Google Analytics 4 is a basic tool that gives you access to a variety of data. on your website in detail. You can measure results from the number of people visiting your website. to the average website usage time Plus, you can use it for free.
But even though Google Analytics 4 is both good and free, it also has some points that make it difficult for people to use. which is the shape Its appearance is difficult to use. In addition, almost everything has changed from UA, to the point that it may cause newbies who have never used this tool before to be discouraged.
This article will not explain how to use Google Analytics 4 in depth and in detail (because I don’t know much about it, haha), but will explain basic terminology. To help newbies get to know this tool even more.
If you’ve finished reading I guarantee that you will understand Google Analytics 4 better than before.
Basic terminology worth knowing about Google Analytics 4
1. Views
Views or Pageviews in UA are the number of visits to both websites and apps, which are counted every time someone visits. Regardless of whether that person has previously logged in or not, reloading the same page repeatedly is counted as well.
The Views are used to view a wide picture. How many visitors does your website have? And which page of yours has the most visitors? It is considered a basic indicator that is often talked about most often. (When asked about how many visitors the website has, Most people will use this number to reply.)
2. Users
Users is the number of people who visit your website. For example, let’s say a person comes to your website. If someone opens your page 5 times, then closes it, then opens it again two days later. Users are counted as just 1. There are three main types of user metrics:
1. Total Users Event GA4 1
2. New Users
3. Active Users 1
The method that Google Analytics uses to tell if that person has ever been to your website is by embedding a Cookie or if translated into Thai easily. is a small memory that is embedded in that person’s browser. If he comes in again using the same browser and same device, the number of Users will still be 1. But if that person changes the browser (for example, from Chrome to Internet Explorer) or changes the device (for example, from a notebook to a smartphone), the User number will be counted again.
Basically, having a lot of users is a good thing. But if it’s so large that it’s not far from Views, then It won’t be very good. Because it indicates that most people only come to your website once. And never come back again.
3. Sessions
Pageviews and Users are easy to understand, but Sessions are a bit more complicated. Sessions are defined as what a person does on your website for a certain period of time. Sessions are cut off only when
1. The user does nothing on your website for 30 minutes. But we can adjust the time period to 1 hour or 45 minutes, which is also possible.
2. It was past midnight that day. (Counted according to the time you set in Google Analytics 4)
For example, if Mr. A came to your website homepage at 1:00 p.m. and went to drink coffee. Then return to your website at 13.20, then close your website at 13.40. Your session will be 1.
If Mr. A comes to your website homepage at 1:00 p.m. and goes to drink coffee. Then come back to your website at 13.31. Your session will be 2.
If Mr. A comes to your website homepage at 11:55 p.m. and goes to drink coffee. Then come back to your website at 00.02. Your session will be 2.
Sessions also include Engaged sessions, which tracks users’ engagement with the site. Measured by the following conditions:
- Users spend more than 10 seconds on the website.
- A conversion event occurs, such as filling out a form or clicking to buy a product, etc.
- The user viewed 2 or more web pages.
Sessions will not be less than Users and will not be more than Views.
The fact that there are few sessions may mean that people have already come. Don’t want to come back again. Or it could mean that people have already come in and gotten the answer, so they won’t come back again.
If there are many sessions, it means that people come back to view your website often.
4. Event Count
Event Count is the number of certain events that have occurred. (If you choose to view a specific Event) or the total number of Events that occurred (If you choose to view all Events) every interaction that occurs will be counted as an Event. In GA4, Pageview itself is considered a part of the Event indicators.
Events in GA4 are different from Universal Analytics because in GA4 every engagement with your website or app is counted as an “Event” whereas in Universal Analytics these interactions are counted as “Hits”.
We can divide events into two types: Events that can be automatically collected in GA4 and Events that must be customized. In each category, there are further subdivisions of Event usage patterns, including:
Types of events that are automatically collected
- Automatically Collected Events Event GA4
- Enhanced Measurement Events Event (Enhanced Measurement) GA4
Type of Event that must be customized
- Recommended Events Event GA4
- Custom Events Event Custom Reports Explorations
5. Engagement Rate
Bounce Rate used to be an important metric in Universal Analytics (UA) that would tell you the percentage of people who land on a single page on your website and never click through. But GA4 has changed from Bounce Rate to using Engagement Rate instead.
Engagement Rate is a measure of the percentage of user-engaged sessions on a website. An engaged session must last longer than 10 seconds, view more than one page, or have at least one conversion event.
Engagement Rate focuses on measuring how engaged users are with content on a website. This is more useful information than Bounce Rate in evaluating website performance, unlike Bounce Rate which is counted from the expiration period of each session which is different. causing the results to be ineffective
Average Session Duration Google Analytics
Normally, Google Analytics calculates the time period from clicking from one page to the next. For example, if Mr. A clicks to Page A at 9:00 a.m. and then clicks to Page B at 9:07 a.m., the duration of Mr. A’s stay on Page A will be the time Mr. A clicks to Page B minus the time he clicks to Page A, or that is 9:07 – 9:00 = 7 minutes.
And what if after Mr. A clicks to go to Page B (at 9:07 a.m.), he closes the website without clicking to any pages? The answer is that Google Analytics will not be able to measure how much time Mr. A spends on Page B.
You need to understand this part well. Because it affects what I will explain next.
6. Average Session Duration
Average Session Duration means the average duration of the session, which is calculated from Total Session Duration / Total Sessions, or means the average duration of the user per 1 session.
Explained like this and you may be confused. Let’s look at an example.
For example, if Mr. A comes to your website and spends time on Page A from 13.00 to 13.05 (5 minutes), then visits Page B from 13.05 to 13.07 (2 minutes), and then he goes to drink coffee. Then returned to your website at 2:00 p.m. and closed at 2:20 p.m.
The total session duration will be 5+2 = 7 minutes and the number of sessions will be 2 (the period 13.00 – 13.07 is counted as 1 session and the period 14.00 – 14.20 is counted as another session) and the Average Session Duration will be 3.5 minutes.
It can be noticed that Google does not take the period before Mr. A closed the website (between 2:00 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.) into the session duration. The reason is because Google cannot check that he closed the website at 2:20 p.m.
7. Lifetime Value (LTV)
Lifetime Value is the value throughout the life of the product. It measures the average revenue our business earns from each user. throughout the time of participation But for new users, it will be counted within the first 120 days of use. Then take the average of the results obtained from all users.
This value will allow us to segment customer groups. From the amount of value available based on customer spending based on the number of sessions/users
Summary
And here are 7 basic words worth knowing about Google Analytics 4.
WordPress On-page Off-page SEO Google Analytics
Actually, Google Analytics still has a term. and many more interesting stories Sometimes it looks too much and might cause people who aren’t good with numbers to want to approach it. But if you want to do business online Data analysis is something you can’t avoid because it is one of the factors that will make your online business “prosper” or “fail”.
Gradually learn, study and act together. If we don’t stop We will definitely get better.
Then let’s get better together : )
Is there anything in this article that I missed out on explaining? Or do you have any more advice about Google Analytics? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments.
