Understanding User Acquisition by Default Channel Groups in Google Analytics 4
Analyzing users by default channel group is crucial for understanding how different marketing channels contribute to your website's user acquisition. This analysis helps you identify which channels are most effective at bringing users to your site, enabling better budget allocation and marketing strategy optimization. We'll show you how to create this essential report in Google Analytics 4.Basic Report Structure
- Report Type: Free Form Exploration
- Visualization: Table format with optional bar chart
- Primary dimension: Default Channel Group
- Key metrics: Total users, New users, Engaged sessions
- Time comparison: Enable period comparison for trend analysis
Steps to Create the Report
- Open GA4 and navigate to Explore section
- Click the Blank template to start a new exploration
- Under the Dimensions click the + button and search for Default Channel Group, check the checkbox beside it and click Confirm
- Under the Metrics click the + button and search for Total users, New users, and Engaged sessions, check the checkboxes beside them and click Confirm
- Drag Default Channel Group to the Rows section of your report
- Drag Total users, New users, and Engaged sessions to the Values section
- Click the Time comparison toggle to enable period-over-period comparison
- Set your desired date range in the report settings
- Optional: Add a bar chart visualization by clicking the + button in the Tab section
Important Dimensions and Metrics
- Default Channel Group: Shows the predefined channel categories (Organic Search, Paid Search, Social, etc.)
- Total users: Measures the total number of users from each channel
- New users: Shows first-time visitors from each channel
- Engaged sessions: Indicates quality of traffic through user engagement
Actionable Insights
- Identify your best-performing channels and increase investment in these areas
- Spot underperforming channels that might need optimization or strategy adjustment
- Compare engagement metrics across channels to understand quality of traffic
- Use period-over-period comparison to detect trending channels
- Align marketing budget allocation based on channel performance
Answers Similar Questions
- How to track marketing channels in GA4
- GA4 channel grouping report setup
- Analyze traffic sources in Google Analytics 4
- GA4 acquisition channels report
- How to see where users come from in GA4
