Understanding the Difference Between User Acquisition and Traffic Acquisition in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

What is a Session and a New User?

Before diving into the reports, let’s clarify two key terms:

• Session: A session is simply a collection of activities that happen during one visit to your site. It could be as casual as clicking around, reading a few posts, or checking out your products. Think of it as one complete visit that eventually wraps up if there’s a long pause (typically 30 minutes of inactivity) or the user leaves.
• New User: A new user is someone visiting your site for the very first time, as identified by GA4 (usually via a browser cookie or device ID). It’s important to remember that GA4 might count someone as a new user again if they clear their cookies, use a different browser, or switch devices – even if they are technically a returning visitor!

What is the GA4 User Acquisition Report?

The GA4 user acquisition report tells you about those fresh faces discovering your site. It focuses exclusively on new users and identifies the marketing channel responsible for bringing them to your site for the first time.

It’s perfect for insights like where first-time visitors are coming from – be it organic search, a social media link, or that snappy ad you ran on Google Ads. This report zeroes in on that first interaction and helps you gauge how well your marketing is opening your door to newcomers. If you’re curious about which campaigns are drawing in a fresh crowd, keeping an eye on this report is your go-to move.

Key Features:

• Shows data attributed to new users only.
• Focuses on the first user source/medium, campaign, and acquisition channels (e.g., organic search, paid search, referral) that brought the user to your site initially.
• Helps understand the effectiveness of top-of-funnel marketing activities.

When to Use It:

• To see how well your campaigns are attracting completely new people.
• To figure out which channels are best at bringing in first-time visitors.
• To calculate the ROI of your user acquisition efforts specifically.

Example:

Let’s say you’re running a Google Ads campaign. The User Acquisition report will show you how many new users came to your site for the first time by clicking on those specific ads.

How to Access It:

1. In the GA4 left-hand navigation menu, go to Life cycle.
2. Click on Acquisition.
3. Select User acquisition.

What is the GA4 Traffic Acquisition Report?

Now, if you’re wondering how all your visitors (new and returning) are finding you during their visits, the GA4 traffic acquisition report is your best friend. It covers every session, attributing each visit to the source/medium that drove it.

This report gives you a wide-angle view, helping you understand how different channels—like search engines, social media shares, email campaigns, or referral links—play a part in driving all visits, including repeat ones. In a nutshell, while the User Acquisition report spotlights the origin of new visitors, the Traffic Acquisition report details the source for every single session.

Key Features:

• Tracks all sessions, including those from returning visitors.
• Attributes traffic based on the session source/medium, campaign, and channels for each visit.
• Gives a detailed view of ongoing engagement across traffic sources.

When to Use It:

• To get a big-picture view of your overall traffic sources.
• To analyze which channels drive repeat visits and keep users engaged.
• To compare traffic trends over time and spot growth opportunities across all user types.

Example:

Say you run a blog. The Traffic Acquisition report will show you the total number of sessions attributed to Google search, social media, email newsletters, and links from other websites – reflecting how all visitors, whether new or returning, found you during those specific visits.

How to Access It:

1. In the GA4 left-hand navigation menu, go to Life cycle.
2. Click on Acquisition.
3. Select Traffic acquisition.

Why the Numbers Might Not Match: Attribution Explained

You might notice that the user counts or channel performance looks different between the User Acquisition and Traffic Acquisition reports. This is normal and due to different attribution logic:

• First User Attribution (User Acquisition Report): This report uses attribution focused on the first time a user interacted with your site. The credit for that user (and their subsequent sessions in this specific report’s context) often goes to the channel that first brought them in.
  • Example: Someone first discovers your site via Organic Search. Even if they later visit via a Paid Ad, the User Acquisition report primarily associates this user with Organic Search.
• Session Attribution (Traffic Acquisition Report): This report attributes each individual session to the marketing channel that drove that specific visit, often using a last non-direct click model by default in GA4 standard reports.
  • Example: The same user who first arrived via Organic Search later clicks a Paid Ad. The Traffic Acquisition report will credit that specific session to Paid Search.

Understanding this distinction (First User vs. Session scope) is key to interpreting why the numbers differ and using each report correctly.

Key Differences Summarized

Let’s break down the core distinctions:

Scope

• User Acquisition: Focuses only on first-time visitors.
• Traffic Acquisition: Includes all sessions (from new + returning visitors).

Primary Metric Focus

• User Acquisition: Measures based on the First user source/medium (where the user originally came from).
• Traffic Acquisition: Measures based on the Session source/medium (where the user came from for that specific visit).

Core Value Proposition

• User Acquisition: Evaluates brand discovery and the effectiveness of channels in attracting new audiences.
• Traffic Acquisition: Evaluates ongoing engagement and which channels drive overall traffic, including repeat visits.

Ideal Use Case

• User Acquisition: Measuring how effectively you attract new audiences and the ROI of acquisition campaigns.
• Traffic Acquisition: Tracking which channels drive repeat visits, overall traffic volume, and session-level engagement.

How to Use These Reports Together (Mini Case Study)

Using these insights together is like reading two sides of the same story – one that tells you how you’re growing your audience and another that shows how well you’re keeping them.

Here’s how one client leveraged both reports:

• Goal: Increase overall website traffic and better understand the impact of different marketing channels.
• Action:
  • They analyzed the User Acquisition report and found most new users arrived via paid social media ads.
  • They checked the Traffic Acquisition report and discovered their returning audience was largely driven by email marketing campaigns.
  • Based on this, they optimized ad spend for new user acquisition (social) and refined their email strategy to nurture existing users (retention).
• Result: By balancing acquisition and retention efforts informed by both reports, they achieved a 20% increase in overall traffic and engagement.

Here’s a simple approach:

Compare Insights: Use these reports side by side to understand how new visitors are converting into repeat users or loyal customers.

Start with User Acquisition: Look at where new visitors are coming from and focus on improving those channels to bring in more people.

Dig Into Traffic Acquisition: Check how all visitors – new and returning – are interacting with your site. See which channels keep people coming back.

What Do These Reports Mean for SEO?

Understanding these reports is a game-changer for boosting your site’s visibility and engagement through SEO:

• The User Acquisition report might reveal which specific organic search keywords or landing pages are doing the heavy lifting in getting new eyes on your site.
• The Traffic Acquisition report gives you a sense of which channels, including organic search, are keeping your audience coming back (driving loyalty and repeat sessions).

By stitching together these insights, you can fine-tune your SEO strategy to not just attract first-time visitors, but also to cultivate loyalty and encourage repeat visits from your organic audience.

Pro Tips & Common Pitfalls

Power-User Tips:

• Compare Dates: Use the ‘Compare’ date range feature in GA4 reports to easily spot trends, seasonality, or the impact of specific campaigns over time.
• Secondary Dimensions: Add a secondary dimension like ‘Session campaign’ or ‘Session default channel group’ to the Traffic Acquisition report for deeper analysis of specific initiatives within broader channels.
• Segmentation: Create and apply audience segments (e.g., ‘New Users’ vs ‘Returning Users’) within reports to directly compare behavior patterns.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid:

• Cookie Issues: Remember that cookie deletion, blocking, or short expiry times can inflate your ‘New User’ metrics in the User Acquisition report.
• Cross-Domain Tracking: If users navigate between multiple domains you own (e.g., main site to shop subdomain), ensure cross-domain measurement is correctly set up in GA4. Otherwise, traffic between domains might be misattributed (often as ‘Referral’ or even ‘New User’). Find your Measurement ID settings here: https://max.nardit.com/where-to-find-your-measurement-id-in-google-analytics-4/.
• ‘Direct’ Traffic: A high volume of ‘Direct’ traffic in the Traffic Acquisition report can sometimes indicate tracking issues. This bucket often includes visits where GA4 couldn’t identify the source, such as missing UTM parameters on email or social links, or transitions from secure (HTTPS) to non-secure (HTTP) pages.
• GA4 Setup: Ensure your basic GA4 setup is correct. Explore the GA4 Demo Account to familiarize yourself: https://max.nardit.com/ga4-demo-how-to-access-the-google-analytics-4-demo-account/.

Can these reports help improve retention?

Yes! By analyzing Traffic Acquisition, you can identify which channels keep users coming back and optimize your strategy accordingly.

Understanding the difference between User and Traffic Acquisition isn’t just for the tech-savvy – it’s for anyone looking to get a clearer picture of how their marketing efforts work. So next time you log into Google Analytics, take a moment to explore these reports. Who knows? You might discover that the secret recipe to growing your online presence was hiding in plain sight all along.

Got any questions or curious about certain details? Feel free to reach out or drop a comment – I’m always happy to chat!