How To Check Website Traffic on Google Analytics

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If you own a website, knowing where your visitors come from helps you understand them better and decide where to focus your efforts. Google Analytics 4 is a useful tool for this, but sometimes the data about your website traffic can get a bit unclear due to various reasons.

Today, we’ll explore how to check website traffic on Google Analytics for important campaigns. We’ll also discuss how to understand this data and what actions you can take to boost conversions

Can Google Analytics Track Traffic Sources?

Normally, GA4 does a good job of figuring out where your website visitors come from without you doing anything. But, there are extra things you can do to better track where your website traffic is coming from.

It’s not just about knowing where to look at reports for your traffic. It’s also important to make sure this information is super accurate. You want to understand which sources of traffic bring in what and get helpful insights to achieve the results you want.

Which Traffic Metric Should You Measure? 

The metrics we discussed can give you useful details about the number of people coming to your website and which pages they visit the most. Users and sessions measure slightly different things, but they generally show similar trends. The choice between them depends on your business goals and SEO targets. You can also keep an eye on both.

All traffic metrics can be observed across various traffic channels. Now, let’s explore the different types of web traffic, understand their differences, and figure out which ones are most relevant to SEO.

How to Check Website Traffic On Google Analytics

Log Into Google Analytics

To check your website traffic on Google Analytics, start by logging into the dashboard. Visit https://analytics.google.com, then choose the right website property and select the Google Analytics version (Universal or GA4) for the website traffic you want to see.

Go to Website Acquisition Overview

Once you’re logged into Google Analytics, the next step to check your website traffic is to get a quick overview of your website’s statistics. 

The instructions for both Google Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) are provided below.

For Google Universal Analytics:

• Navigate to Reports, then go to Acquisition, and finally, select Overview.

For Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

• Go to Reports, then click on Acquisition, and finally, select Acquisition Overview.

View Website Traffic on GA In Realtime

If you want to see your website’s traffic in real-time, Google Analytics gives you that information. Follow these steps to find this screen on your GA dashboard:

• Open your Google Analytics account.
• Look for the option that says “Realtime” or “Real-Time” in the menu.
• In this section, you’ll find details like the number of people currently on your site in the last 5 to 30 minutes, top websites referring visitors to your site, and where your traffic is coming from.

Changing the Website Traffic Date Range

If you want to check website traffic on Google Analytics for a specific period, you can do it in the GA dashboard. Just change the date range by clicking on the date picker in the top right corner of the screen. The options for analyzing website traffic in GA include:

• Today
• Yesterday
• Last Week
• Last Month
• Last 7 Days
• Last 30 Days
• Last 90 Days (GA4 Only)
• Last 12 Months (GA4 Only)
• Last Calendar Year (GA4 Only)
• This Year (GA4 Only)
• Custom Date Range of Your Choosing

Check Website Traffic Acquisition Channels

If you want to find out where people are coming to your website by checking website traffic on Google Analytics, look at traffic sources. This shows you which online marketing methods bring the most visitors to your site, like:

These are the different ways people might find your website:

• Organic Search: People find your site through search engines like Google.
• Direct: Visitors come directly to your site by typing the web address.
• Social: People discover your site through social media platforms.
• Referral: Others link to your site, and people click those links to visit.
• Organic Video: Visitors find your site through video content.
• Other or Unassigned: Other sources that don’t fit into the categories mentioned.

Here are the steps to check each traffic source in both Google Analytics Universal and Google Analytics 4:

For Google Universal Analytics:

• Navigate to the “Reports” section, then choose “Acquisition.” From there, go to “All Traffic,” and finally, select “Channels.”

For Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

• Go to the “Reports” section, then click on “Acquisition,” and finally, select “Traffic Acquisition.”

Check Website Audience Demographics

If you’re interested in understanding the demographics of your website visitors using Google Analytics, you can do it easily by following these steps:

• Open your Google Analytics account.
• Look for the “Audience” section in the menu.
• Click on “Overview” to access the Audience Overview dashboard.
• Here, you’ll find key insights about your audience, such as the languages they prefer, the countries they are from, the cities they are located in, and the gender distribution.

For Google Universal Analytics:

To view important metrics about your website audience in Google Universal Analytics, follow these steps:

• Navigate to the “Reports” section.
• Click on “Audience,” and then select “Overview.

On the Audience Overview screen, you’ll find key metrics like:

• Users
• New Users
• Sessions
• Number of Sessions Per User
• Pageviews
• Pages Per Session
• Average Session Duration
• Bounce Rate
• New vs Returning Users

For more specific details about your audience, you can explore the left-hand menu. Click on items like “Demographics,” “Interests,” and “Geolocation” to get deeper insights.

For Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

To view demographic data for your website in GA4, follow these steps:

• Go to the “Reports” section.
• Click on “Demographics,” and then select “Demographics Overview.

On this audience overview screen in GA4, you’ll find an overview of demographic data, including:

• Country
• City
• Gender
• Interests
• Age
• Language

For more specific details about your audience, click on the “Demographic Details” link in the left-hand menu. On the new screen, use the “Country” dropdown field above the “Totals” column to change the audience metric you want to explore, such as Region, City, Language, Age, Gender, or Interest.

Analyze Website Visitor Technology

In Google Analytics, you can analyze an important website traffic metric related to the technology used by your visitors. This report provides insights into how users interact with your web pages using different computer and mobile technologies. Here are some types of technology traffic you can check in GA:

• Browser: This shows you which web browsers your visitors are using.
• Operating System: It reveals the operating systems (e.g., Windows, macOS, Android) your audience is using.
• Service Provider: This indicates the internet service providers your visitors use to access your site.
• Screen Resolution: It displays the various screen resolutions on the devices your audience uses.
• Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet: This helps you understand the distribution of traffic across desktop computers, mobile devices, and tablets.

For Google Universal Analytics:

• Navigate to the “Reports” section, then click on “Audience.” From there, choose either “Technology” or “Mobile” to access information about the technology used by your website visitors.

For Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

• Navigate to the “Reports” section, then click on “Tech.” Once there, select “Tech Overview” to access information about the technology overview of your website visitors.

In GA4, you can explore specific details about your audience’s technology by clicking on the “Tech Details” link in the left-hand menu. On the new screen, click on the “Browser” dropdown field above the “Totals” column. You can then change it to report other audience metrics, such as Device Model, Screen Resolution, Platform, Operating System, and more.

Use Google Analytics To Monitor Organic Traffic

First, go to your dashboard. Then, click on ‘Acquisition’ and go to ‘Overview.’ Here, you’ll see a breakdown of the different ways people are getting to your site.

If you want more details about each way people find your site, click on ‘Traffic acquisition’ report.

To see information about each specific page, you can make a report like the Universal Analytics Landing Page report. This report helps you see how well each page is doing. You can find out which pages are popular and which ones might need some changes to do better.

By default, the landing pages are listed from the most views to the least. This helps you see where visitors spend most of their time on your website. You can figure out what’s working well and what might need some changes to do better.

If you want to find pages that might need changes, click on the arrow in the sessions column. This will show you the least popular pages at the top of the list.

Use Google Analytics To Check Referral Traffic

Go to your Google Analytics dashboard and click on Acquisition, then Traffic Acquisition. In the search box under the line graph, type ‘referrals.

Next, click the down triangle next to ‘Session default channel grouping’ and choose ‘Session source/medium.’ This will show you a list of websites that have sent traffic to your pages, sorted by the number of sessions.

To understand if the referral traffic is good, don’t just focus on the total number of users or sessions. Look at how these visitors are interacting with your site. For example, check which sites bring visitors who spend more time on your site or take certain actions. Are visitors from some sites more likely to become customers?

Use this information to figure out where your most engaged and profitable referral traffic is coming from. Plan ways to increase traffic from those sources and find similar websites to get more links. Adjust your SEO strategy based on what you learn to make the most of this knowledge.

Conclusion:

The most effective way to monitor your website’s visitors is by using Google Analytics. With it, you can develop a solid business plan by keeping tabs on where your website traffic originates and identifying the most visited pages. If you’re interested in attracting free organic users to your site, you can visit our website for complimentary services. Simply sign up for Traffic and receive free organic traffic for your website.