Events and Reports in Google Analytics 4

Owned by Andrew Reiter (Unlicensed)
Mar 30, 2023
5 min read

ALL ABOUT EVENTS IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 

What is an event? An event allows you to measure a distinct user interaction on a website or app. For example, loading a page or clicking a link, interactions you can measure with events.

Additionally, events in GA4 can be grouped into 4 different categories:

Event Type

Definition

Automatically Collected

These events are automatically tracked by GA4. Examples include: “session_start” and “page_view.”

Enhanced Measurement

These events are automatically collected but can be enabled or disabled depending on the website’s functionality. Example: “site search”

Recommended

Events that Google recommends you set up. Divided by industry type.

Custom

Events/parameters that you can create and implement based on your website’s needs. There is a limit of 500 custom events.

HOW TO VIEW EVENTS IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4:

Events can be viewed as they are triggered using the Event count by Event name in the real-time report or by viewing the Events report in the Engagement section under Life Cycle.

 

USING REPORTS IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS

You can find all your reports in Google Analytics by clicking Reports on the left.

Here is what the sidebar will look like after you are in the Reports section:

Some definitions of these terms include:

Reports snapshot: an overview of all the reports. The “homepage” after you click Reports.

Realtime Report: A report that lets you monitor events as they happen. All Realtime reports can be accessed under the Realtime tab.

Life cycle: Reports that help you understand each stage in the user’s journey through the website.

User: Helps us understand the users who use Dataverse.

 

There are two main types of reports in Google Analytics 4:

Overview Report: A report that summarizes information about a particular topic (i.e., the Acquisition overview report).

Detail Report: A report that summarizes information about one or two dimensions. This allows you to investigate your data in greater detail. (i.e., Events Report).

 

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE REPORTS:

You can change the reports that appear on the left and you can also customize the information that appears in each report. Customizing a report allows us to enhance a report to meet our needs.

Google provides a helpful guide on how to customize a report: Click Here.

 

FIND YOUR WAY AROUND A GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4 REPORT

The following is an example of a report in Google Analytics:

A labeled screenshot of the User acquisition report

  1. Apply a filter to see a subset of your report data. Learn more

  2. Apply a comparison to see different sets of data side-by-side. Learn more

  3. Identify how much of your data appears in the report. Learn more

  4. Adjust the date range for all your reports. You won't find this option in the Realtime report.

  5. Customize the report, share or export the report, and get insights about your data.

Source: [GA4] Overview of Google Analytics reports - Analytics Help

 

ALL ABOUT EXPLORATIONS IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4:

What are Explorations? Explorations are a collection of techniques that go beyond a typical report in Google Analytics 4. These advanced reports allow you to gather more information about your users.

Accessing Explorations:

 

To access your Explorations, click Explore on the lefthand sidebar.

You will want to use Explorations when you need access to data and analytical techniques that aren't available in reports. 

 For example, for TDR’s Dataverse, I used this to make a “Path through Site” report.

 

In Explorations, there are many different types of “canvases” or different types of templates for the display of data. These include:

Getting Specific: Let’s use the “Path through Site” report I built as an example:

Step 1: Navigated to the Explore tab.

Step 2: Selected “Path Exploration” from the available templates:

 

Step 3: When you select the template, a page will open that displays a “default” report. There will be two vertical columns: “Variables” and “Tab Settings.”

 Variables will display the variety of data points that you can select for your report.

Tab Settings will be where you select the applicable and appropriate segments, metrics and dimensions for your report.

 Step 4: In the Variables column (on the left), add items to the Dimensions and Metrics section. View the image to see what we did for this report. GA4 will select and make available metrics and dimensions available for each report. You can select the “+” to add more to your exploration. You can add up to 20 dimensions and 20 metrics to an exploration.

Step 5: Drag and drop the dimensions and metrics you added from the Variables panel to the Tab Settings panel. For example, for the values I placed “Event Count.”

Step 6: Play with the data and apply filters where necessary. I, for example, enabled “View Unique Nodes Only” for this exploration.

Step 7: View your Exploration:

Step 8: You can always start over by clicking Start Over:

Remember: you can always view your Explorations by clicking the “Explore” tab. They will be displayed here: 

Also, Google provides a very helpful “how to” on creating Explorations. You can view their specific information by clicking here.