Google Analytics is the most widely used web analytics platform. The current version, Google Analytics 4, uses an event-based data model and provides insights into user behavior across websites and apps.
Key Google Analytics 4 concepts
- Events: All interactions are tracked as events
- Users: Individual visitors to your site
- Sessions: Groups of user interactions within a time frame
- Conversions: Important events you want to track
- Engagement: Metrics showing user involvement
Common Google Analytics 4 metrics
- Users: Total unique visitors
- Sessions: Total number of visits
- Engagement rate: Percentage of engaged sessions
- Average engagement time: How long users interact
- Conversions: Completed goals
Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics
Google Analytics 4 replaced Universal Analytics in 2023 with:
- Event-based tracking instead of session-based
- Cross-platform measurement
- Machine learning insights
- Privacy-focused features
How VitalSentinel handles this
Google Analytics 4 holds the data, but it rarely tells you when something is going wrong in time to act. VitalSentinel's Google Analytics integration connects to your Google Analytics 4 property, surfaces sessions, conversions, and engagement in a clean view, and watches for sudden drops on the pages that drive your revenue. It is your traffic and revenue insurance, alerting you in hours when a deploy, redirect, or tracking break starts costing you money.
Related Terms
Bounce Rate
The percentage of visitors who navigate away from a site after viewing only one page, without taking any action.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of website visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up, or filling out a form.
Page Views
A metric that counts the total number of times a specific page on a website has been viewed by visitors.
Session
A group of user interactions with a website that take place within a given time frame, typically ending after 30 minutes of inactivity.