Answer Business Questions with Standard Reports

Objective

To guide users in using standard GA4 reports, particularly Acquisition and Engagement, to answer key business questions, monitor traffic sources, evaluate campaign effectiveness, and identify optimisation opportunities.

Overview

This SOP will help you:

1. Understand foundational GA4 metrics (users, sessions, events)
2. Use acquisition reports to analyse traffic and campaigns
3. Use engagement reports to evaluate user behaviour
4. Apply comparison periods, secondary dimensions, and key events
5. Extract insights that support data-driven decision-making

Step 1: Understand GA4’s Core Metrics

Metric	Definition
User	An individual who interacts with your site or app
Session	A group of interactions from a user within a single visit
Event	A specific interaction (e.g., click, view, purchase, sign-up)

Think of these like a library visit:

• User = the library patron
• Session = each visit to the library
• Event = each action taken (browsing books, checking out, etc.)

Step 2: Use Acquisition Reports to Analyse Traffic Sources

Access the Acquisition Overview Report:

1. Navigate to Reports → Acquisition → Overview
2. Review metrics such as:

• Users and Sessions
• Traffic by default channel group
• Top sources and mediums

Compare Date Ranges:

• Use the date selector at the top right
• Example: Compare Oct. 16–22 to Oct. 9–15

You’ll quickly spot trends — such as a 70% increase in cross-network (display ad) traffic.

Step 3: Investigate Campaign Performance

Deep Dive via Traffic Acquisition Report:

1. Navigate to Reports → Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition
2. Remove any active date comparisons
3. Add Session Campaign as a secondary dimension

You’ll now see which campaigns are responsible for traffic spikes (e.g., US, Canada, US without lifestyle images).

Compare Campaign Engagement:

1. Review columns like Average engagement time and Events per session
2. Identify campaigns with lower engagement (e.g., Canada campaign)

This may indicate irrelevant landing pages or weak audience targeting.

Review Key Events Performance:

1. Scroll to the Key events column
2. Use the dropdown to filter by specific key events (e.g., purchase)

A campaign showing significantly fewer key events (e.g., 1 vs 5–8) likely underperforms.

Step 4: Optimise Based on Report Findings

Use these insights to take action:

Insight	Optimisation Tip
Low engagement or conversions	Rework ad creatives or landing page experience
One campaign outperforms another	Reallocate ad budget accordingly
Unclear audience targeting	Refine campaign audiences based on engagement data

Always tie metrics back to business goals (e.g., sign-ups, purchases).

Step 5: Use Engagement Reports to Evaluate Content

Navigate to Reports → Engagement → Overview to see:

• Total engagement metrics
• Most visited pages/screens
• Interactions and conversions over time

Use Engagement Reports To Answer:

• Which pages drive the most traffic or conversions?
• Did engagement improve after a website update?
• Are users interacting with your key features?

Step 6: Tie It All Together — Example Workflow

Business Question: Why did cross-network traffic increase last week?

Your Workflow:

1. Compare Date Ranges in Acquisition Overview
2. Isolate Campaigns using secondary dimension in Traffic Acquisition
3. Compare Engagement metrics across campaigns
4. Check Conversions using Key Events
5. Make Optimisation Decisions (e.g., budget reallocation)

This type of workflow helps you proactively manage campaigns based on real data.

Key Reports and the Questions They Answer

Report	Business Questions Answered
Acquisition Overview	Where is my traffic coming from? Is it growing or shrinking over time?
User Acquisition	How are new users finding my website or app? Are my marketing efforts reaching fresh audiences?
Traffic Acquisition	Which campaigns or channels drive the most sessions and conversions?
Engagement Overview	Which content or screens retain users? Where are users spending time?
Pages and Screens	Which pages or screens get the most traffic and interaction?