Google Analytics for Medium: Everything You Need to Know

The source and medium dimension in Google Analytics 4 reveals the origins of your website traffic (e.g., Facebook, Bing) and the method through which it arrived (e.g., newsletter).

Understanding the classification of sources and mediums in GA4, where to locate them, and how to use them effectively is crucial.

Here’s what we’ll explore:

• Comparing Source Medium Google Analytics
• Understanding Scopes with Source and Medium
• How Do You Find the GA4 Source Medium?
• What is Source Medium vs Channel?
• Which Sources Are Available in Google Analytics?
• Which Mediums Are Available in Google Analytics?
• How to Track Traffic Sources in Google Analytics

Let’s dive in!

Comparing Source Medium Google Analytics

What is a Traffic Source?

Every visitor to your website has an origin, referred to as the “source” in Google Analytics. This indicates where your traffic is coming from, such as Google, YouTube, Instagram, or Bing.

What is a Medium?

The “medium” indicates how users reach your site, describing the method used to deliver traffic, such as organic search, paid search (CPC), or email campaigns.

For instance, if someone clicks a link in a blog post and lands on your website, the medium would be organic. If they click on an ad, the medium is CPC. Links in emails driving traffic to your site are classified under the email medium.

Understanding Scopes with Source and Medium

GA4 categorizes traffic acquisition into three groups, known as Scopes:

- Users

- Sessions

- Events

For the first two, GA4 adds a prefix like First user or Session.

These scopes are applied to the source and medium dimensions, which is why you might see dimensions such as First user source, First user medium, and First user source/medium.

This helps you identify which group your data belongs to.

User-Scoped Dimensions

User-scoped dimensions refer to new users visiting your website, labeled as the First user. The User acquisition report provides insights into users who discovered your website for the first time.

In this report, you’ll find dimensions like First user source, First user medium, or First user source/medium, which indicate the sources that initially brought users to your website.

To access this information:

1. In the navigation panel, click on Reports.

2. Under Acquisition, select User acquisition.

3. Click the primary dimension to choose a new one.

Now, you'll see a list of First user dimensions, including those related to the source and medium.

Session-Scoped Dimensions

The same applies to the Session scope.

For instance, in the Traffic acquisition report, you can select dimensions like Session source, Session medium, or Session source/medium. These dimensions reveal the sources and mediums that drive new sessions, whether from new or returning users.

To find this information:

1. Follow the same steps as for the User acquisition report, but choose the Traffic acquisition report instead.

Here is the list of session-scoped dimensions (including those for source and medium) that are primary dimensions in the Traffic acquisition report:

- Session primary channel group (Default Channel Group)

- Session default channel group

- Session source / medium

- Session source

- Session source platform

- Session campaign

How to Find the GA4 Source Medium

You can find and use source/medium information in various areas within GA4:

- Report Snapshot

- Standard Reports (User acquisition or Traffic acquisition)

- Explorations

1. Reports Snapshot

For a quick overview of your sources and mediums:

1. Go to the Navigation panel and click on Reports.

2. Locate the Traffic Acquisition card in the report snapshot.

Here, you can view sessions by session medium. To switch to session source or source/medium, click the small arrow. You can make the same changes in the View user acquisition card.

2. Standard Reports

The best place to find a dedicated source/medium report in the standard reports is within the Acquisition section.

To access it:

1. Follow the same steps as before to open the Report snapshot.

2. Scroll down to find the Traffic acquisition card or User acquisition card.

3. Click the link to access the detailed reports.

Remember, the User acquisition report provides data on users who first discovered your site. The Traffic acquisition report, on the other hand, includes information about all your traffic, encompassing both new and returning users.

3. Explorations

Explorations are the best way to customize source/medium reports to fit your needs, providing greater flexibility and deeper insights:

1. Go to the Navigation panel and click on Explore.

2. Click on Blank to create a new Exploration, or select an existing one.

3.Click the plus sign in the Dimensions section.

4.Add the session source or medium you’re interested in and click Import. You can type the dimension in the search bar.

5.Follow the same steps to add a metric. We’ll use Active Users.

6.Double-click on both the dimension and metric to see the data in your to see your session source and medium data.

How to Track Traffic Sources in Google Analytics

Although GA4 does a great job at classifying traffic sources, data can be lost along the way, or your source/mediums can end up fragmented.?

The most effective way to track traffic sources is by using UTMs to tag your URLs. This method allows you to have a lot of control over how you classify your traffic sources.

It helps you analyze how well your different marketing efforts are performing and figure out which sources and ways of advertising are the most effective.

See How to Track UTM Codes in Google Analytics 4 to learn how to tag like a pro.