A plain-English tour of GA4 — where every number lives, what it actually means, and a five-minute weekly read you can run yourself. No analyst needed, no code. We walk it through the exact tracking Amplio set up on Devenish Nutrition, so every example is real to an account you know.
/ Prepared 15 July 2026 for Rapid Agency · Kevin Doran, Claire McComb, Anna Foks · use → or arrow keys to advance
/ 01 — Orientation
/ 02 — The top line
Compare to see "vs previous period."/ 03 — Where visitors come from
| Session default channel group1 | Users | Sessions | Key events2 |
|---|---|---|---|
Organic Search | 1,910 | 2,540 | 44 |
Direct | 760 | 980 | 18 |
Referral | 410 | 520 | 12 |
Organic Social | 300 | 395 | 9 |
Paid Search | 0 | 0 | 03 |
/ 04 — The two events we built for Devenish
GA4 records everything a visitor does as an event — a page view, a scroll, a session start. Most are automatic. Amplio built two custom ones on Devenish so the moments that matter to the business get counted.
contact_submittedFires when someone completes the contact form. It carries the email and phone as enhanced conversions, so Google can match the lead to an ad click more accurately. This is Devenish's key event.
view_search_resultsFires when someone uses the on-site search. It carries a search_term parameter — the actual words they typed — so you can see what visitors are looking for. Slide 08.
/ 05 — What visitors did
| Event name1 | Event count2 | Total users |
|---|---|---|
| page_view | 14,880 | 3,420 |
| session_start | 4,610 | 3,420 |
| user_engagement | 6,240 | 2,980 |
| scroll | 3,110 | 2,240 |
| view_search_results | 540 | 4703 |
| contact_submitted | 86 | 83 |
page_view, scroll) are automatic. GA4 collects them for you./ 06 — The number that matters
| Key event1 | Count2 | Users | Marked |
|---|---|---|---|
| contact_submittedkey event | 86 | 83 | On ●3 |
| view_search_results | 540 | 470 | Off ○ |
| page_view | 14,880 | 3,420 | Off ○ |
contact_submitted; search is left as a signal, not a goal./ 07 — Reading a parameter
| search_term1 | Event count2 |
|---|---|
| calf milk replacer | 128 |
| silage additive | 91 |
| sheep nutrition | 62 |
| careers | 45 |
| rumen health | 33 |
view_search_results carries search_term — the exact text typed into site search.view_search_results card and pick search_term, or build it in Explore (next slide)./ 08 — Build your own view
| Landing page | Key events2 |
|---|---|
| /products/calf-milk | 31 |
| /contact | 24 |
| / (home) | 17 |
| /about | 14 |
/ 09 — Is it working right now?
| Event name (last 30 min) | Count |
|---|---|
| page_view | 22 |
| view_search_results | 3 |
| contact_submitted | 12 |
contact_submitted tick up here within seconds — that's the tracking proving itself./ 10 — Five things not to misread
Devenish's Google Ads account is paused since 8 July (advertiser identity verification, not billing). No paid traffic can appear until it's switched back on. Not a tracking bug.
The Usercentrics banner lets people say no. Those visits are modelled, not fully counted, so GA4 can read a little lower than reality. Expected, and compliant.
GA4 keeps adjusting the last 24–48 hours, and paid traffic often lands as "Unassigned" for a few hours. Read yesterday, not today, for anything that matters.
Blank rows and thresholded low counts are normal on smaller sites — GA4 hides some detail to protect privacy. Don't read meaning into a single tiny figure.
/ 11 — Your weekly read
Glance Users, Sessions and Key events. Up or down versus last week? That's your headline.
Which channels actually produced leads this week, not just visits.
contact_submitted countThis is the number Devenish cares about. Write it down each week to build a trend.
A fast read on what visitors want this week — content and keyword ideas for free.
Anything odd — a number that halves, a channel that vanishes — send it our way before assuming it's real. Half the time it's the calendar (today isn't final) or the account (Google Ads paused), not the site.
/ 12 — What's readable today
| Status | In GA4 you can read… | Notes, as of 15 July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Live | Visitors + traffic sources | Users, sessions and channel groups — recording since April. |
| Live | Contact-form leads | contact_submitted key event, with enhanced conversions on. |
| Live | On-site search terms | view_search_results with the search_term parameter. |
| Live | Consent-respecting data | Usercentrics banner live; GA4 fires only after the visitor consents. |
| Not yet | Google Ads spend + paid conversions | Account paused since 8 July pending advertiser identity verification, then billing — both on the Devenish side. Nothing paid to read until it's live. |
Four of five are live and readable today. The one gap is anything paid — it appears the moment Google Ads is verified, billed and switched on.
/ Next step
Reports for the day-to-day, Explore when you have a specific question, the weekly five-minute routine to stay on top of it. When a figure looks strange, check the calendar and the account before the site — and if it still looks off, that's exactly what we're here for.