Dimensions and Metrics in Google Analytics

Dimensions and Metrics are the basis on which all reports in Google Analytics are made. There are over 400 dimensions and metrics available in GA, and if there is not one that meets your needs you can always create your custom dimensions and custom metrics. You can explore these 400 metrics and dimensions through one out of three modes: API, Web, and App.

• API- this mode allows you to view the dimensions and metrics as they are referenced through the Google Analytics API (ga:userType, ga:sessionCount).
• Web- this mode is used when you are tracking a website and it shows the dimensions and metrics as they are named in the GA interface (User Type, Session Count).
• App- you use this mode when you are tracking information about a mobile application. Similar to the web mode, the App mode also shows the metrics and dimensions with their names shown in the GA interface.

Before we dive into what dimensions and metrics are it is crucial to understand the difference between them:

Dimensions describe the data

Dimensions answer the question "what", as in "what city is the visitor from"; "what is the visitors' age" and so on. Dimensions make up the descriptive aspects of the data.

Metrics measure the data

Metrics are elements of a dimension that can be measured. Metrics answer the question "how", as in "how long has the visitor been on the page"; "how many visits did the user make" and so on. Metrics are the measurements that are made against the dimensions.

What is Scope?

Scope, at its core, is basically how Google Analytics collects, processes, and formats the data it receives. Scope is the way dimensions and metrics are set up. Each dimension and metric can have only one scope, and for dimensions and metrics to be compatible they need to have the same scope. The data in GA is organized into 4 scope types:

Hit Scope

A hit is defined as any single action made by a user on your website, which then sends data to GA. A hit can be a pageview, an event, watching a video, downloading a pdf, making a transaction, and so on.

Session Scope

A session is a group of hits that are recorded for a user in a given time period.

For example, a user enters your website and watches a few videos, browses a few different pages, and then exits the website. Now all of those activities are hits, but they are all combined into one single session for that particular visit.

User Scope

This scope is considered the highest level of data collected in GA. Before we explain this type of scope, it is important to understand how GA defines each user. When visitors enter your websites usually you ask them to agree to cookies and privacy policy. Google Analytics uses the cookies to implement a unique for each browser Client ID. The client ID is then stored into the cookie in the browser and every time that user visits your website Google Analytics can determine that they are a returning visitor.

The only downside to this is that when users clear their browsing history and cookies data. When that happens Google Analytics will generate a new client ID for that user. It is very crucial to understand that a user does not equal a person. For example, one person can enter your website from 3 different browsers and for each browser, he will have a different client ID and therefore be counted as 3 users. Think of it this way, a user is equal to a cookie tied to the browser a person is using.

Now that we know what a user is we can continue to understand what dimensions and metrics fall into the user scope. Basically, any dimension and metric that relates to a specific aspect of a user has a user-level scope.

Users are made up of one or more sessions, those sessions are made up of one or more hits, and those hits can have one or more products associated with them. From this, we can conclude that scope has a hierarchical structure as you can see in the image.

Product Scope (Ecommerce)

The product scope is specifically for ecommerce purposes. These dimensions and metrics work only for websites that have implemented Enhanced Ecommerce. The value of this scope applies to the product for which it has been set. In most cases, they refer to the purchase process set up on your website. The product scope is used to send information about each product that is sent through Enhanced Ecommerce.

What are dimensions?

A dimension is a common attribute of visitors to your website.

For example, 30 people have visited your website in the last month through organic search, now all of those 30 people have one common characteristic/attribute which will be displayed in GA as the dimension "Source".

Dimensions are made up of names and values. Each dimension has one name but it can have multiple values. In the example below, we can see how that looks in the interface.

What are the different types of dimensions?

The dimensions in Google Analytics can broadly be classified into two categories:

• Default Dimensions- these are the preset dimensions that are already available in GA.
• Custom Dimensions- these are user-defined dimensions. You can create these dimensions as a way to better analyze specific attributes compatible with your business.

We can also classify dimensions based on what they signify in a report:

• Primary- this dimension is the main focus of the report. You can change the primary dimension in the report by clicking the provided options as shown below. If you cannot find the dimension you are looking for you can use the "Other" dropdown menu and search for the desired dimension.

• Secondary- this is an additional dimension you can include so you can have a more granular view of the data in your report. You can search and choose between the dimensions from the dropdown menu.

Most common default dimensions

User Dimensions - User type, Count of sessions, Days since last session, Customer Lifetime value, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Users- The total number of users for the requested time period.
• New Users- The number of sessions marked as a user's first sessions.
• % New Sessions- The percentage of sessions by users who had never visited the property before.
• Number of sessions per user- The total number of sessions divided by the total number of users.

Session Dimensions- Session Duration, Session count, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Sessions- The total number of sessions.
• Bounces- The total number of single page (or single interaction hit) sessions for the property.
• Bounce Rate- The percentage of a single-page session (i.e., session in which the person left the website from the first page).
• Session Duration- Total duration (in seconds) of users' sessions.
• Average Session Duration- The average duration (in seconds) of users' sessions.
• Unique Dimension Combinations- Unique Dimension Combinations counts the number of unique dimension-value combinations for each dimension in a report. This lets you build combined (concatenated) dimensions post-processing, which allows for more flexible reporting without having to update your tracking implementation or use additional custom-dimension slots. For more information, see https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/7084499.
• Hits- Total number of hits for the view (profile). This metric sums all hit types, including pageview, custom event, ecommerce, and other types. Because this metric is based on the view.

Traffic Sources Dimensions- Campaign, Source, Medium, Keyword, etc.

The metric that is compatible with this type of dimensions is:

• Organic Searches- The number of organic searches that happened in a session. This metric is search engine agnostic.

Google Ads Dimensions- Google Ads Campaign ID, Ad group ID, Query Match type, Placement Domain, Placement URL, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Impressions- Total number of campaign impressions.
• Clicks- Total number of times users have clicked on an ad to reach the property.
• Cost- Derived cost for the advertising campaign. Its currency is the one you set in the AdWords account.
• CPM- Cost per thousand impressions.
• CPC- Cost to advertiser per click.
• CTR- Click-through-rate for the ad. This is equal to the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions for the ad (e.g., how many times users clicked on one of the ads where that ad appeared).
• Cost per transaction- The cost per transaction for the property.
• Cost per Goal Conversion- The cost per goal conversion for the property.
• Cost per Conversion- The cost per conversion (including ecommerce and goal conversions) for the property.
• RPC- RPC or revenue-per-click, the average revenue (from ecommerce sales and/or goal value) you received for each click on one of the search ads.
• ROAS- Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) is the total transaction revenue and goal value divided by derived advertising cost.

Goal Conversions Dimensions- Goal Completion Location, Goal Previous step-1\2,

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Goal XX Starts- The total number of starts for the requested goal number.
• Goal Starts- Total number of starts for all goals defined in the profile.
• Goal XX Completions- The total number of completions for the requested goal number.
• Goal Completion- Total number of completions for all goals defined in the profile.
• Goal XX Value- The total numeric value for the requested goal number.
• Goal Value- Total numeric value for all goals defined in the profile.
• Per Session Goal Value- The average goal value of a session.
• Goal XX Conversion Rate- Percentage of sessions resulting in a conversion to the requested goal number.
• Goal Conversion Rate- The percentage of sessions which resulted in a conversion to at least one of the goals.
• Goal XX Abandoned Funnels- The number of times users started conversion activity on the requested goal number without actually completing it.
• Abandoned Funnels- The overall number of times users started goals without actually completing them.
• Goal XX Abandonment Rate- The rate at which the requested goal number was abandoned.
• Total Abandonment Rate- Goal abandonment rate.

Platform or Device Dimensions

These dimensions do not have metrics associated with them, they only have dimensions values. Listed below are the dimensions in this category:

1. Browser Dimension
2. Browser Version
3. Operating System
4. Operating System Version
5. Mobile Device Branding
6. Mobile Device Model
7. Mobile Input Selector- Selector (e.g., touchscreen, joystick, click wheel, stylus) used on the mobile device.
8. Mobile Device Info- The branding, model, and marketing name used to identify the mobile device.
9. Mobile Device Marketing Name- The marketing name used for the mobile device.
10. Device Category- The type of device: desktop, tablet, or mobile.
11. Browser Size- The viewport size of users' browsers. A session-scoped dimension, browser size captures the initial dimensions of the viewport in pixels and is formatted as width x height, for example, 1920x960.
12. Data Source- The data source of a hit. By default, hits sent from analytics.js are reported as "web" and hits sent from the mobile SDKs are reported as "app". These values can be overridden in the Measurement Protocol.

Geo Network Dimensions

These dimensions also don't have metrics associated with them. Below is a list of some of the dimensions in this category:

1. Continent
2. Subcontinent
3. Country
4. Region
5. Metro-The Designated Market Area (DMA) from where traffic arrived.
6. City
7. Latitude- The approximate latitude of users' city, derived from their IP addresses or Geographical IDs. Locations north of the equator have positive latitudes and locations south of the equator have negative latitudes.
8. Longitude- The approximate longitude of users' city, derived from their IP addresses or Geographical IDs. Locations east of the prime meridian have positive longitudes and locations west of the prime meridian have negative longitudes.
9. Network Domain- The domain name of users' ISP, derived from the domain name registered to the ISP's IP address.
10. Service Provider- the names of the service providers used to reach the property. For example, if most users of the website come via the major cable internet service providers, its value will be these service providers' names.

System Dimensions- Screen Resolution, Java Support, Flash Version, etc.

These dimensions also do not have metrics associated with them. The list below shows all available dimensions in this category:

1. Flash Version- The version of Flash, including minor versions, supported by users' browsers.
2. Java Support- A boolean, either Yes or No, indicating whether Java is enabled in users' browsers.
3. Language
4. Screen Colors
5. Source Property Display Name- Source property display name of roll-up properties. This is valid for only roll-up properties.
6. Source Property Tracking ID- Source property tracking ID of roll-up properties. This is valid for only roll-up properties.
7. Screen Resolution

Page Tracking Dimensions- Landing Page, Page, Exit Page, Previous Page, Page path level 1\2, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Page Value- The average value of this page or set of pages, which is equal to (ga:transactionRevenue + ga:goalValueAll) / ga:uniquePageviews.
• Entrances- The number of entrances to the property measured as the first pageview in a session, typically used with landingPagePath.
• Entrances\ Pageviews- The percentage of pageviews in which this page was the entrance.
• Pageviews- The total number of pageviews for the property.
• Pages\ Session- The average number of pages viewed during a session, including repeated views of a single page.
• Unique Pageviews- This is the number of sessions during which the specified page was viewed at least once. A unique pageview is counted for each page URL + page title combination.
• Time on page- Time (in seconds) users spent on a particular page, calculated by subtracting the initial view time for a particular page from the initial view time for a subsequent page. This metric does not apply to exit pages of the property.
• Average Time on page- The average time users spent viewing this page or a set of pages.
• Exits- The number of exits from the property.
• % Exits- The percentage of exits from the property that occurred out of the total page views.

Event Tracking Dimensions- Event Category, Event Action, Event Label.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Total Events- The total number of events for the profile, across all categories.
• Unique Events- The number of unique events. Events in different sessions are counted as separate events.
• Event Value- Total value of events for the profile.
• Avg. Value- The average value of an event.
• Sessions with event- The total number of sessions with events.
• Events\Session with Event- The average number of events per session with an event.

Ecommerce Dimensions

Since this category of dimensions is widely used we will look at both all of the dimensions available in this category and the metrics that apply to them.

Dimensions:

1. Transaction ID dimension- The transaction ID, supplied by the eCommerce tracking method, for the purchase in the shopping cart.
2. Product SKU- The product SKU, defined in the ecommerce tracking application, for purchased items.
3. Product- The product name, supplied by the eCommerce tracking application, for purchased items.
4. Currency Code- The local currency code (based on ISO 4217 standard) of the transaction.
5. Checkout Options- User options specified during the checkout process, e.g., FedEx, DHL, UPS for delivery options; Visa, MasterCard, AmEx for payment options. This dimension should be used with ga: shopping stage.
6. Internal Promotion Creative- The creative content designed for promotion.
7. Internal Promotion ID- The ID of the promotion.
8. Internal Promotion Name
9. Internal Promotion Position- The position of the promotion on the web page or application screen.
10. Product Brand
11. Product Category- The hierarchical category in which the product is classified.
12. Product Coupon Code- Code for the product-level coupon.
13. Product List Name- The name of the product list in which the product appears.
14. Product List position- The position of the product in the product list
15. Product Variant- The specific variation of a product, e.g., XS, S, M, L for size; or Red, Blue, Green, Black for color.
16. Shopping Stage- Various stages of the shopping experience that users completed in a session, e.g., PRODUCT_VIEW, ADD_TO_CART, CHECKOUT, etc.

Note that the listed below metrics are not compatible with every dimension, use the Dimensions and Metrics Explorer for valid combinations. Metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Transactions- total number of transactions
• Ecommerce Conversion Rate- The average number of transactions in a session.
• Revenue- The total sale revenue (excluding shipping and tax) of the transaction.
• Avg. Order Value- The average revenue of an ecommerce transaction.
• Per Session Value- Average transaction revenue for a session.
• Shipping- The total cost of shipping.
• Tax- Total tax for the transaction.
• Total Value- Total value for the property (including total revenue and total goal value).
• Quantity- Total number of items purchased. For example, if users purchase 2 scooters and 5 basketballs, this will be 7.
• Unique purchases- The number of product sets purchased. For example, if users purchase 2 scooters and 5 basketballs from the site, this will be 2.
• Average Price- The average revenue per item
• Product Revenue- The total revenue from purchased product items.
• Avg. QTY- The average quantity of this item (or group of items) sold per purchase.
• Local Revenue- Transaction revenue in local currency
• Local Shipping
• Local Tax
• Local Product Revenue
• Buy-to-Detail Rate- Unique purchases divided by views of product detail pages.
• Cart-to-detail rate- Product adds divided by views of product details.
• Internal Promotion CTR- The rate at which users clicked through to view the internal promotion.
• Internal Promotion Clicks- The number of clicks on an internal promotion.
• Internal Promotion Views- The number of views of an internal promotion.
• Local Product Refund Amount- Refund amount in local currency for a given product.
• Local Refund Amount- Total refund amount in local currency for the transaction.
• Product Adds to Cart- Number of times the product was added to the shopping cart.
• Product Checkouts- Number of times the product was included in the check-out process.
• Product Detail Views- Number of times users viewed the product detail page.
• Product List CTR
• Product List Clicks
• Product List Views
• Product Refund Amount- Total refund amount associated with the product.
• Product Refunds- Number of times a refund was issued for the product.
• Product Removes from Cart
• Product Revenue per purchase- Average product revenue per purchase (commonly used with Product Coupon Code)
• Quantity Added to Cart- Number of product units added to the shopping cart.
• Quantity Checked Out- Number of product units included in check out.
• Quantity Refunded- Number of product units refunded.
• Quantity removed from cart
• Refund Amount- Currency amount refunded for a transaction.
• Revenue per user- The total sale revenue (excluding shipping and tax) of the transaction divided by the total number of users.
• Refunds- Number of refunds that have been issued.
• Transactions per user- Total number of transactions divided by the total number of users.

Internal Search Dimensions- Site Search Status, Search Term, Site Search Category, Start Page, Destination Page, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Results Pageviews- The number of times a search result page was viewed.
• Total Unique Searches- Total number of unique keywords from internal searches within a session. For example, if "eyeliner" was searched for 3 times in a session, it would be counted only once.
• Results Pageviews / Search- The average number of times people viewed a page as a result of a search.
• Sessions with Search- The total number of sessions that included an internal search.
• % Sessions with Search- The percentage of sessions with search.
• Search Depth- The total number of subsequent page views made after use of the site's internal search feature.
• Avg. Search Depth- The average number of pages people viewed after performing a search.
• Search Refinements- The total number of times a refinement (transition) occurs between internal keywords search within a session. For example, if the sequence of keywords is "shoes", "shoes", "pants", "pants", this metric will be one because the transition between "shoes" and "pants" is different.
• % Search Refinements- The percentage of the number of times a refinement (i.e., transition) occurs between internal keywords search within a session.
• Time after Search- The session duration when the site's internal search feature is used.
• Time after Search- The average time (in seconds) users, after searching, spent on the property.
• Search Exits- The number of exits on the site that occurred following a search result from the site's internal search feature.
• % Search Exit- The percentage of searches that resulted in an immediate exit from the property.
• Site Search Goal Conversion Rate- The percentage of search sessions (i.e., sessions that included at least one search) resulting in a conversion to at least one of the goals.
• Per Search Goal Value- The average goal value of a search.

Social Interactions Dimensions- Social Network, Social Action, Social Type, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Social Actions- The total number of social interactions.
• Unique Social Actions- The number of sessions during which the specified social action(s) occurred at least once. This is based on the unique combination of socialInteractionNetwork, socialInteractionAction, and socialInteractionTarget.
• Actions per social session- The number of social interactions per session.

Time Dimensions

Here again, we do not have metrics, only dimensions, and their values.

1. Date
2. Year
3. Month of the year- Month of the session, a two-digit integer from 01 to 12.
4. Week of the year- The week of the session, a two-digit number from 01 to 53. Each week starts on Sunday.
5. Day of the month- The day of the month, a two-digit number from 01 to 31.
6. Hour
7. Minute
8. Month Index- The index for a month in the specified date range. In the date range, the index for the first month is 0, for the second month 1, and so on.
9. Week Index- The index for each week in the specified date range. The index for the first week in the date range is 0, for the second week 1, and so on. The index corresponds to week entries.
10. Day Index
11. Minute Index
12. Day of week- Day of the week, a one-digit number from 0 (Sunday) to 6 (Saturday).
13. Day of week name- Name (in English) of the day of the week.
14. Hour of day- Combined values of ga:date and ga:hour formatted as YYYYMMDDHH.
15. Date Hour and Minute
16. Month of year- Combined values of ga:year and ga:month.
17. Week of year- Combined values of ga:year and ga:week.
18. Hour Index

Audience Dimensions

Once again, no metrics available just the dimensions and their values.

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Other Category- Indicates that users are more likely to be interested in learning about the specified category, and more likely to be ready to purchase.
4. Affinity Category- Indicates that users are more likely to be interested in learning about the specified category.
5. In-Market segment- Indicates that users are more likely to be ready to purchase products or services in the specified category.

Lifetime value and Cohorts Dimensions- Acquisition Channel, Acquisition Campaign, Acquisition Source, Acquisition Medium, etc.

Some of the metrics that are compatible with this type of dimensions include:

• Users- cohort active users. This metric indicates the number of users in the cohort who are active in the time window corresponding to the cohort nth day/week/month.
• Appviews per User- App views per user for a cohort.
• Appviews per User LTV (Life-time value)- App views per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• Goal Completions per user- Goal completions per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• Goal Completions per user LTV- Goal completions per user for a cohort.
• PageViews per User- Pageviews per user for a cohort.
• PageViews per User (LTV)- Pageviews per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• User Retention- Cohort retention rate.
• Revenue per user- Revenue per user for a cohort.
• Revenue per user (LTV)- Revenue per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• Session duration per user- Session duration per user for a cohort.
• Session duration per user (LTV)- Session duration per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• Sessions per user- Sessions per user for a cohort.
• Sessions per user (LTV)- Sessions per user for the acquisition dimension for a cohort.
• Total Users- Number of users belonging to the cohort, also known as cohort size.
• Users- It represents the number of users in the cohorts who are acquired through the current channel/source/medium/campaign.

Channel Grouping Dimensions- Default Channel Grouping

This category has only one available dimension and no metrics associated with it.

1. Default Channel Grouping- The Channel Group associated with an end user's session for this View (defined by the View's Channel Groupings).

Note: For a full list of all default dimensions and metrics in Google Analytics, browse the Dimensions and Metrics Explorer.

What is a metric?

A metric is a number (number values, %, $, time) that is used to measure one of the characteristics of a dimension. We can think of them as quantitative measurements of data that can show us how a website is performing in relation to a specific dimension. Overall metrics are helpful for analyzing data, but they are irrelevant without dimensions to compare them against.

Types of metrics

Similar to dimensions metrics can be divided into two categories:

• Default metrics- the preset metrics available in Google Analytics
• Custom metrics- user-defined metrics.

Default Metrics

In the Google Analytics Interface and in most reports you will see the default metrics are grouped into:

1. Acquisition metrics

This type of metrics answer questions such as how did people get to your site and who they are. Metrics in this group include:

• Users- this is the total number of visitors for the selected time period
• New Users- this is the number of sessions that are marked as a visitor's first session.
• Sessions- The total number of sessions. Note that a session is automatically ending after 30 minutes of inactivity of a visitor on your site.

2. Behavior Metrics

• Bounce Rate- This is the percentage of a single-page session, which means the visitor left the website on the first page he opened.
• Exit rate- This metric shows the percentage of exits from the website that occurred out of the total pageviews.
• Pages/Sessions- The average number of pages viewed during a single session, including the repeated views of a single page.
• Session Duration- this metric relays the average length of a session.

3. Conversion Metrics

• Ecommerce Conversion Rate- the percentage of sessions that included a transaction.
• Transactions- the average number of transactions that were completed in a session.
• Revenue- the total sale revenue (excluding shipping and tax) of the transaction.

Conclusion

Google Analytics provides a wide variety of dimensions and metrics with which you can experiment and ultimately gain a better insight into how your business is performing online. Dimensions and metrics help you to map out the ecosystem of your website and from where visitors are coming from and how they are moving through your site. They also help you to compare segments (For example New vs Returning Users) so you can analyze the performance of different groups. Another benefit is that with them you can identify optimization opportunities.

However, numbers can't answer all of your questions. Dimensions and metrics can't show you for example what exactly users are looking for when they enter your website or the precise reason why they left the products page and so on. Google Analytics is a powerful tool and the best approach is to combine the data from it with other tools. Some of the most insightful tools when it comes to understanding the behavior of your users are:

• Heat Maps

Heat maps can reveal user behavior on a page/pages, and give information about which buttons and Call-to-Actions (CTA) receive the most interactions and which are underperforming. This can play a crucial role in your optimization strategies.

Combining the insights from Google Analytics data and Heat Maps can significantly improve the overall understanding of the performance of your website. There is a wide variety of heat map tools, with the most famous one being Hotjar, but there are other options from which you can choose.

• Session Recordings

Session recordings are also an amazing tool in your analytics arsenal. With them, you can view recordings of what users do when they enter your site. Hotjar also has a session recordings feature you can explore.

• Surveys

Surveys can play a huge role in understanding users' behavior. What better way to understand users than to ask them directly? Surveys let users explain why they do certain actions on your website. When possible always ask for feedback, as it can help your optimization strategy immensely.