[GA4]How to use Explore | with Recommended Template

GA4's "Explore" allows for easy customization of items (dimensions and indicators) and advanced analysis using segments. Use it when you want to analyze data in more detail.

For details on how to use the various types of report functions in GA4 for different purposes, please refer to "[GA4] How to Use Reports & Explore | How to Use Reports for Different Purposes" for an easy-to-understand explanation of the features of each reporting function.

Type of Explore

Seven templates are available for "Explore". Although you can set up each one yourself from scratch, these templates allow you to easily perform advanced analysis by simply changing the necessary items based on the pre-defined templates.

Here is a brief description of the uses of each template.

Free form

This is the most frequently used report. In table or chart format, dimensions (rows) and indicators (columns) can be freely set and analyzed. 

Funnel exploration

You can perform funnel analysis on any page, the next page, and the page reached. If you have a lead design that you want users to follow, you can check to see if they are moving as intended and at which steps they are leaving the site.

Path exploration

You can see which pages users are fibbing to, starting from a specific page.

Segment overlap

You can check the degree of overlap of multiple arbitrarily created segments.

User explorer

For each individual user, you can see where they came from and what they are doing on the site in chronological order. This is useful for analyzing quality users.

Cohort exploration

Starting from the date of first contact, you can check whether these user groups have repeated visits, purchases, etc. since then.

User lifetime

If you are measuring revenue with GA4, you can check the LTV of your users. For example, by checking LTV by referrer / media, you can set optimal marketing goals for each channel.

Six recommended explorations that are used frequently

Here are six examples of report settings that we recommend creating in the "Explorations" section. If you are not sure what to look for, please take a look. 

• Daily Report
• Monthly Report
• Customer Acquisition Report
• Report of the path to attract first users
• Landing Page Report
• Conversion Report

Daily report

This report provides a daily view of key indicators for the website and app as a whole.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:Date
• Metrics:Active users , New users , Sessions , Views , Engagement rate , Average engagement time per session , Session conversion rate , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph

Please refer to "[GA4] How to Create Monthly/Daily Reports | Explore" for a detailed explanation of the procedure for creating a daily report in an exploratory report.

Monthly report

This report provides a monthly view of key indicators for the website and app as a whole.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:Year , Month
• Metrics:Active users , New users , Sessions , Views , Engagement rate , Average engagement time per session , Session conversion rate , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph

Period for obtaining historical data

Explorations
The "exploratory report" can only display a maximum of 14 months of data due to the data retention period. Therefore, even basic data such as year-to-year comparisons of the past 12 months' data cannot be displayed because 24 months' worth of data is required.

Looker Studio
Looker Studio is not affected by data retention periods, so it can display an unlimited amount of historical data. The aforementioned 24-month report is also possible. With the free template, you can see the actual data.

Acquisition report

This report allows you to check the performance of each inflow route.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:Session default channel group , Session source / medium
• Metrics:Active users , New users , Sessions , Views , Engagement rate , Average engagement time per session , Session conversion rate , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph

Report on the route of attraction that first acquired the user

This report allows you to see the initial flow path of converted users.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:First user default channel group , First user source / medium
• Metrics:Active users , New users , Sessions , Views , Engagement rate , Average engagement time per session , Session conversion rate , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph 

 

Landing page report

This report allows you to see the number of inflows and conversions per landing page. It is also recommended to multiply this by session referral source / media, etc.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:Landing page + query string
• Metrics:Active users , New users , Sessions , Views , Engagement rate , Average engagement time per session , Session conversion rate , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph 

Landing page's (not set)

This is displayed when there is no landing page for the session. Specifically, this is the case when a visitor only scrolls down the page and leaves, or downloads a file and exits the site. For more information, please refer to Google's official help page.

Conversion report

This report allows you to check the inflow path for each conversion.

Setup Method

• Dimensions:Event name , Session source / medium
• Metrics:Active users , Conversions
• Type:Free form
• Visualization:Table
• Celltype:Bar graph 

 

Looker Studio for GA4 report creation that is easy for anyone to understand 

We have explained how to use "Reports," but because of the complexity of how to customize report items (dimensions and indicators) and the lack of design flexibility, "Reports" are only specialized for those in charge to understand the overall situation.

If you want to create a GA4 report that is easy for anyone to understand, we recommend Google's Looker Studio, which is easy to customize items and offers a high degree of freedom in design.

Here is a free trial version of the very popular GA4 Looker Studio template. It is completely free and available immediately, so if you are having trouble creating a GA4 report that is easy for everyone to understand, please give it a try.

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