How To View Users By Weekly Cohort

Learn how to conduct weekly cohort analysis in Google Analytics 4 to better understand user behavior and retention. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on setting up reports, key dimensions and metrics, and actionable insights.

Understanding Weekly Cohort Analysis in Google Analytics 4

Weekly cohort analysis is crucial for understanding user behavior patterns and retention over time. By grouping users based on the week they first engaged with your site or app, you can track how different user groups behave over time, measure the effectiveness of your acquisition strategies, and identify which cohorts show the strongest long-term engagement. We’ll show you how to set this up in Google Analytics 4.

Basic Report Structure

• Report Type: Free Form Exploration
• Primary Dimension: First User Week
• Secondary Dimension: Week
• Metrics: User counts and engagement metrics
• Visualization: Cohort table view

Steps to Create the Report

1. Open GA4 and navigate to the Explore section.
2. Click the Blank template to start a new exploration.
3. Under the Dimensions, click the + button and search for First User Week and Week, check the checkbox beside them and click Confirm.
4. Under the Metrics, click the + button and search for Total users, Engaged sessions, and Engagement rate, check the checkboxes and click Confirm.
5. Drag First User Week to the Rows section.
6. Drag Week to the Columns section.
7. Drag Total users to the Values section.
8. In the report settings, set your date range to cover at least 8-12 weeks.
9. Click the Settings gear icon and under Show totals, enable both row and column totals.
10. Apply any necessary filters to focus on specific user segments.

Key Dimensions and Metrics

• First User Week: Groups users by their first interaction week.
• Week: Shows subsequent weeks of user activity.
• Total users: Count of users in each cohort.
• Engaged sessions: Sessions lasting longer than 10 seconds.
• Engagement rate: Percentage of engaged sessions.

Actionable Insights

1. Identify which weeks produced the most valuable user cohorts and correlate with marketing campaigns.
2. Analyze drop-off patterns to optimize user retention strategies.
3. Compare cohort performance to identify seasonal trends and adjust marketing spend accordingly.
4. Use engagement metrics to determine which acquisition channels produce the most loyal users.
5. Track the impact of product changes on user retention across different cohorts.

Answers Similar Questions

1. How to track user retention by week in GA4.
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