Google Analytics Definitions: GA4 Glossary

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that offers invaluable insights into the performance of your website or app. To navigate this world of data, it's essential to understand the key terms and concepts that make up the Google Analytics ecosystem. In this comprehensive glossary, we have compiled a list of phrases and their definitions to help you decode the language of analytics. Whether you are a seasoned data analyst or just getting started, this resource will serve as a handy reference guide to enhance your understanding of GA4 (Google Analytics 4).  

Account: 

Your account is where everything lives inside Google Analytics. It's like the top-level folder accessed using your login details. You can have separate accounts for different websites.

Acquisition: 

Understand how people find your website using Acquisition reports based on source, medium, and other acquisition dimensions.

Active Users: 

The metric showing how many people have visited your website or app, including engaged sessions and new users.

Advertising Features: 

Enables audience lists and demographic data collection in Google Analytics using Google's third-party advertising cookies.

Attribution: 

Control how credit for conversions is given to marketing channels using various attribution models.

Audience: 

Create audiences to segment users in reports and for targeting in Google Ads accounts.

Average Engagement Time: 

Average time people spend on your website or app.

Average Engagement Time per Session: 

Like average engagement time but based on sessions.

Behavioural Modelling: 

Uses machine learning to provide estimated data for users who decline cookies.

Bounce: 

A metric in Universal Analytics reporting sessions with a single page view, replaced by engaged sessions and bounce rate in GA4.

Bounce Rate: 

Percentage of sessions that last less than ten seconds or don't include a conversion.

Campaign Name: 

A dimension for reporting and analysing marketing campaigns.

Change History: 

View changes made to your Google Analytics account and properties.

Channel: 

Top-level groupings of inbound marketing, combining source and medium.

Client ID: 

A unique identifier used to report and analyse user behaviour.

Content Group: 

Classify pages into categories for top-level reporting.

Conversion: 

Reported when a user triggers an event defined as a conversion.

Comparison: 

Focus on particular users in reports by applying up to four comparisons.

Cookie: 

Information stored in a website browser for identifying sessions and users.

CPC (Cost-per-click): 

Seen in acquisition and advertising reports for paid ad clicks.

Custom Definitions: 

Registered dimensions or metrics in GA4.

Custom Dimension and Custom Metric: 

Collect and report additional data in Google Analytics.

Data Import: 

Import additional data into Google Analytics.

Data Retention: 

Control how long data associated with individuals is stored.

Data Stream: 

Used to collect data into your reports for GA4 properties.

DebugView: 

A report for debugging and viewing testing events in Google Analytics.

Default Channel Grouping: 

Automatically classifies source and medium combinations into marketing channels.

Default Reporting Identity: 

Control how unique individuals are identified in reports.

Demographics: 

Includes user demographics like age and gender in reports.

Device ID: 

A unique identifier for reporting on individual behaviour.

Dimension: 

An attribute or characteristic of users and their interactions with your website.

Direct: 

Traffic from users who directly accessed your website.

Ecommerce Purchase: 

Reported when Google Analytics collects a purchase event.

Engaged Sessions: 

Reported when sessions last longer than ten seconds or include conversions.

Enhanced Measurement: 

Automatically tracks various actions users perform on your website.

Engagement Rate: 

Calculated by dividing the number of engaged sessions by the total number of sessions.

Event: 

All data in GA4 is collected as events.

Event Count: 

Total number of times events have been collected.

Event Count per User: 

Average number of events collected for each user.

Event Parameter: 

Additional pieces of information collected with events.

Events per Session: 

Average number of events collected for each session.

First User Medium: 

Reports the first medium through which new users find your website.

First User Source: 

Reports the source through which new users found your website.

Google Ads: 

Google's paid advertising platform.

Google Data Studio: 

A tool for presenting and visualizing data from Google Analytics.

Google Optimize: 

Platform for A/B testing, multivariate testing, and personalization.

Google Signals: 

Enables demographic reports and audience lists in Google Ads.

Global Site Tag (gtag.js): 

The current version of the Google Analytics tracking code.

Google Tag Manager: 

Manages the deployment of tracking tags on your website.

Intelligence: 

Google's machine learning identifies trends and changes in your data.

Landing Page: 

The first page viewed during a session.

Library: 

Allows you to edit standard pre-configured reports in Google Analytics.

Lifetime Value (LTV): 

Metrics that show the total value based on users instead of sessions.

Lookback Window: 

Controls the amount of historical data used for attribution.

Looker Studio: 

Google's report and dashboard tool.

Measurement ID: 

A unique identifier for data collection in Google Analytics.

Measurement Protocol: 

Allows hits to be sent directly to Google Analytics without the tracking code.

Medium: 

One of the dimensions for reporting how people found your website.

Metric: 

A number-based data type in reports.

New User: 

The number of first-time visitors to your website.

Not Set: 

Indicates missing information in reports.

Organic: 

Refers to people clicking on free links to your website.

Page View: 

Reported when a user views a page on your website.

PII (Personally Identifiable Information): 

Google Analytics doesn't allow collection of PII.

Property: 

Created within a Google Analytics account to combine data from data streams.

Referral: 

Reported when a user clicks through to your website from another website.

Regular Expression (or Regex): 

Advanced method of pattern matching in text strings.

Reporting Identity: 

See default reporting identity.

Reporting View: 

The previous version of Google Analytics includes reporting views.

Sampling: 

A portion of data is used to estimate the complete set of data for reports.

Search Query: 

The actual term used in a search engine before clicking through to your website.

Segment: 

Focus on particular sections of your traffic based on users, sessions, and events.

Session: 

A single visit to your website.

Session ID: 

A unique identifier for each session.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, staying informed about analytics is crucial for making data-driven decisions that can drive the success of your online presence. Whether you're tracking user behaviour, analysing marketing campaigns, or measuring conversion rates, the knowledge contained in this glossary will be your trusted companion on your analytics journey.