A practical guide to
new statistics in GA4

In October 2020, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) was launched, replacing Universal Analytics (UA), a tool used by millions of people worldwide. So far, nothing new. In this post, we'll delve into two new statistics introduced as part of GA4: Engagement Rate and Conversion Rate. Additionally, we'll share some handy tips on how to read and interpret these statistics.

1. Engagement rate

Let's start with the Engagement Rate, one of the new statistics in GA4. This rate indicates the ratio of engaged sessions to the total number of sessions. But what exactly is an engaged session? First, let's look at how we define a session. A session is the period during which a user is actively engaged with your website. GA4 defines a website visit as an engaged session when: 

● The website or app is active for at least 10 seconds, 

● A conversion event is triggered,

● Or when there are 2 or more pageviews.

Example 
Imagine that yesterday you had 5000 visits to your website, and out of those, 1000 visitors filled out a form. These 1000 visitors are considered 'engaged' according to GA4. The engagement rate, in this case, is 1000 divided by 5000, so: 20%. Therefore, 20% of yesterday's sessions are labeled as engaged. 

Engagement vs. Bounce rate

Is the engagement rate now the opposite of the bounce rate from Universal Analytics? Not exactly. As we just saw, the engagement rate considers both time on page and conversions. Therefore, labeling the engagement rate and bounce rate as exact opposites is too simplistic. Consider, for example, an informational page where no action is required. Previously, the user might have been considered a bounce, but now they are considered engaged if they stay longer than 10 seconds. 

Stay focused

The engagement rate provides valuable insights but also has limitations. One may question whether a 10-second period is long enough to demonstrate genuine engagement. Imagine if your website shows high engagement for a specific page, but all visits lasted exactly 10 seconds. It does not necessarily mean that your landing page is good or appealing. Remaining on a page for such a short period without navigating to other pages does not directly indicate engagement or any form of value.

On the other hand, since 10 seconds is not very long, a high number of sessions and still a low engagement rate quickly points to a larger issue on the page. In that case, action is certainly needed.

How to interpret engagement data?

In the above example, we segmented engagement data based on how visitors arrived at a website. An engagement rate of 69.47% under organic search indicates that 69.47 out of every 100 visitors were engaged with your website. An engagement rate of 60% or higher is considered good for a B2B website, compared to over 70% for a B2C site.

2. What is the conversion rate?

A conversion is an action that a user takes on your website. The most common conversion is a purchase. A conversion (e.g., a purchase) is the primary goal for a business, as it generates revenue for them. 

In earlier versions of GA, including Universal Analytics, the conversion rate was calculated by dividing 'sessions with conversions' by 'all sessions'. However, this method didn't always provide accurate results. That's why Google introduced two different types of conversion rates in GA4: user conversion rate and session conversion rate. Before delving into these new conversion rates, let's first explore the main issue with the original conversion rate. 

Improved insight into conversion

Imagine a scenario where user A visits your website from a Google search ad but doesn't convert in the first session. The next time, he returns through a Facebook post, and this time the session is considered a conversion.

Next, user B visits your website from a newsletter and achieves a conversion. She revisits your website—this time through a referral—and converts again.

When you look at the overall conversion percentages, there are 3 conversions out of a total of 4 sessions. The conversion rate is 75%.

But what if your goal was to prompt a user to convert immediately? In this case, you might not be as concerned about any subsequent sessions or conversions by the user. This is where the user conversion rate comes into play. It represents the percentage of users who triggered a conversion event. The session conversion rate is the percentage of sessions in which a conversion event was triggered. With these new statistics, you have a much better and more detailed understanding of what conversion looks like on your website than before

How to access conversion rate:

• Navigate to 'Explore' in you GA4 property
• Click on the Blank Report template
• Name your report and select the date range
• Choose Event Name as one of the dimensions
• Select Sessino Conversion Rate, Conversion Rate, and User Conversion Rate as statistics
• You can now view the conversion data.