With the switch from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), publishers and website owners lost easy visibility into quite a few metrics they used to track religiously to understand user behavior on their site, including:

The good news is that Google decided to keep all the standard UA metrics around, they’re just a bit harder to find in GA4 than they previously were in Universal Analytics.

Dive into the article below to learn more about the differences in GA4 vs. Universal Analytics metrics. More specifically, explore where you can find the Average Time on Page, now known as Average Engagement Time in GA4, and the key differences and similarities between these two important metrics. 

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Before we dive into Average Time on Page vs. Average Engagement Time, and where to locate each in GA4, it's important to note, to continue using any of the above-noted UA metrics rather than the updated GA4 metrics, the Explore section of GA4 allows you to access a wide range of custom reports so you may continue reviewing older, standard metrics.

GA4_Explore

Now, let’s examine the metric that Google introduced in GA4 as a “replacement” to Average Time on Page in Universal Analytics so you know the differences between each.

 

 

Average Time on Page vs. Average Engagement Time

Average Time on Page: A measure of the time a user spends on average on a single page across all sessions and pages.

Average Engagement Time: Similar to the average Engagement Time by Session, GA4 records engagement time by page. This measurement strips out any time a user spends “unengaged” with content, for instance, if they have the tab open but are not active.

To find Average Engagement Time by Page, navigate to the Reports area of the main left-hand navigation, then the Engagement tab, and finally, the Pages and Screens report.

GA4_Engagement_Pages and Screens_Average Engagement Time-1

This column offers deeper insight into the average time users engage with individual pages across your site. The number at the top of the Average Engagement Time column gives you an average across all pages for a more complete picture of user engagement.

There are several reasons why you may want to know each metric, but the most important is that tracking major changes in either metric can indicate a change in user behavior on your site to be aware of.

But if you run ads, Average Engagement Time Per Session is the best measurement of how much time you’ll be able to spend serving in-view ads to your users.

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How to Find Average Time on Page in GA4

1. First, head to Explore in the left menu, then select a Blank Exploration report.

GA4_Explore

2. Click the + next to Metrics.

GA4_Explore_Metrics +-1

3. Navigate to and select Average Session Duration under the Session tab.

GA4_Explore_Average Session Duration-1

4. Click the + next to Metrics again. Then, locate and select Views per Session under the Page / Screen tab.

GA4_Metrics_Views Per Session

5. Choose the table visualization.

GA4_Table-1

6. Then, drag and drop both the Average Session Duration and Views per Session blocks from under Metrics to the Values area.

GA4_Values_Time on Page-1

You can now see two columns in your custom GA4 table:

  1. Average Session Duration, and
  2. Average Views per Session

Next, you’ll need to do a simple calculation to determine your Average Time Per Page:

  1. Convert your Average Session Time into seconds (for example, for a 2-minute session duration, you’d multiply by 60 seconds per minute to arrive at 120 seconds for a total session duration).
  2. Then, divide your Average Session Duration (in seconds) by the Views Per Session to arrive at an Average Time on Page (in seconds). In this example, dividing 120 seconds by 1.71 Views per Session gives us an Average Time on Page of approximately 70 seconds.

From there, you can adjust your date ranges as desired to see changes in your GA4 metrics over time, and calculate the differences in your Average Time on Page.

Playwire: Helping Publishers Understand User Engagement

At Playwire, it’s our job to help publishers and content creators understand how ads affect user engagement. 

Ensuring you earn the most revenue possible is a balancing act between maintaining user engagement and engaged sessions with strategic ad injection. Too many ads mean shorter and fewer sessions. Too few ads mean you’re probably missing revenue opportunities. We’re here to help you walk the tightrope.

To learn all the ins and outs of maintaining the balance between SEO and ad revenue, ad layout, and user experience, jump into our ad layout course or contact us for help!

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