still need to have Google Analytics running in the background.

MonsterInsights doesn’t track data on its own. It just makes GA4 easier to use, especially if you’re not confident navigating the default reports.

Pros:

• Beginner-friendly setup inside WordPress
• Shows GA4 ecommerce data without leaving your site
• Works well with WooCommerce
• Lets you track clicks, forms, and custom events with no code

Cons:

• Requires GA4 to work, it’s not a standalone analytics tool
• Some features, like advanced reports, are locked behind the paid version

Pricing & Plans

There’s a free version with basic tracking, which is great for simple stores. If you want ecommerce tracking, though, you’ll need the Pro plan, which starts at $199.50 per year.

My Review

If you use WordPress and want your GA4 data to be easier to access, MonsterInsights is a great option. I recommend it for WooCommerce stores in particular. Just keep in mind that it depends on GA4 behind the scenes, so you’ll still need to set that up first.

4. Mixpanel

Mixpanel is more advanced than the other tools I’ve covered so far. It’s designed for businesses that want to track detailed customer behavior, not just pageviews and traffic sources.

I’ve used it on projects where we needed to follow what users were doing after landing on the site, like how many people clicked certain buttons or dropped off during signup.

My Experience

Right away, I could tell Mixpanel wasn’t built for beginners. The setup took more time, and I had to plan out which events I wanted to track. But once that part was done, the reports were incredibly detailed. I could build funnels, compare user segments, and even track what actions led to higher customer lifetime value.

What stood out the most was the level of flexibility. I could create custom reports based on very specific behavior, like which blog posts led to purchases or how long someone stayed before converting.

It’s not the tool I’d recommend for your first store, but it’s great for bigger teams or stores that are scaling.

Pros:

• Very detailed event-based tracking
• Great for funnel analysis and customer retention reports
• Lets you create custom dashboards and compare segments
• Works for web and mobile apps

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve compared to beginner tools
• Takes more time to set up and configure
• Can feel like overkill for small or new stores

Pricing & Plans

Mixpanel has a free plan that gives you up to 1 million monthly events, which is more than enough for most small stores. Paid plans start at $.00028 per event after the free cap.

My Review

Mixpanel is a solid choice if you’ve outgrown basic analytics and want to understand exactly how people use your store. I’d recommend it for growing ecommerce businesses with more complex sales journeys, or teams that want deeper data to make decisions.

5. Kissmetrics

Kissmetrics is built specifically for ecommerce, which makes it a little different from general analytics tools like GA4. I tried it on a test store to see how it handled things like customer lifetime value and repeat purchases, areas where GA4 tends to fall short without extra setup.

My Experience

The first thing I noticed is that Kissmetrics focuses more on people than sessions. Instead of just tracking visits or clicks, it builds a profile around each user, so you can see their full journey, from the first visit to their most recent order.

It was really useful for understanding how often customers came back, how long it took them to buy, and what they bought next. The dashboard isn’t flashy, but the data is actionable. I could easily track metrics like revenue by traffic source or which campaigns brought in the most loyal customers.

Setup wasn’t instant, and it works best if you have a developer who can help you add custom events. But once it’s in place, it’s a great tool for stores that want to grow based on customer behavior, not just traffic spikes.

Pros:

• Built specifically for ecommerce businesses
• Tracks customer lifetime value, repeat purchases, and full user journeys
• Great for segmenting users and tracking retention
• Offers reports GA4 doesn’t handle well without customization

Cons:

• Not as beginner-friendly as some tools
• Requires more setup and possibly developer help
• More expensive than some other platforms

Pricing & Plans

Kissmetrics doesn’t have a free plan. Pricing starts around $299 per month, so it’s more suited to established stores that are ready to invest in long-term growth.

My Review

Kissmetrics is a powerful eCommerce analytics tool if you’re focused on customer retention and long-term value. It’s probably not the first analytics tool you’ll use, but it’s a strong option once you’re ready to go deeper. I’d recommend it for growing or established stores that want more than just traffic data.

6. Crazy Egg

Crazy Egg is a behavior analytics tool that shows you exactly how people interact with your website. I’ve used it when I wanted to go beyond the numbers and actually see what visitors were doing. For example, where they clicked, how far they scrolled, and what they ignored completely.

My Experience

Setting it up was simple. I added a small tracking script to the site, and within a few hours, I could start viewing heatmaps and scrollmaps. The heatmaps were especially helpful for spotting dead zones, parts of a product page that weren’t getting any attention, and figuring out which buttons or sections people were actually using.

One of my favorite features was the ability to compare desktop and mobile behavior. It helped me fix a few design issues that were hurting mobile conversions without me even realizing it.

Crazy Egg doesn’t give you traffic or revenue numbers like GA4 or OnePageGA, but it’s a great companion tool for understanding what your visitors are doing once they land on your site.

Pros:

• Easy to set up and start using right away
• Heatmaps, scrollmaps, and click tracking
  Great for spotting user experience issues
• Helpful mobile vs desktop comparison

Cons:

• Doesn’t track sales or traffic, it’s a behavior layer only
• Works best alongside a standard analytics tool

Pricing & Plans

Crazy Egg offers a 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $29 per month and scale based on your traffic and pageviews.

My Review

Crazy Egg is a great add-on if you want to understand how people are actually using your store. I’d recommend it for store owners who are focused on improving their site’s layout or boosting conversions through design changes. It won’t replace your main analytics tool, but it adds insights you can’t get from numbers alone.

7. Hotjar

Hotjar is similar to Crazy Egg, but it comes with a few extra features that make it even more useful for ecommerce. I’ve used it when I wanted to see how visitors were using a site in real time and get direct feedback through surveys or feedback widgets.

My Experience

It only took a few minutes to set up. Just drop the tracking code on your site and it starts collecting data right away. The session recordings were the standout feature for me. I could watch real visitor sessions, see where people got stuck, and figure out why they were leaving certain pages.

Hotjar also lets you add surveys or quick questions on your pages. I’ve used these to ask things like “Was this page helpful?” or “What stopped you from checking out?” The responses gave me ideas I wouldn’t have thought of just by looking at analytics reports.

Compared to Crazy Egg, Hotjar feels a bit more all-in-one. You still don’t get full traffic or revenue reporting, but it gives you a lot of insight into what your customers are doing and thinking.

Pros:

• Session recordings, heatmaps, and scroll tracking
• On-page surveys and feedback widgets
• Easy setup and clean interface
• Great for finding UX issues and improving conversion rates

Cons:

• Doesn’t include ecommerce metrics like revenue or AOV
• Recordings can take time to review manually
• Best used with another analytics tool for the full picture

Pricing & Plans

Hotjar has a free plan that includes heatmaps and basic session recordings. Paid plans start at $32 per month if you want access to more recordings, surveys, and user feedback tools.

My Review

Hotjar is one of my go-to tools when I want to understand what’s getting in the way of a sale. It’s especially useful for improving product pages, checkout flows, and mobile layouts. I recommend it for any store that wants real-world insight into how visitors behave, not just what they clicked.

8. Woopra

Woopra is a customer journey analytics tool that focuses on tracking the full lifecycle of your users, from first visit to final purchase and beyond. I tested it out to see how well it handled ecommerce funnels and repeat customer behavior, and it surprised me with how much detail it offers.

My Experience

Woopra took a bit more time to set up than tools like OnePageGA or MonsterInsights, but once it was connected, I could see individual user journeys in a way most tools don’t offer. It gave me a clear view of how people moved through the store, what brought them in, what they clicked, and what made them convert or leave.

It also let me build custom funnels and retention reports without needing any code. That part was especially helpful for spotting where returning customers were dropping off or which products led to second purchases.

Woopra feels like a mix between a standard analytics tool and a lightweight CRM. You can track behavior, but also dig into user profiles and automate follow-ups based on what someone did or didn’t do on your site.

Pros:

• Tracks the full customer journey from first visit to repeat purchase
• Powerful funnel and retention reporting
• User profiles and segmentation built in
• Integrates with tools like Shopify, HubSpot, and Mailchimp

Cons:

• Setup takes longer than beginner tools
• Interface can feel overwhelming at first
• Free plan is limited for ecommerce use

Pricing & Plans

Woopra has a free plan with basic features, but you’ll need a paid plan for deeper ecommerce tracking and automation. Pricing starts at $49 per month, which makes it better suited for growing or mid-sized businesses.

My Review

Woopra is a solid choice if you want more than just traffic data. It’s built to help you understand how people move through your store and where you’re losing or keeping customers. I’d recommend it for teams that are ready to dig deeper into lifecycle tracking and want to tie analytics to their marketing efforts.

Important Metrics to Track (No Matter What Tool You Use)

It doesn’t matter which analytics tool you choose. The most important thing is knowing what to look at. Here are a few key ecommerce metrics I always keep an eye on, no matter what platform I’m using.

👉 For a deeper explanation of what metrics are and how to use them, check out this guide on what is a metric in Google Analytics.

Top Ecommerce Analytics Tools Picks

Best for beginners: OnePageGA
If you want something simple that shows you the numbers that actually matter, OnePageGA is a great place to start. The setup is quick and the dashboard is easy to understand.

Best for behavior tracking: Hotjar
Hotjar is my go-to when I want to see how people are actually using a site, not just where they came from. It’s great for improving layouts and spotting friction.

Best free option: Google Analytics 4
GA4 is packed with features, and it doesn’t cost anything to use. Just be ready to spend a little time learning how to get the most from it.

FAQs

Final Thoughts on Ecommerce Analytics Tools

There’s no perfect analytics tool that works for everyone. The best one is the one you’ll actually use. Whether you want a quick snapshot of your sales or deep insights into customer behavior, there’s something on this list that can help.

Start simple with something like OnePageGA, get comfortable with the basics, and build from there. The more you understand your data, the easier it becomes to make decisions that actually grow your store.

Want to get better at tracking and understanding your store’s data? Here are a few helpful guides:

• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works
• 4 Types of Events in Google Analytics + How to Use Them
• What Is a User in Google Analytics? Total vs Active vs New vs Returning
• How to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports for Beginners

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

When I started using Google Analytics to track my website, I often wished I could mark important changes on my reports. Like when I redesigned my homepage or started a new ad campaign, I’d see a big jump in traffic but couldn’t remember what caused it.

That’s when I found out about notes in Google Analytics. They’re called annotations, and they make a big difference. I run several WordPress sites, and adding these notes right on my reports helps me see what’s working and why my traffic goes up or down.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to add annotations in Google Analytics. It’s easy, only takes a minute, and you don’t need any special tech skills.

You can use annotations to track things like:

• When you launched a new marketing campaign
• Website updates, like a redesign or new feature
• Big events in your industry that might affect traffic
• Google algorithm updates

If you work with a team, annotations are also a great way to keep everyone on the same page. Instead of guessing why traffic went up or down, your team can just check the notes.

For me, annotations have been a huge help. A few months ago, I saw a big spike in traffic on one of my sites and couldn’t figure out why.

Then I looked at my annotation. I had added a note that day saying I sent out a newsletter.

That reminder saved me a lot of time trying to figure it out.

The Basics of Adding Annotations in GA4

In Google Analytics 4, annotations work a bit differently than they did in the older version. They’re still simple to use, but there are a few things you should know.

To add an annotation, just right-click on a data point in one of your reports. A small menu will pop up, and you can choose “Add annotation.” You can learn more in Google’s official help guide.

From there, you’ll be able to fill in the details:

• A short title
• A longer description if you want to explain more
• The date or date range
• A color to help you spot it quickly

After you save a note, it’s visible across all reports that use line graphs. It’s an easy way to keep track of changes without digging through your calendar or email.

There are, however, a few limits to keep in mind:

• You need to have Editor access or higher to add annotations
• Each GA4 property can hold up to 1000 annotations
• Annotations only show up on reports with line graphs

Even with these limits, I’ve found that using annotations this way makes it much easier to stay organized, especially when managing multiple sites or campaigns.

There are also Chrome extensions that let you add annotations to GA4, like Crystal Ball, but I prefer using built-in tools. It keeps things simple and reliable.

Adding Annotations with OnePageGA

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to make sense of GA4 reports, you’re not alone. That’s exactly why I started using OnePageGA.

It’s a simple, user-friendly dashboard that shows all your key metrics in one place. You can finally understand what’s happening on your website without clicking through different reports.

One of my favorite features is how easy it is to add annotations. You don’t need to right-click or scroll through menus. OnePageGA makes it a one-step process, right at the top of your dashboard.

All you have to do is click + Create new note, pick a date, add your note, and click Save.

That’s it.

Compared to GA4’s multi-step process, this is much quicker and easier. And once your note is added, it appears across all your metrics, so you can immediately see how that change impacted your traffic.

Best Practices for Using Annotations in GA4

Once you start using annotations in GA4, it’s easy to forget just how helpful they can be. Here are a few tips I’ve picked up that make them even more useful:

• Keep your notes short and clear. A few words are usually enough to jog your memory.
• Use consistent colors. For example, green for campaigns, red for site issues, and blue for blog posts.
• Add notes right away. It’s easy to forget details later, so I try to add a note the same day something happens.
• Stick to meaningful events. Focus on changes that could impact your traffic, like marketing pushes or site updates.
• Review your notes regularly. They’re a great way to spot patterns or figure out what’s working.

These small habits can help you get even more value from your reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts on Using Annotations

Annotations are a simple way to connect changes on your site with your traffic data. While GA4 now includes this feature, the process is still a bit clunky and limited to certain reports.

With OnePageGA, adding notes is much quicker. You can add an annotation in one step, and it shows up across all your key metrics. It’s faster, easier to manage, and a lot more beginner-friendly.

If you’re looking for a better way to understand your website data, I recommend giving OnePageGA a try. You can start with a 14-day free trial and see how much easier it is to track what’s working on your site.

If you found this guide helpful, here are a few more articles to help you get the most out of Google Analytics:

• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works
• How to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports
• How to Track Website Visitors The Easy Way
• Is Google Analytics 4 Worth It? The Pros and Cons
• Types of Web Analytics Every Website Owner Should Know

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

When I started using Google Analytics 4, I had no idea what I was looking at. All the event tracking options were new to me, and I felt lost trying to figure out what to track on my website.

I spent months learning GA4 the hard way, through trial and error on my own sites and by helping other website owners set up their tracking. Now I know exactly which events you need to watch and which ones don’t matter for your website’s growth.

That’s why I put together this simple guide to GA4 events. You’ll learn what each event means and how it can help you grow your website. Don’t worry if you’re new to analytics or just moving to GA4 – I’ll walk you through everything step by step.

What Are Events in Google Analytics?

GA4 events are like a visitor’s digital footprint on your website. While a pageview just tells you someone looked at a page, events show you exactly what they did there, like clicking a button, watching a video, or filling out a form.

In the old Universal Analytics, we had to set up different types of “hits” like pageviews, events, and transactions separately. But GA4 makes things simpler by treating everything as an event, even basic actions like when someone views a page or starts a new session on your site.

I learned this lesson the hard way with my first online store. When I only tracked pageviews, I couldn’t figure out why people weren’t buying. Once I started tracking events like “add to cart” clicks and form abandonments, I knew where customers were getting stuck and could fix those issues.

Types of Events in Google Analytics 4

Now that you understand what events are, let’s look at the four main types of events in GA4. Each type serves a different purpose, and knowing when to use each one will help you track exactly what matters for your website.

1. Automatically Collected Events

These are the events GA4 tracks for you right out of the box. You don’t need to set up anything, as they start working as soon as you add the GA4 tracking code to your website.

In my experience, automatic events give you a good base level of data about how people use your site. For example, GA4 automatically tracks when someone starts a new session, clicks on a file download, or scrolls down your page.

Here are the most useful automatic events I rely on:

• first_visit: Shows when someone visits your site for the first time
• session_start: Tells you when a new viewing session begins
• page_view: Records each time someone looks at a page
• user_engagement: Shows if visitors are actually engaging with your content
• file_download: Tracks when someone downloads your files

2. Enhanced Measurement Events

Enhanced Measurement events are a step up from automatic events, but they’re still easy to use. Think of them as bonus tracking features you can turn on with just one click in your GA4 settings.

I use these events on most sites I manage because they tell me more about how visitors interact with specific parts of my pages. For example, I can see if people are watching my videos or clicking on outbound links to other websites.

Here’s what Enhanced Measurement can track for you:

• Scroll tracking: Shows how far people scroll down your pages
• Outbound clicks: Records when visitors click links to other websites
• Site search: Tracks what people look for using your website’s search box (but only if your site uses standard search URLs with query parameters like “?s=” or “?search=”)
• Video engagement: Measures if people play, pause, or finish watching your videos
• Form interactions: Shows when visitors start filling out your forms

To turn these on, you just need to visit your GA4 settings and check a few boxes. I’ll show you exactly how to do this in the setup section later.

3. Recommended Events

These are events that Google suggests you set up based on what kind of website you have. Unlike automatic events, you’ll need to add some code to track these, but Google provides clear guidelines on how to set them up.

For example, here are the parameters Google suggests using for the add-to-cart event:

I started using recommended events when I noticed gaps in my tracking data. For example, on my online store, I wanted to know more than just my final sales, I needed to see the whole buying journey. 

Recommended events helped me track things like when people viewed products or added items to their cart.

Here are some popular recommended events I often use:

• sign_up: Tracks when someone creates a new account
• purchase: Records when someone buys something
• generate_lead: Shows when someone fills out a contact form
• view_item: Tracks when someone looks at a product
• add_to_cart: Records when items are added to shopping carts

The nice thing about using recommended events is that they work with GA4’s built-in reports and tools. This means you’ll see your data in the right places without extra setup.

4. Custom Events

Custom events are like building your own tracking system. When the automatic, enhanced, and recommended events don’t track exactly what you need, that’s when custom events come in handy.

On my blog, I wanted to know when people clicked on specific buttons or reached certain spots in my articles. These weren’t actions GA4 tracked automatically, so I created custom events. While this takes more work to set up, it gives you the exact data you need.

Some useful custom events I’ve created include:

• Reading progress (25%, 50%, 75% of an article)
• Newsletter popup interactions
• CTA clicks on landing pages (as seen in the screenshot below)
• Time spent on pricing tables
• PDF document views

Just remember to keep your custom event names simple and consistent. I learned this the hard way – messy event names make it really hard to find the data you need later.

Setting Up and Tracking Events in GA4

When I first set up event tracking on my own website, I was overwhelmed by all the options. But after learning GA4 and seeing what actually matters for growing my site, I can now show you the simplest way to get started.

The first thing you’ll need is a GA4 property and your tracking code installed on your website. If you haven’t done this yet, check out my guide on how to add Google Analytics to your website.

Setting up Automatic and Enhanced Measurement Events

To turn on Enhanced Measurement in GA4, first log into your Google Analytics account and click on Admin in the bottom left corner.

Next, look for Data Streams in the middle column and click on your website’s data stream.

You’ll see Enhanced Measurement settings with a gear icon, so click that to see all your tracking options.

I started by turning on all enhanced measurement options on my site. This gave me a good baseline of data, and I could always turn off the ones I didn’t need later.

Setting Up Recommended and Custom Events

To set up recommended events in GA4, you’ll need to add some code to your website. The easiest way to do this is with Google Tag Manager.

First, log into your Tag Manager account and click on Tags in the left menu. Then click New to create a tag for each event you want to track.

Here’s how I set up purchase tracking on my website using Tag Manager:

Click on “Tag Configuration” and choose “Google Analytics: GA4 Event” from the list. 

Next, type “purchase” as your event name. Under Event Parameters, add important details like value, currency, and items. These help GA4 understand what was purchased.

The tricky part is setting up the right trigger. For purchase events, you’ll usually need to set up a custom trigger that watches for specific checkout completion signals from your website.

For custom events, the process is similar, but you get to choose your own event names.

On my site, I wanted to track when people clicked my newsletter signup button. I created a custom event called “newsletter_click” and set it to trigger whenever someone clicks that specific button.

Remember to test your events after setting them up. You can use GA4’s DebugView to make sure everything is working correctly.

How to Simplify GA4 Event Tracking

Having spent hours digging through GA4’s complex reports to find my event data, I knew there had to be a better way. With all the automatic, enhanced, recommended, and custom events we just set up, I needed a simpler way to see what was actually working. That’s why I started using OnePageGA.

OnePageGA turns all your event tracking data into simple, easy-to-understand reports, all on one page. You don’t need to install any plugins or touch any code. Just connect your GA4 account, and you’ll see all your events in a way that actually makes sense.

I love using OnePageGA because it saves me so much time checking my events. Instead of clicking through GA4 menus, I can instantly see which events are firing, how many conversions I’m getting, and where people are dropping off in my funnel. It shows me exactly how visitors interact with my site without the technical analytics language.

Another big plus is that unlike other GA4 alternatives, OnePageGA doesn’t charge based on how many events you track or how many page views you get. Your cost stays the same even as your tracking needs grow.

You get access to everything: event tracking reports, conversion funnels, eCommerce events, and even multiple website tracking from one dashboard.

Ready to make your event tracking simple again? Try OnePageGA free for 14 days.

Frequently Asked Questions About GA4 Events

Get Started With GA4 Event Tracking

Event tracking in GA4 might seem complicated at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Start with the automatic events, turn on enhanced measurement, and slowly add recommended and custom events as you need them.

Want to make event tracking even easier? Try OnePageGA free for 14 days and see all your event data on one simple dashboard.

No complicated menus, no technical jargon, just clear insights about how people use your website.

And if you’re looking for more ways to understand your website’s traffic, see our other guides and resources:

• How to Find Your Top Converting Traffic Sources in GA4
• What Is a User in Google Analytics? Total vs Active vs New vs Returning
• Types of Web Analytics Every Website Owner Should Know
• What Is a Metric in Google Analytics (And What to Track)

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

Finding out where your best customers come from shouldn’t be hard. But with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), many website owners find it tough to see which traffic sources bring in actual sales.

For small businesses and online stores, this information really matters. You need to know if your customers find you through Google searches, social media, or other websites. Without this knowledge, you might be spending money on marketing that isn’t working.

That’s why I created this guide. I’ll show you how to find your best-performing traffic sources in GA4, and then share an even simpler way to track this information using OnePageGA.

Why Track Google Analytics Traffic Sources?

Every visitor to your website leaves a trail that shows how they found you. Some people click through from Google search, while others come from Facebook posts or links on other websites. Knowing these paths helps you understand what’s working in your marketing.

Let me share a personal example. On my previous website, I spent hours each week creating social media content. I was convinced social media was driving most of my traffic, after all, I was putting most of my effort there.

But when I dug into my analytics, I learned that 80% of my visitors were finding my site through Google. All that time I spent on social media was bringing in just a small fraction of my traffic.

This changed everything about how I approached my marketing. Instead of spending most of my time on social posts, I focused on creating content that would rank well in Google. My traffic grew, and I saved hours of work each week.

When you track your traffic sources, you can make smarter decisions about where to focus your efforts, just like I did. You might find that some sources bring lots of visitors, while others barely make an impact.

This knowledge helps you:

• Spend your marketing budget where it works best
• Create content that attracts more of your ideal customers
• Stop wasting time on channels that don’t bring results
• Find new opportunities to reach similar customers

Steps to Find Top-Converting Traffic Sources in GA4

Finding your converting traffic sources in GA4 takes a few steps. But don’t worry, I’ll walk you through each one with clear instructions.

Step 1. Locate Traffic Acquisition Report in Google Analytics

First, log into your Google Analytics account. Once you’re in, click on “Reports” in the left menu of your screen.

Next, look for “Life cycle” and select “Acquisition” from the options below it. You’ll then want to click on “Traffic acquisition” to open the main report.

This report shows you where your website traffic comes from. You’ll see channels like “Organic Search” for Google traffic, “Paid Search” for ads, and “Social” for social media visitors.

Step 2. View Your Conversion Rate by Traffic Source

The Traffic Acquisition Report shows you a table of all your traffic sources. Each row tells you how website visitors found your website, whether through Google search, social media, or other websites.

Look for the “Events” column first. This shows you all the actions visitors take on your site.

You can click the dropdown here to see specific types of events, like page views or button clicks.

Next, scroll to the right until you find the “Session key event rate” column. This number tells you how many visitors from each source take important actions on your site, like making a purchase or signing up for your newsletter.

This rate is your key to understanding which traffic sources bring in the best visitors. A higher percentage means more people from that source are doing what you want them to do on your website.

If you want to quickly spot your best sources, just click the “Session key event rate” column header. This will sort them from highest to lowest.

Step 3. View Conversions by Landing Page

Now let’s go deeper and see which specific pages bring in converting visitors.

Click the plus icon in your report to customize what you’re looking at. From the dropdown menu that appears, select “Page/Screen” and then “Landing page + query string.”

Your report will now show two columns side by side: one for the traffic source (like Direct, Organic Search, or Paid Search) and another for the landing page. 

Look at the “Event count” and “Key events” columns to see how many actions visitors take on each page. 

The “Session event rate” shows you which combinations of sources and pages convert best. This helps you spot your highest-performing pages for each traffic source.

Find Top-Converting Traffic Sources Using OnePageGA

Looking at all these different reports and columns in GA4 can get confusing. If you’re like most website owners, myself included, you just want to see your best traffic sources without digging through multiple reports.

OnePageGA is a simple dashboard we created to solve this problem. It connects to your Google Analytics account and pulls all your important data onto one screen.

Instead of clicking through different reports and scrolling through columns, you see your top traffic sources and conversion rates instantly.

Think of it as your Google Analytics data, but organized the way you actually want to use it. No technical setup, no complex reports, just clear insights about where your best visitors come from.

Step 1. Set Up OnePageGA

Setting up OnePageGA takes just a minute.

Visit onepagega.com and click the “Sign Up” button. Then connect your Google Analytics account. It’s just like signing in to any other Google service.

Step 2. View Top-Converting Traffic Sources on One Page

Once connected, you’ll see a pre-built dashboard at the top of your page. This shows you the essential metrics about your website’s performance right away, with no setup needed.

Confused by metrics? Find out what a metric is in Google Analytics.

Below that, you’ll find two simple reports side by side. The Sources report shows where your visitors come from, along with key metrics like users and revenue.

The Pages report shows which landing pages bring in the most traffic and value.

Each report comes with powerful filtering options. In the Sources report, you can filter by Channel, Source, First Source, or First Channel.

The Pages report lets you filter by Landing Page, Pages, or Title. This helps you zoom in on exactly what you want to see.

If you need more detailed data, click “Load more” at the bottom of either report. This opens a sidebar with a complete list of your sources or pages, plus a search bar to find specific entries quickly.

That’s all there is to it. Everything you need to understand your traffic sources is right there on one page, updated in real-time.

Take Control of Your Traffic Analytics

Knowing where your best traffic comes from is one of the best ways to make data-driven decisions about your business. While GA4 is powerful, it’s also overwhelming for a lot of users. There’s so much detail to absorb and it takes time to fully understand.

With OnePageGA, analytics is much simpler. You get all the detailed tracking you need, presented in a way that’s easy to understand and act on.

Start by exploring your traffic sources in GA4 using the steps above. Then, when you’re ready for simpler analytics, sign up for a 14-day free trial of OnePageGA.

After all, knowing where your best visitors come from shouldn’t require a degree in data analysis.

If you’re looking for more ways to understand your website’s traffic, see our other guides and resources:

• What Is a User in Google Analytics?
• Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Top Web Analytics Tools
• How to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports
• Types of Web Analytics Every Website Owner Should Know
• How to Add Google Analytics to Your Website
• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

Every business needs to understand how their website performs. But picking the right tool to track this data isn’t easy. Choose the wrong one, and you might end up with data that doesn’t make sense and money down the drain.

Your website’s success depends on understanding how visitors behave, which makes picking the right web analytics tools crucial for your business. Yet, I’ve seen many website owners rush this decision, choosing tools without proper research or planning.

That’s exactly why I created this guide. I’ll walk you through the biggest mistakes people make when selecting analytics tools. By knowing what to avoid, you’ll find it easier to pick the right analytics solution for your business.

What Are Web Analytics Tools?

Web analytics tools are windows into your website’s world. In fact, 83.5% of websites use Google Analytics or similar tools to track their performance.

They track and record what happens when people visit your site. Every click, every page view, and every action your visitors take gets collected and turned into useful information.

These tools tell you how many people visit your site, which pages they look at, how long they stay, and where they came from. Some tools even show you how visitors move through your site and what they do before leaving.

At their heart, web analytics tools help answer key questions about your website:

• Are people finding what they need?
• Which pages work best?
• Where do visitors get stuck?

By answering these questions, you can make smarter decisions about your website.

What Types of Web Analytics Are There?

Not all web analytics tools work the same way. Different tools track different things, and understanding these differences helps you pick the right one.

Here are the main types of web analytics you’ll come across:

• Traditional analytics tools show you basic website traffic data. They track visitors, popular pages, and how long people stay on your site. These tools give you the essential data you need to measure site performance.
• Behavior analytics tools reveal how visitors interact with your site. They track clicks, scroll depth, and can replay user sessions. This helps you find and fix usability issues quickly.
• Customer journey analytics track how people interact with your business across all channels. From social media to email to your website, you’ll see the complete path customers take.
• Content analytics measure how well your website content performs. They show which topics engage readers and where you’re losing their attention.
• SEO analytics tools track your search engine performance. You’ll see your keyword rankings, backlinks, and how you compare to competitors.

Mistakes To Avoid Choosing Web Analytics Tools

Understanding what analytics tools can do is just the first step. Choosing the right one for your business is where many website owners stumble.

Here are the mistakes you’ll want to avoid when making your decision.

1. Starting Without Clear Goals

Many website owners jump straight into picking an analytics tool because they know they need one. But that’s like buying a map without knowing where you want to go. Without clear goals, you’ll end up with data you don’t know how to use.

Take a moment to write down 2-3 specific questions you want your analytics to answer.

Maybe you want to find out why people leave your checkout page. Or you might need to track how well your marketing campaigns bring in sales. Are you trying to understand where visitors click on your homepage?

Your answers will guide you toward tools that match your needs, saving you time and money in the long run.

2. Going with the Cheapest Option

When you’re comparing web analytics tools, it’s tempting to pick the cheapest one. But choosing a tool based only on price often leaves you missing key features you’ll need later.

Free tools might work when you’re just starting, but they rarely give you the full picture of your website’s performance.

The only real exception to this rule is Google Analytics, which is free. But the trade off is that it’s often quite complicated to use right out of the box.

Think about what you’re giving up to save money. Lower-priced tools often come with limited data storage, basic reporting, and minimal support. When you need help understanding your data or fixing tracking issues, you might find yourself stuck without expert guidance.

The right analytics tool is an investment in your website’s success. Instead of focusing on the price tag, think about the value you’ll get.

Will the tool help you make better decisions? Can it grow with your business? These questions matter more than saving a few dollars each month.

3. Selecting a Tool That’s Too Hard to Use

You might think the most powerful analytics tool is the best choice. But if your team can’t use it properly, all those advanced features are worthless.

Believe me, I’ve made that mistake myself, picking a complex tool that looks great on paper, but which ends up collecting dust because I didn’t know how to use it.

Your analytics tool should work for everyone on your team, from marketing experts to sales staff.

Let me give you an example. Some team members might love detailed reports, which you can easily get from a comprehensive tool like Google Analytics.

But others may just need quick insights, making OnePageGA a much better solution.

Look for tools with clear dashboards and straightforward reports. Your team should be able to find the information they need without attending multiple training sessions.

Remember, the best analytics tool isn’t the one with the most features – it’s the one your team will actually use.

4. Skipping Free Trials and Demos

Reading product descriptions and watching promotional videos isn’t enough to know if an analytics tool is right for you. That’s like buying a car without taking it for a test drive. Marketing materials always show the perfect scenario, but you need to experience the tool in real life.

Most analytics providers offer free trials or demos for a reason. Use this time to test the features that matter most to your business.

For example, with OnePageGA, you get a 14 day free trial to take the whole platform for a test drive.

Try creating the reports you’ll need regularly. See how quickly you can find important data. Check if the tool actually answers those key questions you noted down earlier.

Don’t forget to test the support team during your trial. Send them questions and see how quickly they respond. A tool is only as good as the help you get when something goes wrong.

5. Ignoring Marketing Integrations

Your website doesn’t exist in a bubble. Visitors arrive from email campaigns, social media posts, and online ads. That’s why your web analytics tool needs to work with your other marketing platforms.

When your tools don’t talk to each other, you miss important parts of the story.

You might see that someone bought your product, but not know which email campaign brought them to your site. Or you might spot a surge in traffic without understanding which social post caused it.

Good analytics tools connect with your email platform, CRM, social media accounts, and ad networks.

These connections help you track the complete customer journey, from first click to final purchase. Without them, you’re left with gaps in your data and guesswork in your decisions.

6. Forgetting About Scalability and Growth

The analytics tool that works for you today might not meet your needs tomorrow. Your website will grow, your traffic will increase, and you’ll need more detailed insights.

Plus, switching later is painful. You’ll lose historical data and need to retrain your team.

Think about where your business will be in a year or two:

• Will your current tool handle double the traffic?
• Can it store more data?
• What happens when you need to track multiple websites or add new team members?

A tool that seems perfect now might become a headache as you grow.

Look for cloud-based web analytics tools that grow with your business. Check if they offer flexible pricing plans and easy ways to upgrade.

The right tool should support your success, not limit it.

7. Treating Data Privacy as an Afterthought

Data privacy isn’t just nice to have, it’s essential. More countries are passing strict privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA, and customers care deeply about how their information is handled.

In fact, 75% of consumers say they won’t purchase from organizations they don’t trust with their personal data. One privacy mistake could cost you thousands in fines and damage your reputation.

That’s why your analytics tool needs to make privacy simple. Look for features like data anonymization, consent management, and clear privacy settings. The best tools help you collect valuable insights while protecting your visitors’ privacy.

Before choosing a web analytics tool, dig into its privacy policy and security measures.

Can you delete visitor data when requested? Is data stored securely? Does the tool collect only what you actually need?

Getting these answers now helps you avoid privacy problems later.

What’s the Best Web Analytics Tool for You?

When it comes down to it, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the most popular web analytics tool in the world. It’s used by over 15 million websites for good reason, it’s powerful and free.

And after over a decade of using it on my own websites, I’ve found that combining GA4 with OnePageGA works best for most businesses.

OnePageGA is a simple analytics dashboard that sits on top of GA4. It takes complex Google Analytics data and turns it into clear, actionable insights.

Instead of digging through multiple reports and settings, you get a single dashboard that shows you what matters most.

With OnePageGA, you can quickly spot trends, track goals, and measure your website’s success. It highlights important changes in your traffic, shows which content performs best, and helps you make data-driven decisions without the steep learning curve of GA4.

This gives you the best of both worlds: GA4’s detailed tracking and OnePageGA’s user-friendly approach to viewing and understanding your data.

But depending on your needs, you might want to add other tools to your analytics stack.

Here’s a quick guide to help you choose:

How to Choose the Top Web Analytics Tools

Now that you understand the common mistakes to avoid and the types of tools available, let’s put everything together.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to choosing the best web analytics tools:

• Define your goals clearly before looking at any tools
• List the features you need to achieve these goals
• Set a realistic budget that matches your needs
• Test free trials with real website scenarios
• Check if the tool works with your other marketing platforms
• Make sure the interface is easy for your team to use
• Verify the tool’s privacy features and compliance
• Consider how the tool can grow with your business

Remember to take your time with this decision. The right web analytics tool will help your business grow, while the wrong one can waste time and resources.

Making the Right Choice for Your Business

Choosing the right web analytics tool doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By avoiding common mistakes and following a clear selection process, you can find one that serves your needs now and as your business grows.

Start with the basics using Google Analytics 4 and OnePageGA. This gives you powerful tracking with easy-to-understand insights.

To help you get the most from the top web analytics tools, you may also find the following guides useful:

• What Is a Metric in Google Analytics?
• How to Add Google Analytics to Your Website
• Google Analytics 4 Pros and Cons
• Easy Google Analytics 4: How It Works
• How to Track Website Visitors
• What Is a User in Google Analytics?

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

As a small business owner, your website is essential. Naturally, you want more visitors, and Google Analytics is the tool you turn to for understanding your website traffic.

But with the roll-out of GA4, there are so many more metrics and dimensions to keep track of. It’s hard to know which are the most important to use regularly.

Take Users, for example. GA4 has four different types of users. So what is a user in Google Analytics, and how can you use this info to make data-driven decisions about your business? 

In this guide, I’ll break down GA4’s four user metrics: Active, New, Total, and Returning, in plain English. You’ll learn exactly what they measure, when to use them, and more importantly, how they can help you grow your business.

What Are The Different Types of Users in GA4?

Before diving into the details, here’s a brief look at the four types of users in GA4:

• Total Users: Everyone who visited your website during your chosen time period.
• Active Users: People who visited your site in the last 28 days.
• New Users: First-time visitors to your website.
• Returning Users: People who have visited your site before and came back.

These metrics work together to give you different views of your website traffic. Let’s look at each one in detail to understand how they can help your business.

Total Users in Google Analytics

Total Users includes everyone who lands on your site—even if they leave after a few seconds. Think of it as your website’s total foot traffic, including both the serious shoppers and the window browsers.

This data helps you see if your website is growing over time. You might use it to see if this month’s growth was better than last month’s, or to check if your new marketing efforts are working.

You can find detailed Total Users data in your Events report (Reports » Engagement » Events). This shows you exactly how people interact with your site.

For instance, you might learn that while 7,000 people visited your site, only 400 watched your video—giving you clear insight into where you could improve engagement.

Think of it this way: If 1,000 people visit your site, but nobody buys anything, that might be worse than having 100 visitors who all make purchases. Quality can be far more important than quantity.

Active Users in Google Analytics

Google Analytics considers Active Users so important, they made it their default metric. Whenever you see ‘users’ listed without any qualifier, GA4 is showing you ‘active users’.

In GA4, active users are either new visitors or users with engaged sessions. An engaged session means the visitor either:

• Stayed on your page for over ten seconds
• Viewed more than one page
• Made at least one conversion

It’s a lot like a gym membership – you care more about who worked out this month than who signed up three years ago and never came back. The 28-day window helps you spot patterns and identify who’s genuinely interested in what you offer.

This metric is especially helpful if you run a blog or sell products that people don’t buy right away. It shows you who keeps coming back to learn more before making a decision.

Pro Tip: While Universal Analytics (pre-July 2023) had a dedicated Active Users report, GA4 integrates this metric throughout its interface. You can find detailed active user data in the ‘Engagement report’.

New Users in Google Analytics

New Users shows you how many people are visiting your website for the first time. In GA4, this is tracked as a ‘first_visit’ or ‘first_open’ event, making it easy to spot fresh faces in your analytics.

Think of New Users like first-time customers walking into a store. They’re exploring and getting to know what you offer, so it’s important to make a good first impression so they’ll want to come back.

You can find your new user data by going to Reports » Acquisition, where you’ll get a quick overview of how many fresh visitors your site is attracting.

You’ll see spikes in New Users when something drives extra traffic to your site – maybe you ran a Facebook ad, got mentioned on social media, or one of your blog posts started ranking well in Google.

But New Users alone doesn’t tell the whole story. If you have many new visitors, but they don’t come back, you might need to work on making your site more engaging.

Returning Users in Google Analytics

While new visitors are great, returning users are even better. Not only does retaining users cost less than acquiring new ones, but returning visitors also signal that your content or products are hitting the mark.

In GA4, anyone who has visited your site before counts as a returning user, even if their previous visit was brief. You can find these loyal visitors by going to Reports » Retention, where you can compare new vs. returning user patterns over time.

Think of Returning Users like regular customers at a coffee shop – they know what they like and keep coming back for more. A healthy website usually has a good mix of new and returning visitors, but too few returning visitors might mean people don’t find your site useful enough.

You can increase your Returning Users by creating helpful content, offering good products, or sending out regular newsletters. The key is to give people a reason to come back.

Research shows that returning customers spend 67% more than first-time buyers, making this metric particularly important for e-commerce sites.

Now that we’ve defined each metric, let’s clearly see the key differences between them all.

Active Users vs. New Users vs. Total Users vs. Returning Users

Now, all of these user metrics can feel confusing, especially when you’re trying to figure out which ones matter most for your business. Here’s a breakdown of how they compare and when to use each one:

Let’s look at a real example to show how these numbers work together.

Imagine your website had these metrics last month:

• Total Users: 1,000
• Active Users: 800
• New Users: 300
• Returning Users: 700

This tells an interesting story: while you had 1,000 total visitors, 800 were active recently. Most of your traffic (700) came from people coming back, with 300 new people discovering your site.

Pro Tip: If you find these metrics overwhelming to track all at once, focus on the ones that match your current goals. For a new website, New Users might matter most. For an established site, you might care more about Returning Users.

Using OnePageGA for Simpler User Data

Now, GA4’s layout often changes with updates, and finding user metrics across different reports is not only time-consuming, but also a headache. It’s actually something I used to dread because try as I might, my brain simply doesn’t like numbers.

That’s why I always use OnePageGA to view and interpret my GA4 data.

It’s a straightforward, single-page dashboard that simplifies your Google Analytics data. It shows an easy-to-understand overview of the metrics that are most important to your business.

When using OnePageGA, you can easily:

• Get insights without needing to learn the complex GA4 interface.
• See ready-made reports for traffic sources, top pages, user locations, and more.
• Choose exactly which metrics to see in your reports, like Active & New Users.
• Track revenue and sales if you sell online, linked to user metrics.
• Identify where users drop off in your customer journey.
• Monitor all your websites in one dashboard and track changes over time.

To find user data in OnePageGA, first, visit the OnePageGA website and sign up for a free account.

Simply click the “Sign up with your Google Account” button and follow the on-screen instructions to authorize OnePageGA to access your GA4 data.

Once connected, you’ll see a pre-built dashboard with essential metrics.

To customize the dashboard to include more User info, click on the “Edit Metrics” button and select the data you want to see.

You’ll then see a chart of this data allowing you to see trends and compare different time periods.

Below that, you can see further information with pre-built reports. For example, you can quickly view user data in relation to traffic sources, landing page, location, device, and much more.

Making Data-Driven Decisions with User Metrics

Now that you can easily find your user metrics in both GA4 and OnePageGA, let’s look at how to use this data to grow your business.

Here are some common scenarios and which metrics to watch:

When Launching a Marketing Campaign:

• Track New Users to measure campaign reach
• Watch Active Users to see if people stay engaged
• Monitor Returning Users to check if the campaign brings quality traffic

When Creating Content:

• Low Returning Users might mean your content needs work
• High New Users but low Return Users suggests engagement problems
• Steady Active Users shows your content keeps people interested

When Running an Online Store:

• Compare Total Users to sales numbers
• Track Returning Users to measure customer loyalty
• Watch Active Users to spot shopping patterns

For example, if you notice your New Users are high, but Returning Users are low, try:

• Improving your website’s first impression
• Creating more engaging content
• Starting an email newsletter

Pro Tip: Don’t try to track everything at once. Pick the metrics that match your current business goals and focus on those first.

Common User Metric Problems and Solutions

Even when you understand what these metrics mean, you might run into some common challenges. Here’s how to handle them:

Remember: Numbers dropping isn’t always bad, and spikes aren’t always good. What matters is understanding why changes happen and taking appropriate action.

Understanding your website’s user metrics doesn’t have to be complicated. Whether you’re looking at Total Users for the big picture or Active Users for current engagement, each metric tells part of your website’s story.

By using tools like OnePageGA to simplify your analytics, you can focus less on finding the data and more on using it to grow your business.

Try OnePageGA free for 14 days and see how easy tracking users can be.

If you’re looking for even more help using Google Analytics, you may also find the following resources useful:

• 5 Types of Website Analytics Every Website Owner Should Know
• How to Track Website Visitors the Easy Way
• How to Add Google Analytics to Your Website
• Is Google Analytics 4 Worth It: The Pros and Cons
• Easy Google Analytics 4: A Simple Guide on How It Works

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.

When I was new to marketing, Google Analytics was an alien concept to me.

I’d heard it was crucial for understanding my visitors, but honestly, just looking at it made my head spin. All those charts, tables, and numbers, it felt like trying to decipher a code I didn’t have the key to.

I just wanted the basics: Who was visiting? What were they looking at? And were they finding what they needed? It was, to say the least, incredibly frustrating.

If that sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone. Many website owners and marketers find Google Analytics overwhelming. We all need clear, actionable insights, but getting them shouldn’t be such a headache.

That’s why I’m writing this guide: to show you how to create simple Google Analytics reports that actually make sense and help you achieve your goals.

What Are Reports In Google Analytics?

Google Analytics reports are your website’s story told through numbers. They’re organized summaries showing exactly what’s happening on your site, from who’s visiting to what they’re doing.

Google Analytics organizes these reports into five main categories:

1. Audience Reports: Who’s visiting your site
2. Acquisition Reports: How they found you
3. Behavior Reports: What they do on your site
4. Conversion Reports: Whether they take desired actions
5. Real-Time Reports: What’s happening right now

Each of these categories answers specific questions about your visitors and their actions.

But here’s the catch: while these reports are powerful, they’re also overwhelming. GA4’s complexity often stands between you and the information you need.

Let’s look at why that happens.

Why Is Google Analytics 4 So Complicated?

Google’s move to GA4 in 2023 significantly changed how we analyze website data, and it’s been a difficult transition for many. Even experienced marketers sometimes struggle with the new terminology and layout.

While terms like “bounce rate,” “sessions,” and “pageviews” might seem simple at first glance, understanding how they all interact requires a lot of learning.

Also, standard reports don’t always have the information you need. You’re forced to use custom reports if you want to track unique customer journeys or combine metrics in a meaningful way.

And creating custom reports in GA4 is quite complex. You need to know about dimensions, metrics, filters, and different report types.

This kind of customization can quickly become overwhelming.

Because of these challenges, many users find themselves spending less time on their marketing efforts and more time figuring out their website data.

So how do you create simple Google Analytics reports that give you the information you need quickly?

Let’s find out.

The Easy Way to Create Simple Google Analytics Reports

Several web analytics tools have popped up on the market attempting to solve the complexity of Google Analytics 4. But in my opinion, many of them pose the same problems. Learning to use them often feels just as hard as using GA4 itself, requiring you to learn a whole new system and interface.

If you’re looking for a solution that doesn’t require learning a whole new platform, then OnePageGA is the answer. It’s designed to be intuitive and straightforward, without the learning curve of GA4 or other alternatives.

OnePageGA is a one-page Google Analytics 4 dashboard that gives you simple, easy-to-understand reports about your website’s performance. Instead of GA4s complexity, you get all the essential insights you need in one place.

Here’s what makes OnePageGA different:

• You won’t need training or tutorials to understand how to use it. It’s designed to be intuitive.
• All your core metrics are available on a single page, removing the need to click through endless menus.
• Get key reports like website visitors, popular pages, and traffic sources automatically.
• You don’t need to be a technical expert to set it up or understand it.
• If you need something different, you can easily create custom reports.

To get started with OnePageGA’s simpler reporting, follow these easy steps.

Step 1. Sign Up With Your Google Account

First, go to the OnePageGA website and click the button titled “Try for 14 days free”.

This will prompt you to connect to the platform using your existing Google account.

On the next screen, confirm your data sharing settings and click “Continue”.

Finally, you’ll head to your OnePageGA dashboard, where you can select a website to track.

Step 2. Add Your Website to OnePageGA

To add a new website to your account, click the “Add Site” button.

Then, go ahead and select your Google Analytics property from the dropdown menu and click “Next”.

That’s all there is to it. OnePageGA will now take you to your single-page Google Analytics dashboard, where you can see your simplified reports.

Step 3. View Your Simple Google Analytics Reports

When you open your OnePageGA dashboard, you’ll immediately see a graph of your site’s performance. This includes key metrics like page views, sessions, how long people stay on your site, and your bounce rate.

All of this is in one simple view, so you can quickly see what is and isn’t working on your website.

Under this graph, you’ll see several other simple GA4 reports which tell you even more about your site’s performance, including:

• Where your traffic comes from, so you know which channels are working best.
• Which pages are most popular, helping you to optimize your content strategy.
• Which locations and devices people are using, providing valuable insights into your audience.

For example, in the pages report, you might see that your blog posts on a specific topic are attracting a lot of visitors. This means you can create more content around that topic to engage your readers.

Customizing your reports is just as simple. Unlike the overly complex report builder in GA4, OnePageGA allows you to easily add custom filters, and change which metrics you see on your reports.

Let’s say I want to know which AI engines are sending traffic to my website. In that case, I’d use OnePageGA’s OR logic to filter by specific traffic source like chatgpt.com, google.gemini.com, and so on.

Similarly, you can choose which metrics to track by clicking the settings icon. Here, you can select up to 7 metrics to display that best fit your needs, including:

• eCommerce purchases
• Sessions per user
• Engagement rate
• And much more

With simple Google Analytics reports like these, you can spend less time on learning new platforms, and more on understanding your website data and how it affects your business.

For a head-start, see the types of web analytics you need to know about.

Get Started with Simpler GA Reporting

As you can see from this guide, understanding your website data doesn’t have to be a headache.

With a simpler GA4 dashboard like OnePageGA, you can easily find the information you need, without the unnecessary complexity. You’ll be able to see what is and isn’t working and make smart decisions without feeling overwhelmed.

Start using OnePageGA today and finally feel confident in your analytics

If you have questions or want to join the conversation, you can also find us on X and Facebook.