Initial commit
This commit is contained in:
Zhongwei Li
621
skills/ga4-custom-dimensions/references/custom-metrics-guide.md
Normal file
621
skills/ga4-custom-dimensions/references/custom-metrics-guide.md
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,621 @@
|
||||
# Custom Metrics & Calculated Metrics Complete Guide
|
||||
|
||||
## Understanding GA4 Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
**Metrics** in GA4 are measurements or counts of user activity. They answer "How much?" or "How many?" questions.
|
||||
|
||||
**Built-in GA4 Metrics (Examples):**
|
||||
- users
|
||||
- sessions
|
||||
- events
|
||||
- pageViews
|
||||
- revenue
|
||||
- conversions
|
||||
|
||||
**Custom Metrics** extend GA4 with business-specific numerical tracking.
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Standard Custom Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
### What Are Custom Metrics?
|
||||
|
||||
Custom metrics track numerical values associated with events. Unlike custom dimensions (which are categorical), metrics are numbers that aggregate and calculate.
|
||||
|
||||
**Use custom metrics for:**
|
||||
- Quantities (items purchased, users in queue)
|
||||
- Durations (video watch time, form fill time)
|
||||
- Ratings (user satisfaction score, product rating)
|
||||
- Percentages (completion rate, engagement rate)
|
||||
- Monetary values (order value, customer lifetime value)
|
||||
- Any numerical KPI
|
||||
|
||||
### Custom Metric Implementation
|
||||
|
||||
**Step 1: Send Numerical Parameter in Event**
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
// Video completion tracking
|
||||
gtag('event', 'video_watched', {
|
||||
'video_title': 'GA4 Basics',
|
||||
'video_duration': 1200, // seconds - METRIC
|
||||
'minutes_watched': 18, // METRIC
|
||||
'completion_percentage': 85 // METRIC
|
||||
});
|
||||
|
||||
// E-commerce order tracking
|
||||
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
|
||||
'transaction_id': 'TXN_123',
|
||||
'items': [...]
|
||||
// Note: 'value' parameter in purchase is auto-metric
|
||||
'avg_item_price': 45.50, // METRIC
|
||||
'discount_amount': 15.00 // METRIC
|
||||
});
|
||||
|
||||
// Form completion tracking
|
||||
gtag('event', 'form_submit', {
|
||||
'form_name': 'contact',
|
||||
'form_fields_filled': 8, // METRIC
|
||||
'time_to_submit': 120, // seconds - METRIC
|
||||
'form_abandonment_rate': 0 // METRIC
|
||||
});
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Important:** Send as numerical values, not strings.
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
// CORRECT
|
||||
'duration': 120 // Number
|
||||
|
||||
// WRONG
|
||||
'duration': '120' // String - will be treated as dimension
|
||||
'duration': '120s' // String - invalid
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Step 2: Verify in DebugView
|
||||
|
||||
1. GA4 Admin → DebugView
|
||||
2. Trigger event with metric parameter
|
||||
3. Click event in left panel
|
||||
4. See parameter in event details
|
||||
5. Confirm value is numerical
|
||||
|
||||
**DebugView Example:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Event: video_watched
|
||||
|
||||
Parameters:
|
||||
- video_title: "GA4 Basics"
|
||||
- video_duration: 1200
|
||||
- minutes_watched: 18
|
||||
- completion_percentage: 85
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Step 3: Register Custom Metric
|
||||
|
||||
1. Admin → Data Display → Custom Definitions
|
||||
2. Click **"Create Custom Metric"** button
|
||||
3. Fill the form:
|
||||
|
||||
| Field | Entry | Example |
|
||||
|-------|-------|---------|
|
||||
| Metric Name | Display name | "Video Duration (seconds)" |
|
||||
| Type | Select "Standard" | Standard |
|
||||
| Measurement Unit | (Optional) unit for reporting | "seconds" |
|
||||
| Event Parameter | Parameter name | "video_duration" |
|
||||
| Description | What it tracks | "Length of video watched in seconds" |
|
||||
|
||||
4. Click **Save**
|
||||
5. Wait 24-48 hours for data population
|
||||
|
||||
### Step 4: Use in Reports
|
||||
|
||||
After 24-48 hours:
|
||||
|
||||
1. Analytics → Reports → Explorations
|
||||
2. Create Free-form Exploration
|
||||
3. Drag dimensions and metrics to canvas
|
||||
4. Add "Video Duration (seconds)" metric
|
||||
5. Analyze average, sum, or other aggregations
|
||||
|
||||
**Example Report:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Video Title Average Duration Total Views
|
||||
====================================================
|
||||
GA4 Basics 900 seconds 250
|
||||
Advanced Analytics 1800 seconds 180
|
||||
Debugging Guide 450 seconds 320
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Calculated Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
### What Are Calculated Metrics?
|
||||
|
||||
Calculated metrics are derived metrics created from mathematical formulas using existing metrics. They don't require new event implementation - only calculation.
|
||||
|
||||
**Use calculated metrics for:**
|
||||
- Ratios (revenue per user, conversion rate)
|
||||
- Differences (abandonment = views - purchases)
|
||||
- Complex formulas (LTV, efficiency scores)
|
||||
- Normalized metrics (revenue per session)
|
||||
|
||||
### Calculated Metric Examples
|
||||
|
||||
**Example 1: Revenue Per User**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Revenue per User
|
||||
Formula: revenue / users
|
||||
Result: Shows how much revenue each user generates
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example 2: Conversion Rate**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Conversion Rate %
|
||||
Formula: (conversions / sessions) * 100
|
||||
Result: Percentage of sessions with conversion
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example 3: Bounce Rate (Inverse)**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Engagement Rate
|
||||
Formula: (engagedSessions / sessions) * 100
|
||||
Result: Percentage of engaged sessions
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example 4: Add-to-Cart Rate**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Add to Cart Rate
|
||||
Formula: add_to_cart / view_item
|
||||
Result: How many cart adds vs product views
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example 5: Revenue Per Customer**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Average Order Value
|
||||
Formula: totalRevenue / transactions
|
||||
Result: Average amount per transaction
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Available Metrics in Formulas
|
||||
|
||||
Standard GA4 metrics available for calculated metrics:
|
||||
|
||||
**User Metrics:**
|
||||
- `users` - Total unique users
|
||||
- `newUsers` - First-time users
|
||||
- `activeUsers` - Users with engagement/conversion
|
||||
|
||||
**Session Metrics:**
|
||||
- `sessions` - Total sessions
|
||||
- `sessionsPerUser` - Average sessions per user
|
||||
- `engagementRate` - Engaged sessions percentage
|
||||
|
||||
**Event Metrics:**
|
||||
- `eventCount` - Total events
|
||||
- `engagements` - Engaged sessions
|
||||
- `engagementDuration` - Total engagement time seconds
|
||||
|
||||
**Conversion Metrics:**
|
||||
- `conversions` - Key event count
|
||||
- `conversionValue` - Total key event value
|
||||
|
||||
**Ecommerce Metrics:**
|
||||
- `purchaseRevenue` - Total revenue
|
||||
- `transactions` - Number of purchases
|
||||
- `itemsViewed` - Total products viewed
|
||||
- `itemsPurchased` - Total items sold
|
||||
|
||||
**Custom Metrics:**
|
||||
- Any custom metric created
|
||||
|
||||
### Calculated Metric Formula Syntax
|
||||
|
||||
**Basic Operators:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Addition: metric1 + metric2
|
||||
Subtraction: metric1 - metric2
|
||||
Multiplication: metric1 * metric2
|
||||
Division: metric1 / metric2
|
||||
Parentheses: (metric1 + metric2) / metric3
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Example Formulas:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
// Simple division
|
||||
revenue / users
|
||||
|
||||
// Multiplication
|
||||
revenue * 100
|
||||
|
||||
// Complex formula with parentheses
|
||||
(conversions / sessions) * 100
|
||||
|
||||
// Multi-step calculation
|
||||
(purchaseRevenue - cost) / transactions
|
||||
|
||||
// Using custom metrics
|
||||
custom_metric_1 / custom_metric_2
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Creating Calculated Metric: Step-by-Step
|
||||
|
||||
**Scenario: Create "Revenue Per Session" Metric**
|
||||
|
||||
1. Admin → Data Display → Custom Definitions
|
||||
|
||||
2. Click **"Create Custom Metric"** button
|
||||
|
||||
3. Fill form:
|
||||
|
||||
| Field | Entry |
|
||||
|-------|-------|
|
||||
| Metric Name | "Revenue per Session" |
|
||||
| Type | Select **Calculated** |
|
||||
| Formula | `revenue / sessions` |
|
||||
|
||||
4. Click **Save**
|
||||
|
||||
5. **Calculated metrics populate immediately** (no 24-48 hour wait)
|
||||
|
||||
6. Use in reports right away
|
||||
|
||||
### Using Calculated Metric in Reports
|
||||
|
||||
1. Analytics → Reports → Explorations
|
||||
2. Create Free-form Exploration
|
||||
3. Add dimensions
|
||||
4. Add metrics (including new calculated metric)
|
||||
5. View results
|
||||
|
||||
**Example Report Using "Revenue per Session":**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Traffic Source Revenue per Session
|
||||
============================================
|
||||
google / organic $15.50
|
||||
direct / (none) $8.20
|
||||
facebook / referral $12.00
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Metric Type Comparison
|
||||
|
||||
### Standard Metrics vs Calculated Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
| Aspect | Standard | Calculated |
|
||||
|--------|----------|-----------|
|
||||
| Implementation | Requires event code | No code needed |
|
||||
| Delay | 24-48 hours | Immediate |
|
||||
| Data Source | Event parameters | Existing metrics |
|
||||
| Updates | As new events arrive | Real-time calculation |
|
||||
| Example | `video_duration` | `revenue / users` |
|
||||
| Quota | 50 per property | 5 per property |
|
||||
|
||||
### When to Use Each Type
|
||||
|
||||
**Use Standard Custom Metric when:**
|
||||
- Tracking new numerical data
|
||||
- Need to capture value at event time
|
||||
- Value must be sent from client/server
|
||||
|
||||
**Use Calculated Metric when:**
|
||||
- Combining existing metrics
|
||||
- Want ratio or percentage
|
||||
- Mathematical derivation from existing data
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Practical Custom Metrics Examples
|
||||
|
||||
### Example 1: Video Analytics Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
**Standard Custom Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
gtag('event', 'video_watched', {
|
||||
'video_title': 'GA4 101',
|
||||
'video_duration_seconds': 1200, // Custom metric
|
||||
'minutes_watched': 18, // Custom metric
|
||||
'completion_percentage': 85 // Custom metric
|
||||
});
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Admin Registration:**
|
||||
1. Metric: "Video Duration (seconds)" = video_duration_seconds
|
||||
2. Metric: "Minutes Watched" = minutes_watched
|
||||
3. Metric: "Completion %" = completion_percentage
|
||||
|
||||
**Calculated Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Video Watch Rate
|
||||
Formula: (minutes_watched / video_duration_seconds) * 100
|
||||
Result: Percentage of video watched
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Example 2: SaaS Trial Conversion Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
**Standard Custom Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
gtag('event', 'trial_signup', {
|
||||
'trial_length_days': 14, // Custom metric
|
||||
'users_on_team': 3, // Custom metric
|
||||
'data_imported_count': 5 // Custom metric
|
||||
});
|
||||
|
||||
gtag('event', 'trial_to_paid', {
|
||||
'days_on_trial': 7, // Custom metric
|
||||
'upsell_offer_price': 99.99 // Custom metric
|
||||
});
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Admin Registration:**
|
||||
- Metric: "Trial Length (days)"
|
||||
- Metric: "Team Size"
|
||||
- Metric: "Data Imported"
|
||||
- Metric: "Trial Duration (days)"
|
||||
- Metric: "Offer Price ($)"
|
||||
|
||||
**Calculated Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Trial to Paid Rate
|
||||
Formula: trial_to_paid / trial_signup
|
||||
|
||||
Name: Average Trial Length
|
||||
Formula: trial_length_days / trial_signup
|
||||
|
||||
Name: Revenue per Trial
|
||||
Formula: (upsell_offer_price * trial_to_paid) / trial_signup
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Example 3: E-commerce Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
**Standard Custom Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
|
||||
'transaction_id': 'TXN_123',
|
||||
'value': 299.99,
|
||||
'num_items': 3, // Custom metric
|
||||
'discount_amount': 30.00, // Custom metric
|
||||
'profit_margin': 0.40 // Custom metric
|
||||
});
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
**Admin Registration:**
|
||||
- Metric: "Items per Order"
|
||||
- Metric: "Discount Amount ($)"
|
||||
- Metric: "Profit Margin %"
|
||||
|
||||
**Calculated Metrics:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Name: Average Item Price
|
||||
Formula: revenue / num_items
|
||||
|
||||
Name: Revenue After Discount
|
||||
Formula: revenue - discount_amount
|
||||
|
||||
Name: Gross Profit
|
||||
Formula: revenue * profit_margin
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Metric Limits & Quotas
|
||||
|
||||
### Standard GA4 Property Limits
|
||||
|
||||
- **Standard Custom Metrics:** 50 maximum
|
||||
- **Calculated Metrics:** 5 maximum
|
||||
- **Total available:** 50 standard + 5 calculated
|
||||
|
||||
### GA4 360 Property Limits
|
||||
|
||||
- **Standard Custom Metrics:** 125 maximum
|
||||
- **Calculated Metrics:** 50 maximum
|
||||
- **Total available:** 125 standard + 50 calculated
|
||||
|
||||
### Quota Management Strategy
|
||||
|
||||
**Prioritize metrics by importance:**
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Essential** (create immediately)
|
||||
- Key business KPIs
|
||||
- Required for dashboards
|
||||
- Regulatory/compliance metrics
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Important** (create if quota allows)
|
||||
- Nice-to-have analyses
|
||||
- Supporting metrics
|
||||
- Team requested metrics
|
||||
|
||||
3. **Nice-to-have** (create last)
|
||||
- Exploratory metrics
|
||||
- Lower priority analysis
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Best Practices for Custom Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
### Naming Conventions
|
||||
|
||||
**Good names:**
|
||||
- "Video Duration (seconds)"
|
||||
- "Form Fill Time (seconds)"
|
||||
- "Revenue per Session"
|
||||
- "Customer Lifetime Value ($)"
|
||||
- "Engagement Score"
|
||||
|
||||
**Poor names:**
|
||||
- "metric1"
|
||||
- "data"
|
||||
- "value"
|
||||
- "custom"
|
||||
|
||||
### Implementation Best Practices
|
||||
|
||||
**DO:**
|
||||
- ✅ Send as numbers, not strings
|
||||
- ✅ Use consistent units (always seconds, always dollars)
|
||||
- ✅ Document what each metric represents
|
||||
- ✅ Plan metrics before implementation
|
||||
- ✅ Register only metrics actually used
|
||||
- ✅ Include unit in metric name if applicable
|
||||
|
||||
**DON'T:**
|
||||
- ❌ Send metric as string ("120" instead of 120)
|
||||
- ❌ Mix units (seconds in one event, minutes in another)
|
||||
- ❌ Create too many similar metrics
|
||||
- ❌ Register metrics without team agreement
|
||||
- ❌ Use high-cardinality metrics (too many values)
|
||||
|
||||
### Metric Value Ranges
|
||||
|
||||
**Recommended ranges:**
|
||||
|
||||
- Quantities: 0-1000000
|
||||
- Percentages: 0-100
|
||||
- Monetary: -999999 to 999999
|
||||
- Time (seconds): 0-86400 (24 hours)
|
||||
- Ratings: 0-10 or 1-5
|
||||
|
||||
**Avoid:**
|
||||
- Negative values (usually)
|
||||
- Extreme outliers (data quality issues)
|
||||
- Non-numerical data (use dimensions instead)
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Troubleshooting Custom Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
### Metric Doesn't Appear in Reports After 48 Hours
|
||||
|
||||
**Troubleshooting:**
|
||||
|
||||
1. **Verify code sends numerical value**
|
||||
- Check DebugView
|
||||
- Value must be a number, not string
|
||||
- Example: 120 (not "120")
|
||||
|
||||
2. **Check metric name case**
|
||||
- DebugView shows exact case
|
||||
- Match exactly when registering
|
||||
|
||||
3. **Confirm quota not exceeded**
|
||||
- Standard metrics: Under 50?
|
||||
- Calculated metrics: Under 5?
|
||||
- Delete unused metrics if over quota
|
||||
|
||||
4. **Check minimum traffic threshold**
|
||||
- Events with metric need to fire
|
||||
- If no events: Metric won't populate
|
||||
- Verify code deployed and live
|
||||
|
||||
### Metric Shows Wrong Values
|
||||
|
||||
**Likely cause:** Parameter values not numbers
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
// WRONG - values are strings
|
||||
gtag('event', 'video_watched', {
|
||||
'duration': '120' // String
|
||||
});
|
||||
|
||||
// CORRECT - values are numbers
|
||||
gtag('event', 'video_watched', {
|
||||
'duration': 120 // Number
|
||||
});
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Calculated Metric Formula Error
|
||||
|
||||
**Error message:** "Invalid formula syntax"
|
||||
|
||||
**Check:**
|
||||
- Metric names spelled correctly
|
||||
- Formula uses `/`, `*`, `+`, `-` only
|
||||
- Parentheses balanced
|
||||
- No special characters
|
||||
|
||||
```javascript
|
||||
// WRONG
|
||||
(revenue / users) + % // % not allowed
|
||||
|
||||
// CORRECT
|
||||
(revenue / users) * 100 // Use * 100 for percentage
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Advanced: Multi-Step Metrics
|
||||
|
||||
### Chain Calculations
|
||||
|
||||
Create multiple calculated metrics that build on each other:
|
||||
|
||||
**Step 1: Create basic metrics**
|
||||
- revenue / sessions = "Revenue per Session"
|
||||
|
||||
**Step 2: Create metrics using other calculated metrics**
|
||||
- revenue_per_session * users = "Revenue Per User"
|
||||
|
||||
**Metric Dependency Example:**
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Step 1: Sessions with Purchase = purchase_events (standard metric)
|
||||
|
||||
Step 2: Purchase Rate = purchase_events / sessions (calculated)
|
||||
|
||||
Step 3: Revenue Per Converting Session =
|
||||
revenue / purchase_events (calculated)
|
||||
|
||||
Step 4: Revenue Per All Sessions =
|
||||
revenue / sessions (calculated)
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
### Using Custom Metrics in Audiences
|
||||
|
||||
Custom metrics can be used in audience conditions (GA4 360 only):
|
||||
|
||||
```
|
||||
Audience: "High-Value Customers"
|
||||
Condition: customer_lifetime_value > 1000 (custom metric)
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
## Metric Comparison Reference
|
||||
|
||||
### All Available Metric Types
|
||||
|
||||
| Metric Type | Created How | Updated | Quota |
|
||||
|-------------|-----------|---------|-------|
|
||||
| Built-in | GA4 default | Real-time | N/A |
|
||||
| Standard Custom | Event code | After 24-48hrs | 50 |
|
||||
| Calculated | Formula | Real-time | 5 |
|
||||
|
||||
### Summary Table
|
||||
|
||||
| Scenario | Use This | Why |
|
||||
|----------|----------|-----|
|
||||
| Tracking video duration | Standard Custom Metric | Requires code implementation |
|
||||
| Calculating revenue/user | Calculated Metric | Derive from existing metrics |
|
||||
| Counting form submissions | Built-in (conversions) | Already exists |
|
||||
| Measuring engagement score | Calculated Metric | Formula from user_engagement |
|
||||
| Tracking items in cart | Standard Custom Metric | New event parameter needed |
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user