Key Insights to Keep an Eye on for Your Website: A Beginner's Guide to GA4 Metrics

Ready to Dive into Your Website’s Data? Let’s Break Down GA4 Metrics

Your website is the digital storefront for your business. But how do you know if it's working for you? Are people landing on your site? How long are they staying? What are they clicking on? These questions can be tricky. Without the right insights, you’re flying blind. That’s where GA4 comes in. The switch from Universal Analytics to GA4 (Google Analytics 4) metrics has led to some changes, but we have the essentials covered.

Site Visits – Are People Showing Up?

The first thing you want to know is whether anyone is visiting your site. The number of site visits (or sessions) you get is a good starting point. But it’s not just about the number; you need to understand where those visits are coming from, so you can fine-tune your marketing efforts. Are they coming from social media? Google search? Or from a referral? While the number is important, the key is how people are finding you.

Pro Tip: If you’re seeing a dip in site visits, it might be worth looking into your SEO, social media presence, or even the overall design and user experience of your site. If the site looks jumbled or takes too long to load, people may just bounce off.

Engagement Rates – Are Visitors Sticking Around?

Even if people are landing on your site, you need to be sure that they’re sticking around to engage with your content and take in what you have to offer. Engagement rates are your clue to how well your content is keeping visitors’ attention. GA4 tracks how long visitors are interacting with your site, and shows if they’re scrolling, clicking, or moving between pages. If they’re hanging about, it means your content is hitting the right notes. But if they’re leaving more quickly, it might be time to consider making changes.

Pro Tip: Keep an eye on pages that aren’t keeping people engaged. If your blog posts or product pages are losing attention, something’s probably not right. Maybe they’re too long, hard to follow, or not answering the questions visitors came for. Once you’ve located the issue, you can make the right changes.

Traffic Sources – Where Are They Coming From?

Traffic sources tell you where your visitors are arriving from. Are they typing your web address in directly, clicking a link from social media, or finding you through a Google search? Knowing your traffic sources is vital because it helps you focus your efforts on the channels that are securing the most visitors.

Pro Tip: If a particular channel (say, social media) is bringing in the most traffic, it’s worth doubling down on that strategy. But if your organic search traffic is low, you might want to spend more time optimising your SEO. GA4 makes it easy to track these sources and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Pages Visited – Which Pages Are Doing the Best?

GA4 can also reveal which pages on your site are attracting the most attention. Are visitors mainly landing on your homepage? Or are they focusing on your blog posts, product pages, or that all-important contact page? GA4 will give you new insights into which pages are getting the most love and which ones might need some modifications.

Pro Tip: If some pages aren’t drawing the attention you would like, take a minute and ask yourself some key questions. Is the content clear enough? Is the call-to-action strong enough to encourage people to click? Or maybe they’re getting lost in the navigation? Use GA4 to find the weak spots and give those pages an upgrade.

Conclusion

And so there you have it, the key metrics you need to keep an eye on to make sure your website is working for you and not against you. GA4 might seem overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it can stimulate real improvements in your online offering. By monitoring site visits, engagement rates, traffic sources, and pages visited, you’ll have the insights you need to keep your site performing at its best. With the right data, you can make smarter decisions, boost your performance, and watch your site reach new heights.