GA4 Reporting: Easily Find Your Key Data & Insights

Whether you’re a business owner checking your numbers or a marketer used to Universal Analytics (UA), GA4 has likely left you scratching your head.
The interface looks different. The numbers don’t match. And just when you think you’ve found bounce rate… it disappears again.

GA4 really is a shift. But once you know how to navigate it, it’s a powerful tool for uncovering what’s actually happening on your website.

Here’s what most people are confused about, and asking us to fix, along with how you can get ahead of it (without blowing the budget).

In GA4, the old metrics haven’t disappeared; they’ve just been rebranded or replaced.

Here’s What to Use Instead:

• Engagement Rate: This metric shows the percentage of sessions where users actually did something on your site, such as scrolling, clicking, or staying for 10 or more seconds. GA4 defines bounce rate as 100% minus this figure, giving you a more accurate picture of meaningful interactions.
• Average Engagement Time: This is a smarter version of ‘time on page’, measuring how long your site truly had focus in a user’s browser. It accounts for actual user interaction, not just an open tab.

Use Case: If a key landing page shows a high engagement rate but poor conversions, it might indicate you’re attracting the wrong audience, or perhaps your call to action needs to be clearer.

To view or add these metrics, head to Reports > Engagement > Overview. If bounce rate isn’t visible, you can easily customise the report to include it.

In UA, you had ‘goals’. In GA4, everything runs on events.

How to Set Up a Conversion Event in Google Analytics 4:

1. Go to Admin > Events.
2. Click Create Event.
3. Define something like page_view where page_location contains /thank-you.
4. Go to Admin > Conversions and mark this event as a conversion.

Use Case: Want to track downloads of a PDF, video plays, or a “Get in touch” button? Create a custom event tailored to that behaviour.

We often help businesses define what’s worth measuring and set up GA4 to reflect those goals accurately.

While GA4 offers basic event creation directly in its interface, for any serious tracking, Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the definitive best practice. Think of GTM as your central command centre for all digital marketing tracking, not just GA4.

Traffic sources are still there; they have just been reorganised.

Navigate to:

• Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition
• Review traffic by Default Channel Grouping or Session Source/Medium

Use Case: Want to know which LinkedIn campaign brought in the most leads? Use UTM parameters and track performance directly in GA4.

GA4 can show exactly what’s working, if it’s set up properly. We often audit traffic reports for attribution gaps or misconfigured sources to ensure reliable insights.

GA4’s built-in reports are fine, but often too limited for real business use.

Best ways to share reports:

• Export reports to CSV or PDF
• Build dashboards in Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio)
• Use the Google Sheets GA4 add-on to automate updates

Use Case: Want to send a weekly email showing top converting landing pages? Automate it with Looker Studio.

Why Doesn’t My Data Match What I Had in Universal Analytics?

GA4 uses a different model. UA was session-based; GA4 is event-based.

Key Differences Explaining Data Discrepancies:

• Sessions are defined and counted differently: GA4 has a more sophisticated, event-driven approach to session counting.
• Bots are filtered more aggressively: GA4’s improved bot detection means it’s likely excluding more spam traffic than UA did.
• Events fire in real time and may be configured differently: The flexibility of GA4’s event model means your data collection logic is likely distinct from your old UA setup.
• Thresholding may limit visibility of low-volume data in reports: For privacy reasons, GA4 can apply data thresholding to protect user anonymity, which might hide small data sets.

Use Case: If GA4 shows fewer leads than your CRM, there could be missing events or incorrect trigger conditions.

Can I Migrate My Old Data into GA4?

The short answer is: No, not directly.

GA4 uses a fundamentally different data model than Universal Analytics (UA). UA was built around sessions and pageviews, while GA4 is entirely event-based. This architectural shift means there’s no native import feature to transfer your historical UA data directly into your GA4 property. They simply don’t speak the same data language.

Here’s What You Can Do:

1. Export historical UA data to CSV or Google Sheets
2. Use Looker Studio to visualise UA + GA4 side by side (temporarily)
3. Archive and reference old data while focusing on a clean GA4 setup moving forward

Use Case: Need to show year-on-year growth? Export your 2022/23 data from UA and align your GA4 goals for consistency.

1. Enable Enhanced Measurement: Automatically track scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video plays, file downloads.
2. Set up a “Top Converting Pages” report: Identify which content drives results.
3. Build a Funnel in Explorations: See where users drop off between key actions.

GA4 might not be intuitive, but it is powerful. Once set up properly, it stops being a numbers maze and starts showing you what’s working.

If your GA4 setup is half-done, confusing, or not reflecting your business goals, we can help. Let’s chat. No pressure. Just clarity.