10 Google Analytics Metrics You Should Be Watching

Ever wish your website visitors could just tell you what’s working and what’s not? While they won’t send you a memo, you can get a ton of insight from their behavior using Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

GA4 is free, powerful, and once it’s set up, it gives you real-time feedback on how your site is performing—from how people find you to what keeps them engaged.

First things first…

You’ll need to have GA4 installed on your site to start tracking data. (This usually means adding a tracking code or connecting through Google Tag Manager.) Need help? We’ve got you.

Then, once logged into GA4, select the time frame you want to view in the upper right corner. By default, you’ll be shown the last 30 days of data. You can select to review the last three months, last 2 years, or scroll down to compare stats between time periods.

Here’s our updated list of 10 must-watch GA4 metrics:

1. Users
This is how many unique people visited your site. A growing number usually means your marketing is working.

👉 Find this in: Reports > Overview > Users

2. Sessions
Each visit to your site is referred to as a session. GA4 tracks these more accurately than before—no more restarting sessions at midnight or after 30 minutes of inactivity.

👉 Reports > Engagement > Sessions

3. Traffic Sources
See how visitors are finding you—search engines, social media, email campaigns, or direct visits. This helps you focus your marketing in the right places.

👉 Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition

4. Top Pages (Views)
Which pages or blog posts get the most attention? Knowing what people actually care about helps you create more of what works.

👉 Reports > Engagement > Pages and Screens

5. Landing Pages
This tells you which page visitors start on. Spoiler alert: it’s not always your homepage. Use this to make sure those entry pages have clear calls to action.

👉 Explore > Free Form > Landing Page Dimension

6. Engagement Rate
GA4 replaced the old-school “bounce rate” with engagement rate—a much more helpful stat. It measures how many people stick around, interact, or view more than one page.

👉 Reports > Engagement > Overview

7. Average Engagement Time
This is how long users are actively interacting with your site—not just leaving a tab open. It’s great for measuring content quality and visitor interest.

👉 Reports > Engagement > Overview

8. Exit Pages
What page are people on when they leave your site? If you spot a trend here, it might be time to improve that page or add a stronger call to action.

👉 Explore > Free Form > Exit Page Dimension

9. Key Events (Conversions)
Want to track contact form submissions, downloads, purchases, or newsletter signups? Mark those as “key events” in GA4 to see how often they happen.

👉 Admin > Events > Mark as Key Event

10. Conversion Rate
This shows the percentage of sessions where a key event occurred. In plain terms: how many visits actually did something meaningful.

👉 Reports > Engagement or Customize with Explore

 

Bonus Tip: Are you Running Ads?

If you’re using Google Ads, GA4 can help you track cost per conversion and tie ad spend to real results. Just make sure your accounts are linked.

 

Need help making sense of your numbers?

GA4 is powerful, but it can also be a little overwhelming. If you’d like help setting it up, finding the right insights, or just understanding what it all means, reach out to our team at Tingalls. We’ll help you turn data into direction!

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