Google Analytics Glossary, in Plain English
Google Analytics 4 renamed half its own metrics and never explained the other half. This is the plain-English reference — what each term actually means, why GA4 reports what it reports, and what to do about it.
Traffic & Channels
- What Is Direct Traffic in Google Analytics?Why GA4 dumps so much traffic into "Direct" — and what's actually hiding in there.
- What Is Cross Network in Google Analytics?The channel GA4 invented because Performance Max ads don't fit its old categories.
- What Is Unassigned Traffic in Google Analytics?Not the same as Direct — this is GA4 giving up on data it partially has.
- What Is Referral Traffic in Google Analytics?Visits from other websites — and why payment processors keep showing up as referrers.
- What Is Organic Social in Google Analytics?Free traffic from social platforms — and how GA4 tells it apart from paid social ads.
- What Is Paid Search?Ads on the search results page — and how GA4 tells that traffic apart from everything else.
Events & Conversions
- What Are Key Events in GA4?GA4 renamed "conversions" to "key events" in 2024 — here's what actually changed.
- What Is Event Count in Google Analytics?Every single hit is an event in GA4. Here's why that number looks so big.
- What Are UTM Parameters?The five URL tags that tell GA4 exactly where a click came from.
- Conversion Rate Formula: How to Calculate ItOne formula, three possible denominators — and why the one you pick changes the number.
- Click-Through Rate Formula: How to Calculate CTRClicks over impressions — the formula behind search, ads, and email performance.
- UTM Source vs. Medium: What's the Difference?Source is WHERE, medium is HOW — the two most confused UTM parameters, untangled.
Sessions & Engagement
- What Is a Session in Google Analytics?Why your GA4 session count doesn't match what Universal Analytics used to report.
- What Is Average Session Duration in GA4?GA4 measures engaged time, not "tab open" time — and that changes what's a good number.
- What Are Engaged Sessions in GA4?GA4's bounce rate, flipped and renamed — here's what actually counts as "engaged."
- What Is a Good Bounce Rate?The benchmark question that depends entirely on which bounce rate you're even looking at.
Setup & Data
- What Is a Dimension in Google Analytics?The "what" that metrics get counted by — Country, Device, Page Path, and friends.
- What Cannot Be Collected by the Default Analytics Tracking Code?The certification-exam answer: personal info, precise identity, and offline behavior.
- Is Google Analytics Free?Free doesn't mean free — thresholding, sampling, and consent banners are the real price tag.
- What Does "(not set)" Mean in Google Analytics?GA4's way of saying "I have no value for this" — and why it shows up in different reports for different reasons.
- Cross-Domain Tracking in GA4: How It WorksWhy a visitor moving between your own domains looks like two different people to GA4 — and the fix.
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