How Do I Work with Google Analytics Reports?

Purpose

Think of Google Analytics 4 as a tool that helps you understand how people use your website by tracking the potential bookmarks or backlinks that they used to get to your site as well as and analyzing user behavior on your site.

When to Use GA4 Page and Screen Reports

By understanding how people use your website, you can:

  • Identify Broken Links: Identify and fix outdated url links leading users to 404 pages.
  • Improve Website Navigation: Update your navigation to help users find information more easily.
  • Understand User Behavior: Understand what users are searching for and engaging with.
  • Monitoring External Link traffic: You can see which external links are driving traffic to your website.

Key Elements of GA4 User Engagement Report

  1. Page Title and Screen Class/Landing Page + Query String:
    • Page Title and Screen Class: This combination shows the specific page title and the URL path of the page the user visited.
    • Landing Page + Query String: This shows the exact URL a user entered or clicked on to reach a specific page, useful for pinpointing outdated or incorrect URLs users attempt to access.
  2. Views and Active Users:
    • Views: The total page views, useful for identifying popular pages and content gaps.
    • Active Users: The number of unique users who visited the page. This can help identify user engagement and interest in specific topics.

Understanding GA4 Views and Active Users Report:

  • High Views, Low Active Users: This might indicate that a page is being accessed through multiple links or is being shared frequently.
  • Low Views, High Active Users: This might indicate that the page is being accessed directly through bookmarks or specific URLs.
  • High Views and High Active Users: This indicates a popular page with high user engagement.

These help you to find areas for improvement, such as creating missing content, updating URL redirects, or improving your website's navigation.

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How to Find Backlinks & Bookmarks leading Users to a 404 page?

Making sure you have URL redirects created for high-traffic broken backlinks or old bookmark URLs leading to 404 pages can improve your site's search ranking.

Here's how to use Google Analytics to identify these URLs:

  1. Navigate to the Pages and Screens Report:
    • Go to your Google Analytics account.
    • In the left sidebar menu, click on "Reports."
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    • Select "Pages and Screens" from the Engagement section.
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  2. Identify 404 Pages:
    • In the "Page title and screen name" row, search for your 404 page title (e.g., "Please accept our apologies").
    • This will show you the monthly traffic to this page.
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  3. Find Broken Link URLs:
    • Click the plus icon next to the "Page title and screen name" field.
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    • Select "Page path and screen class" to see the specific URLs that led to the 404 page.
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Use this information to:

  • Create Redirects: Set up redirects from the broken URLs to the correct pages.
  • Create New Content: Use these URLs to identify content gaps and create new pages.
Learn how to Create URL redirects