Content
Where Clients Come From: Traffic Analysis in Google Analytics 4
July 2, 2025
8 mins
If you invest in advertising, develop a website, or run email campaigns, it’s crucial to know what’s truly effective and what’s just draining your budget. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) automatically collects all user interaction data on your website or app — from the first click to the final purchase.
Without analytics, your marketing works “blind” — decisions are made based on intuition, not facts. For instance, is Facebook advertising really driving sales or just maintaining interest? What role do email campaigns or organic search play? With properly configured tracking, you can get the full picture of what actually works and what doesn't.
Unlike individual ad or marketing platforms (like Google Ads, Meta Ads, or Search Console), which attribute conversions in their own favor, GA4 gathers data from all sources and shows a holistic view. This includes how each traffic source contributes to conversions and business outcomes. Understanding traffic acquisition in Google Analytics through data-driven insights enables you to make decisions based on the real customer journey — not isolated metrics from ad dashboards.
You don’t have to be an analyst — just know where to look.
In this guide, Promodo experts explain how to find and interpret the key attribution report in GA4, and how the insights help you determine what to scale and what to stop.
Customers rarely buy right away. They might first see your ad on social media, later land on your site via search, and eventually click an email before making a purchase.
Attribution helps you understand which of these channels influenced the decision to buy. In other words, it’s about assigning “credit” across all touchpoints. In GA4, you can select an attribution model — the method used to determine which channel contributed most to a conversion.
The most advanced model today is the data-driven attribution model. It analyzes thousands of user journeys and automatically identifies which touchpoints had the greatest impact. This gives you the ability to invest in channels that deliver real results — not just those that happen to be the last click.
For comparison, the previous version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) used the Last Non-Direct Click model, which credited the entire conversion to the last indirect source (like google / cpc), ignoring direct visits. This often provided a misleading picture of performance.
In GA4, data-driven attribution GA4 is the default model.
Unlike simple models, it distributes conversion value across all channels based on how users interacted with each one. GA4 uses machine learning and statistical analysis to determine which touchpoints truly influenced the outcome — not just which ones occurred last.
For example:
This allows you to view not just the “final click,” but the full picture — who initiated contact, who nurtured interest, and who closed the sale. It’s a more realistic way to assess your marketing performance.
By default, the data-driven attribution GA4 model applies only to key events (like purchase or generate_lead). In the "Model Comparison" report, it distributes conversions and revenue (if revenue is tracked).
But what if you want to evaluate traffic quality by sessions — for example, from SEO?
In that case, you can set the session_start as a key event. This way, it falls under the data-driven attribution model, and you'll see which GA4 traffic sources are truly driving sessions — not just those that are last in the chain.
This is especially helpful when:
Once you’ve defined your key events, you can build a report in the “Explore” section:
Important: Select source/media without any prefixes such as first user source/media or session source/media. These fields represent different attribution models (first-touch, session-scoped), which will show different results.
To work correctly with the data-driven model, you should use the universal source / medium field that corresponds to the selected attribution model in the report.
Important: If you have a lot of events added to the Key Events list, you need to configure the filtering.
Thus, if you add session_start to the Key Events, you will be able to analyze not only conversions but also traffic - taking into account the real contribution of each channel.
The example below shows what a report with Data-driven attribution in GA4 looks like:
This approach allows you to see not just the number of conversions or purchases, but which channels actually influenced these results and to what extent.
In this example, the filter is applied to two key events - session_start and purchase. This allows you to simultaneously analyze both traffic and the number of purchases for each channel.
The report shows:
- google/cpc is the leader in the number of sessions and purchases. This confirms its effectiveness as a source of mass traffic that converts well.
- google/organic - although it generates fewer sessions, it demonstrates higher traffic quality: in relation to the volume, the number of purchases here is higher than in paid search. This is a good indicator of the value of the organic channel.
This analysis helps not only to assess the quantity but also the quality of the traffic attracted, which is important for making informed business decisions.
Data-driven attribution reporting in GA4 shows not only who converted but also who supported the conversion process. This is key for evaluating every channel’s role in the overall marketing funnel.
It is indicated as google/organic or through other search engines. If this channel regularly appears in attribution reports, it is a good sign: SEO brings in stable, high-quality traffic.
But if organic does not appear in the report, it does not mean that the channel is not working. The reasons can be different: users do not fulfill key events, search generates only preliminary interest, or traffic is mainly informational rather than commercial.
In this case, you should refer to the general User acquisition report: it will show you how much traffic is generated by organic, how users behave, how many pages they view, and whether they return.
Remember: conversion is not the only criterion for SEO effectiveness. Often, organic is the first contact or a stage of awareness building, so you should also evaluate engagement rates, browse depth, and behavioral signals.
Google/CPC and Facebook/Paid channels are usually responsible for active traffic acquisition. If they appear in the Data-driven model, it means that advertising really drives conversions, not just generates clicks.
However, it is important to analyze this data along with the budget. If costs are high and conversions are low, you should reconsider creatives, goals, and audiences. Also, look at the role of advertising in the chain: whether it is the first, supporting, or closing the sale.
The email channel rarely “closes” sales, but it often helps to retain attention or return customers. If the newsletter is included in the report, it means that it really works as a funnel support.
If the channel doesn't appear in the attribution, check out:
Channels such as facebook/social or instagram/social are usually responsible for the first acquaintance with the brand. If they are present in the model, it means that social networks generate interest and influence the purchase decision.
If social media does not appear in the report, this may be a signal:
In this case, you should check the quality of the content, the level of interaction, and the correctness of UTM tags.
You don’t need to master every GA4 feature. Just knowing how to find and read the data-driven attribution GA4 report gives you a competitive edge.
Check this report monthly or after launching new campaigns. This allows you to adapt your strategy before the budget is wasted.
Use it to guide:
The true power of GA4 is its ability to highlight every channel’s role — not just the final click — in shaping demand and driving conversions.
GA4 is more than just an analytics platform — it’s a tool for managing business profitability based on real user behavior.
Combined with the data-driven attribution model, Google Analytics 4 provides a new level of insight into your marketing performance. It helps you see not only outcomes but the full customer journey that led to them.
Its main benefits:
You don’t need to be an analyst to use GA4 effectively — just understand which metrics matter and how to interpret them. Regular report reviews can refine your marketing strategy and prevent wasted spend.
Google Analytics traffic acquisition insights are a strategic advantage — giving you a complete view of your website traffic in Google Analytics and helping you make data-backed decisions that grow your business.
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