In this post, we’ve compiled 12 essential reports from 4 sections of Google Analytics. Properly setting up these reports helps us identify growth areas for Improve Media projects, track e-commerce performance, analyze traffic, and evaluate advertising campaigns.
We’ll use one of our clients as an example to demonstrate how a well-functioning web analytics system should work for a digital project.
1. Audience >> Geo >> Location
If you want to know where your customers are coming from to make informed decisions about optimizing advertising campaigns, website development, and email marketing, this report is essential. The Location report provides the following key parameters:
- Country
- City
- Continent
- Subcontinent
By default, the report shows a world map. The color saturation indicates the proportion of sessions from different regions. You can navigate to each region from the list and assess the potential of the audience from that area. The report also includes a Statistics tab.
**Helpful Links:**
- Learn more about the Audience report group in the official Google Analytics help.
- Audience GEO Reporting – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Geography section reports.
2. Audience >> Mobile >> Overview
To check which devices are bringing traffic to your site, use the Mobile Devices report. This report not only shows how time spent on the site differs depending on the user’s device but also the bounce rate from different devices. If the bounce rate on a particular device type is higher than average, it’s worth checking the correctness of the display and the site’s loading speed on that device. Check where the conversion is poor and make sure your site displays correctly and quickly on various mobile devices. The Devices tab shows which specific device models are most often used to access the site.
**Helpful Links:**
- Read more about checking website optimization in the Google help or go directly to the site check.
- [Tutorial]: Google Analytics — Mobile Reports – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Mobile Devices section reports.
3. Acquisition >> All Traffic >> Channels
This report is convenient for analyzing traffic by channels and comparing channels with each other. Like other standard reports, the Channels report consists of a graph and a data table. The table contains data on all incoming traffic sources:
- Organic Search – organic traffic from search engines.
- Paid Search – paid traffic from search engines.
- Direct – direct visits to the site.
- Referral – traffic from partners.
- Display – traffic coming from display advertising.
- Email – traffic from email.
- Social – traffic from social networks.
- (Other) – used if Google Analytics cannot determine the traffic channel.
To see statistics for a specific channel, simply click on it in the table.
**Helpful Links:**
- Using Google Acquisition Reports to Know Where People Are Coming From – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Acquisition section reports.
- Acquisition Channels Lesson – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Channels report.
4. Acquisition >> All Traffic >> Source/Medium
Google Analytics automatically identifies most sources and channels, such as direct traffic, organic search, or referrals from other sites. However, this does not work with all sources and channels. In the case of an undefined source, you will see the value “none.” If, for example, traffic came from an email newsletter where UTM tags were not used when setting up the campaign, Google Analytics will set the value to “email/referral.” Therefore, if you don’t want to rely on the standard breakdown by sources/channels, you should always use your own UTM tags.
**Helpful Links:**
The main parameters of the report include:
- Source or channel – selected by default.
- Source – shows only the source or UTM tag “source.”
- Channel – only the channel or UTM tag “medium.”
- Keyword – shows only data from the UTM tag “keyword.”
There is also an “Other” option where you can select the desired parameter. Thanks to this report, you can:
- Evaluate the basic metrics of individual sources and channels that bring traffic and conversions. For example, study conversions and understand where the CTR is low.
- Identify effective and ineffective channels and reallocate budgets.
- See which channels bring the most customers and where conversions are better.
**Helpful Links:**
- Acquisition Source Medium Lesson – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Source/Medium report.
5. Acquisition >> Campaigns >> All Campaigns
The All Campaigns report allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns marked with UTM tags. This report is used to compare campaigns with each other and assess their effectiveness. The main parameters are: campaign, source or channel, source and channel. To see detailed information about a specific campaign, simply click on it.
**Helpful Links:**
- Acquisition reports overview – YouTube video tutorial from Analytics Academy analyzing the Acquisition section reports.
6. Acquisition >> Campaigns >> Cost Analysis
The Cost Analysis report allows you to see the cost and profitability of advertising across different channels, making it one of the most important reports in a marketer’s work. However, by default, all metrics except Google Ads will be zero. For advanced work with the report, you need to use specialized services such as OWOX BI.
**Helpful Links:**
- Cost Analysis Report – official Google Analytics help.
7. Behavior >> Site Content >> Landing Pages
To analyze how users move around the site, use the reports in the Behavior section. To understand which sites or pages users come from most often, you need the Landing Pages report. The Landing Pages report will help you:
- Evaluate incoming traffic from different channels.
- See which page brings you the most traffic and which pages are best at converting visitors into leads and customers.
- Identify weak, underdeveloped areas.
**Helpful Links:**
- Google Analytics Landing Page Tracking Tutorial – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Landing Pages report.
- How to Maximize the Google Analytics Landing Page Report – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Landing Pages report.
- [How to increase conversion rate] Analyze Landing Pages with Google Analytics – YouTube video tutorial from CXL analyzing the Landing Pages report.
8. Behavior >> Events >> Top Events
Many different interactive elements are added to websites. For example, Jivosite for communicating with customers. However, Google Analytics cannot track such actions automatically. That’s why you need to set up events to track clicks on different elements on the site. This will help you know exactly how users are using the content or what actions they are taking on your site.
The Events section reports are used to track configured events in the view. The main parameters of this report are:
- Event Category
- Event Action
- Event Label
In Google Analytics, a new user is equated to a new event by default. Events can include both watching a video on a page and adding a product to the cart. You can read more about events and their settings in the links below.
**Helpful Links:**
- Setting up event tracking.
- Event Tracking Basics – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Events section reports.
- Event Tracking – guide to tracking events using analytics.js.
9. Conversions >> Multi-Channel Funnels >> Assisted Conversions
To find out which channels helped lead a customer to conversion, use the reports in the Multi-Channel Funnels section. The reports in this section allow you to see the path to the goal. Google Analytics tracks visitors who have been to the site more than twice and eventually converted. The Assisted Conversions report shows how many conversions this channel was associated with, did not lead the customer directly to conversion, but was in the chain. This data is useful for evaluating marketing channels.
**Helpful Links:**
- What’s an Assisted Conversion in Google Analytics? – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Assisted Conversions report.
- Multi-Channel Funnels in Google Analytics – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Multi-Channel Funnels section reports.
10. Conversions >> Multi-Channel Funnels >> Top Conversion Paths
The Top Conversion Paths report helps you understand how many conversions were obtained through a particular channel. This way, you can evaluate the most effective paths to conversion and optimize those channels.
Using the settings at the top, you can select which conversions/goals to consider and determine the length of the sequence. You can also select the type and period of the conversion window from 1 to 90 days (by default, Google Analytics specifies 30 days).
**Helpful Links:**
- Top Conversion Paths Report in Google Analytics – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Top Conversion Paths report.
- Walkthrough of Multi-Channel Funnels in Google Analytics – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Multi-Channel Funnels section reports.
11. Conversions >> Multi-Channel Funnels >> Path Length
As the name suggests, the report shows the number of interactions before conversion. It indicates the total number of conversions, how many channels participated in the entire path to conversion, and the value of the conversion. Most people visit your site more than once before buying something. This report helps you understand how many times a customer interacts with the brand to make a conversion.
Note: By default, Google Analytics selects all your conversions for calculation. So don’t forget to remove those conversions that don’t interest you. It’s better to choose the “All” type instead of “Google Ads” (the Google Ads option is only suitable for building remarketing based on this source).
**Helpful Links:**
- Path Length Report in Google Analytics – YouTube video tutorial analyzing the Path Length report.
12. Conversions >> Multi-Channel Funnels >> Model Comparison Tool
The report allows you to compare the distribution of value between the logic of both default and customized attribution models. You can compare two or three models simultaneously. The Model Comparison Tool helps you evaluate how different models determine the value of marketing channels. You can also customize existing attribution models using the editor window. After creating your own attribution model, you can also upload it to the Google Analytics Solutions Gallery.
**Helpful Links:**
- What does attribution mean in marketing.
- Model Comparison Tool – official Google Analytics help.
Conclusions
In this article, we’ve reviewed the most essential reports we use in our work, using existing projects as examples. It’s important to always remember that the main goal of Google Analytics reports is to find answers to questions posed by the business. If you still have questions, you can sign up for a consultation (free for new and existing clients).
