CRO Analytics: 14 Reports to Track for Higher Conversions

CRO analytics helps businesses learn why their websites are (or aren’t) converting. These 14 Google Analytics reports help you monitor and optimize your conversion rate.

Ready to turn website visitors into customers? Conversion rate optimization (CRO) analytics is the ticket.

From traffic sources to engagement metrics, leveraging detailed reports from Google Analytics can help you identify what’s working — and what’s getting in the way of those desired actions.

But which insights should you track?

Here, our CRO experts offer 14 Google Analytics reports to monitor for the most effective optimizations.

14 Google Analytics reports for CRO

Previously called Universal Analytics or UA, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the primary CRO tool used by marketers everywhere.

Offering standard and custom reports in real-time, Google Analytics can help pinpoint improvement opportunities and prioritize optimizations.

Here are our top 14 CRO reports using Google Analytics:

1. Conversions by device

Conversions by device is a metric that attributes the number of conversions that took place on different device types, such as desktop, mobile, or tablet.

By understanding which devices drive the highest (or lowest) website conversion rates, you can optimize your site experience, ad placements, and bidding strategy accordingly.

To find this report (and the next few reports), you’ll need to have conversion goals set up in your Google Analytics account. This will let you see the number of conversions and total revenue generated in each of these report types.

To access conversions by device category, open Google Analytics. In the left sidebar, click Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Device category.

You’ll see a report that shows the overall performance of the three different device categories — desktop, mobile, and tablet.

Once you have conversion data set up in your analytics tool, you can refer to the Conversions and Total revenue columns to see what your numbers look like.

If you’re generating a lot of conversions on desktop but next to none on mobile, this could indicate that something is wrong with your mobile checkout or signup process.

“Our data analysis revealed a puzzling drop-off in the checkout journey, particularly on the payment page, when our users surfed our platform on their trusty mobile companions,” shares Jas Banwait Gill, Growth Manager of SwagMagic.

“We promptly addressed this issue by optimizing the mobile payment page’s loading speed and streamlining the checkout process.”

The results? The conversion rate on mobile devices increased by a whopping 25% during the holiday season over the previous year.

“While this certainly boosted our revenue, this victory extended beyond dollars and cents,” continues Gill.

“We now had a seamless and delightful user experience, resulting in a higher level of customer satisfaction and retention.”

2. Conversions by browser

Some site elements may not function correctly across all browsers. Reviewing conversions by browser helps identify issues that could be hurting performance on specific platforms, like Safari or Firefox.

To access this report, go to Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Browser in the left sidebar. You’ll see this view:

This type of report offers quick optimization opportunities. If you find your website or app malfunctions on one browser compared to another, you have an immediate solution and (hopefully) immediate results to boot.

3. Conversions by operating system

Conversions by operating system is a report that shows how many conversions come from users on different operating systems, like iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS.

Access this from the left sidebar by going to Reports > Tech > Overview > Users by Operating system.

You’ll get this report below:

Similar to conversions by browser, if you notice something seems off about the number of conversions on a particular operating system (OS), you may have a functionality issue that can be addressed for a quick win.

4. Conversions by acquisition source/medium

“Conversions by acquisition source” highlights which channels — from organic search and paid ads to social media and email — are driving conversions.

While this report likely won’t tell you if something is wrong with your website, it can give you context about your best-performing marketing campaigns and traffic channels.

To find this report, head to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition, then change the dropdown in the first column to Session source /medium.

Look to the column labeled Conversions to discover how many conversions you receive from the different traffic channels.

5. Landing page performance

Landing page performance can reveal key benchmarks for your website.

Look at your best- and worst-performing landing pages based on metrics like number of visitors, engagement time, and conversions.

Access this report by heading to Reports > Engagement > Landing page.

Like many businesses, you may find your homepage sits at the top of your results with the highest traffic on your website.

“Businesses often focus their efforts on optimizing their homepage and ignore the deeper pages of their website,” says Riva Jeane May Caburog, PR/Media Coordinator at Nadrich & Cohen.

“The misconception is that the homepage is the most critical point for conversions.”

Users often enter a website through various pages, not just the homepage, and landing pages play a big role in conversions.

6. Exit pages

Where do site visitors drop off the conversion funnel? Discovering when (and where) visitors leave your website can signal an improvement opportunity.

To discover your exit pages, search “exit pages [timeframe]” in the top search bar:

You can also search “exit rate,” and the results will be for the date range you’re using for other reports.

7. Exit rate

Your exit rate refers to how often visitors leave a certain page on your website.

To calculate exit rate, create a custom Google Analytics report. Head to Explore > Blank. Then add in the dimension “Page title and screen class” and the metrics “Views” and “Exits” to get access to the following dashboard:

To get your exit rate for each page, follow this formula:

(Number of exits from a page / Number of pageviews for that page) x 100 = Exit rate

Pages with an abnormally high exit rate likely need optimization.

8. User behavior and event tracking

Monitoring user behavior through event tracking can give you an idea of how people navigate your website. But before you access this report, set up different events.

The events you track will vary widely based on your industry and the type of business you run.

For a SaaS landing page or B2B site, consider tracking micro-conversions like form submissions or demo requests. But for an ecommerce site, macro-conversions like purchases are more important events to watch.

Go to Admin (bottom left corner of the navigation sidebar) > Events. Click Create event to set up a new event to track certain types of conversions.

You can then track these events directly in your Google Analytics by heading to Reports > Engagements > Events to view the below report:

You can see the total event count, event count per user, and total revenue each event generated through your site.

9. New vs. returning users

New vs. returning users compares conversions and behavior between first-time visitors and those who have been to your site before.

This report helps you understand the value of user retention and whether your site is better at converting new traffic or nurturing repeat visits into conversions.

To access this report, head to Reports > Retention.

You’ll see the exact number of new users versus returning users in your selected time period.

10. Bounce rate

Your bounce rate refers to the percentage of people who leave your website after less than 10 seconds of engagement, no conversion events, and only one pageview.

Long loading times, poor user experience, or a confusing call-to-action (CTA) can lead to high bounce rates.

To find this metric, search for “bounce rate [timeframe]” in the top search bar or leave the time frame section blank to use the one you already set.

This report will appear as a right-hand sidebar:

“A high bounce rate suggests a need for better landing pages, while a low conversion rate may indicate issues with the sales funnel,” advises Peter Michaels, CEO of Yeespy.

“Analyzing these metrics helps refine strategies, enhancing user experiences and ultimately driving business growth in the competitive landscape.”

11. Average engagement time

When Google Analytics updated to GA4, “time on page” was also updated to “average engagement time.”

This report measures how long a user actively engages with your site or app. To access it, you’ll head to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.

Look at the average engagement time of each landing or product page. Are there any that seem abnormal?

This could mean your landing page is confusing or doesn’t immediately let website visitors know what your product or service is about.

On the other hand, an engagement time that’s too high could also mean your site is difficult to navigate, and users are spending too much time trying to find what they’re looking for.

Pay attention to outliers to discover reasons why engagement time may be too short or too long. If you see consistently longer engagement times, this could be a positive indicator.

“I’ve often found that ‘time on page’ speaks volumes,” says Ryan Robinson, founder and CEO of Right Blogger.

“It’s not just about attracting visitors to your site but about holding their attention. If they’re lingering, they’re intrigued. And if they’re intrigued, there’s a higher chance they’ll convert.”

12. Views per session

Views per session is the average number of pages or screens a user visits during a single session. It indicates how much content users explore and can signal how engaging or easy-to-navigate your site or app is.

To access this report, create another exploration. Head to Explore > Blank to get started, then input “Page path and screen class” and “Session medium” as your dimensions and “Views per session” as your metric.

The report will look like this:

In the top right corner is the overall views per session for your website.

13. Site speed

If your website is slow to load, people can easily become impatient and leave for a competitor’s page. Keeping an eye on your site speed is an essential part of any CRO strategy.

Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to get a quick overview of what’s slowing your site down. For deeper tracking, set up page speed triggers in Google Tag Manager and view the data in GA4 Explorations.

To create a report in Google Analytics, head to Explore > Blank to get started. Then add in the dimension “Page title and screen class” and the metrics “Views” and “Page Load Time” to get access to the appropriate dashboard.

Look at each of these load times to see if certain pages need speed or conversion optimization.

14. Goal funnel visualizations

“Goal funnel visualizations” indicates where traffic drops off in each level of your sales funnel. These visual reports help identify bottlenecks or friction points in your conversion path so you can optimize each step to improve completion rates.

Head back to the Explore page, but this time, click Funnel exploration instead of Blank.

Use Google’s tips to build your funnel visualization based on your specific needs. Understanding where people may leave your funnel can help you optimize it and increase the overall conversion rate on your website.

Additional tools to track CRO analytics

While Google Analytics is the top tool for tracking site analytics and visitor behavior, you can stay on top of your CRO efforts by using these additional web analytics and site testing tools.

Heap

Looking for a tool that dives deeper into customer journeys and conversion data? Consider Heap.

Discover missing steps in the customer journey, which web pages may need improvement to increase conversions, and discover opportunities for optimization.

Hotjar

Hotjar is a conversion rate optimization tool that offers heat mapping and gathering direct user feedback.

Watch how your audience navigates your website through heatmap data and screen recordings showing their scrolling and clicking behaviors.

Hotjar also gathers insights from pages you’re A/B testing (also called split testing or multivariate testing), helping you publish the highest-performing product pages.

ConversionIQ

HawkSEM integrates ConversionIQ (our proprietary software) into all of our CRO campaigns.

It tracks specific customer data along with the user journey, providing tangible and actionable insights that increase the ROAS of a CRO marketing strategy.

In fact, we helped our client Apotheke increase its conversion rate by 25% with the help of ConversionIQ.

Want to learn more? Get in touch with the HawkSEM team if you’re interested in using ConversionIQ’s data and working with a team of SEO and PPC experts.

CRO analytics checklist

Ready to streamline your optimization efforts? Keep this checklist of CRO analytics reports handy:

• Conversions by device
• Conversions by browser
• Conversions by operating system
• Conversions by acquisition source/medium
• Landing page performance
• Exit pages
• Exit rate
• User behavior and event tracking
• New vs. returning users
• Bounce rate
• Average engagement time
• Views per session
• Site speed
• Goal funnel visualizations

The takeaway

CRO is a crucial part of any digital marketing strategy — but with so much data available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Focusing on the right reports within your CRO tool can help you spot what’s working, what’s not, and where to test next.

Want expert help to increase your site’s conversion rate? Reach out to learn how our CRO process drives

This article has been updated and was originally published in February 2024.