Hey there, Benjamin from Loves Data here! Today, I'm going to take you through important Google
Analytics terminology. I'm going to cover 10 of the top terms from my Google Analytics
Glossary. And if you'd like to get the complete glossary, then you can find a link in the card,
or in the description below this video. We're going to cover engagement rate,
users, enhanced measurement and more!
First up, are two really important terms. They are dimension and metric. These are the building
blocks of your Google Analytics reports. And apart from finding them inside Google Analytics,
you will also use these if you're pulling data into other platforms,
like Google Data Studio. Okay, so a dimension is an attribute or characteristic of your users and
their interactions with your website. Dimensions are typically presented as a row of information
in reports. Examples of dimensions include page location, which provides the full URLs of the page
people view on your website, and default channel grouping, which provides top-level information
about how people found your website. You'll find the dimension presented in the first column
inside the standard Google Analytics reports. Here we're looking at the 'Demographic Details' report
in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), and we can see the first column is 'Country', so this dimension shows
us the geographic location of our users. You will find dimensions in all of the standard reports and
you can also use them when creating exploration reports too. Next are metrics. A metric is
typically a number, like a count, percentage, or ratio. Metrics are typically presented as columns
of data in reports. Let's select 'Technology'... And open the 'Technology Details' report...
We can see a whole range of metrics presented in the table... Metrics include 'Users'... 'New
Users'... 'Engaged Sessions'... And more... When you're using your reports, you are likely to see
metrics based on views, like 'page views'. This metric tells you the total number of times pages
on your website have been loaded and viewed by people browsing your site. Apart from views,
some of the most important metrics you will find in Google Analytics are based on users.
So 'users' is the next term we're going to cover. A user is an individual who interacts with your
website or app. Each user can visit your website multiple times. For example, one user could create
three sessions on your website, with each session containing multiple page views. By default, each
unique device ID will be counted as a separate user, which means someone visiting your website
on multiple devices (each with their device ID) will mean more than one user is reported.
The user ID feature allows you to track unique individuals that identify themselves on multiple
devices. Next up is data stream. A data stream is used to collect data into your reports.
You can create one or more data streams for each of your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) properties. Each
data stream has a unique measurement ID. You can create data streams for websites, Android apps,
and iOS apps. To view the data streams that have been created for a property, navigate to
'Admin'... And then choose 'Data Streams'... You will then see all of the data streams that have
been created for the property. You can create new data streams by clicking the 'Add Stream' button
on the top... And you can view details and configuration options for a stream by selecting
it... This is where you will find the 'Measurement ID' for the stream which you can then use if
you're implementing Google Analytics using Google Tag Manager, a plugin, or other integration.
The ability to create multiple data streams is one of the benefits of GA4. You can easily combine
data from websites and apps into a single set of reports. If you're just getting started, then take
a moment to watch my GA4 tutorial. I've included a link in the description below this video.
Next is bounce rate. This is a metric from the previous version of Google Analytics (so Universal
Analytics) that reports the percentage of sessions with a single page view. So it's an engagement
metric. Bounce rate can provide top-level insights about the performance of your content.
For example, if you want people to travel on to view a subsequent page on your website,
then you can aim to lower your bounce rate. It's also important to apply context when analyzing
bounce rate, since some pages will deliver all of the information somebody is looking for
on a single page, for example, a store locator or a blog post. If you're using the new version
of Google Analytics, so GA4, then you won't find bounce rate in your reports. This is
because it's been replaced by 'engagement rate', which is also our next term. The engagement rate
metric is calculated by dividing the number of engaged sessions by the total number of sessions.
For example, if there were 70 engaged sessions and a total of 100 sessions, then the engagement
rate would be 70%. So engagement rate is a bit like the opposite of bounce rate because
it reports on people who have engaged as opposed to those who viewed a single page and left your
website. Next is user engagement. User engagement measures how long people have viewed your content,
including pages and screens. Google Analytics calculates time using the 'user_engagement' event,
which is automatically collected when someone navigates to another page on your website
or leaves your website. Time is only counted when the page or screen is visible. For example,
when a tab is hidden, this time is not included in the user engagement metric. If you'd like to
learn about average engagement time and average engagement time per session metrics in GA4,
then take a moment to check out the links to these additional terms in the description
below this video. Enhanced measurement. This feature in Google Analytics 4 lets you measure
a number of actions users perform on your website without modifying your tracking code.
Enhanced measurement lets you automatically track page views, scrolls, outbound links, site search,
embedded YouTube videos, and file downloads. You can find enhanced measurement by navigating to
'Admin'... Then select 'Data Streams'... And choose a data steam... You will find enhanced
measurement at the top of the stream details... And you can click the configuration icon...
To adjust the actions that will be automatically tracked into your reports. Next is event
parameter. Event parameters are additional pieces of information that are collected with events.
Parameters can be a numerical value or a string. Parameters include automatically-collected
information, including the page title, page location (URL of the page), session ID,
and more. And apart from parameters that are collected automatically, you can also send
custom parameters with events. Custom parameters also need to be registered as a custom definition
to be used in reports. To register a parameter to use in your reports, you will need editor
or administrator-level permission for the property. You can then navigate to 'Configure'...
And choose 'Custom Definitions'... You will find any parameters that have already been registered
and you have the option to register additional parameters. And you can register a parameter as
a dimension or a metric to use in your reports. Our final term is acquisition. Acquisition in
Google Analytics refers to how people find your website. You can find acquisition details in
the pre-configured acquisition reports, or by making your own exploration report. You
can find the standard acquisition reports under 'Lifecycle'... This is where you will find the
acquisition overview, the user acquisition report, and the traffic acquisition report.
These reports present data based on the source and medium of your users,
along with other acquisition dimensions. Let's open the acquisition overview...
This shows us top-level details for all of the different ways people are finding our website.
We can see users by their first medium... Sessions by medium... And there are also dedicated reports
for your paid traffic from Google Ads, and organic traffic from Google (if you have linked
your Google Search Console account). So they're ten of the top terms you need to know when using
Google Analytics. If you'd like to learn even more terminology, then take a moment to check
out my Google Analytics Glossary. You can find a link in the description below this video. Have
you found any tricky terms in Google Analytics? Do you have any tips you'd like to share? I'd
love to know! Let me know in the comments below. And if you found this video helpful,
please like it so I know to make more videos like this one. I'll see you in the next video!