5 Metrics to Track on Google Analytics

5 metrics to track on google analytics

Google Analytics is the de-facto choice for measuring the success of website based marketing campaigns.

But many of us struggle to know what to measure, where to look at, what are the hidden features, etc. While I can say that it’s impossible to cover entire Google Analytics in one blog post but here’s a primer on what you can do.

The 5 metrics that we talk about are most basic ones that you should be tracking as part of any campaigns. They give you a sneak peek into the health and success of your campaigns.

5 Google Analytics Metrics

1 – Session

Google Analytics Sessions

Visit or sessions as we know it now is the most important parameter. It gives an idea of how many users have visited/landed on your site.

A session is the period time a user is actively engaged with your website, app, etc.

But, the same user coming from two different sources is considered as separate session.

PS: Sessions are time tracked. If a visitor had been idle for 30 minutes and come back, it is counted as a new session. Also, if the visitor logs in at 11:59 pm and continues beyond 12:00 am, they are 2 different sessions.

2 – Page Views

Google Analytics Pageviews

As the term says, it’s the view of individual pages of the website. More the number of page views indicate that visitor like the content on your site and are looking at multiple pages.

Page views is the total number of pages viewed

PS: More page views could also be because visitors are refreshing your page, which might not be a good indicator

3 – Top Pages

Google Analytics Top Pages

Want to know which pages are performing well?

As publishers, we are always keen to know the best performing post or our evergreen content. To find that, go to Behavior -> Site Content -> All Pages

On the right, the top performing pages will be displayed.

PS: Use the filter to know how other pages are performing

4- Average Session Duration

Google Analytics Session Duration

Another metric to know how good your website is performing is to know how long the visitor stays on the site.

Average Session Duration gives a fair idea on amount of time spent on the the website. Better content on the page/website will ensure that the visitor spends more time on the site.

PS: Combined with ‘Page/Session’ metric, you can come to know if the visitor is spending more time on a particular page or the entire site

5- Page/Session

Google Analytics Page Sessions

It is the average number of pages a visitor goes through in one session.

If you’re trying to achieve a conversion over multiple pages, this metric is a key indicator to how much closer the visitor is reaching per session. Higher the number, better your site performance

Pages/Session (Average Page Depth) is the average number of pages viewed during a session

Your Turn

  1. Which parameters do you think are the most important?
  2. Do you think bounce rate are still very important?

Do share your thoughts over the comments section below.

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