Google Analytics: Segments

E-commerce events, metrics and dimensions, and goal setup — how to collect data, how to customize standard reports according to our needs, and how to identify valuable users — I continue in my Google Analytics posts with a focus on segment usage and step-by-step instructions for creating new segments.

Segments

A segment is a subset that identifies a specific condition. For example, you can segment data based on demographic information, location, behavior, and so on.

Google Analytics data (All Users) can also be segmented. For instance, under Audience > Geography > Location, you can break down data listed under the Country dimension into smaller subgroups, such as cities. Furthermore, you can evaluate this group in conjunction with a behavior that’s important to us—for example, purchase behavior—allowing us to analyze in detail which cities have the highest or lowest purchase rates for our products. Below, I present an example of a Google Merchandise property report under the Geography > Location report, with primary dimension: City, secondary dimension: Source/Device, sorted by Transaction Count.

Based on this view, 7 of the 12 conversions were driven by Organic Traffic by the All Users. However, organic traffic could have been generated through any search engine. For this reason, we provide a clear view of the source by using Secondary Dimension > Source / Medium. In the image below, I have included both the Paid Traffic and Direct Traffic options from the ready-made segments to display all the sources of the relevant activities.

This enables us to see which visitors from which traffic groups performed the actions, and during which time periods. Additionally, we can access many details such as new and/or returning sessions, average session durations, revenue data, and more. In summary, segments allow us to analyze user behavior by creating data subsets, enabling us to examine the preferences of potential customers, visitors, users, and players, and act accordingly.

Segment Types

Segments are created by applying one or more filters without altering the data from the All Users dataset. This allows us to segment users, sessions, and events into subgroups within All Users. For users, sessions, and events within the same subgroup, we can further apply additional filters. Let’s illustrate these subgroups with an example:

• User Subgroups: Users who have previously completed actions (such as interactions, product purchases, etc.). When we enable the Google Analytics E-commerce feature (ecommerce/ec), we can also analyze events like adding items to the cart, viewing the payment process, checking product details, and similar actions, providing more detailed insights about users.
• Session Subgroups: All sessions performed by visitors acquired through campaigns, sources, queries, and similar channels. For example, we can analyze user sessions across different web pages containing images from the same campaign, and evaluate the actions performed during those sessions.
• Event Subgroups: Instances where a defined action has been completed. For instance, we can identify all events where the transaction amount is 10 TRY or higher.

Segment Usage

When a segment is included in a displayed report (e.g., All Users), it remains active until explicitly removed, and will appear in all reports you view. You can use up to four segments within a single report and view them simultaneously. Segments can also be used as audience groups. I will provide further details on this topic.

Segments without a creation/modification date (subgroups based on traffic sources, user types, sessions, devices, etc.) are predefined segments. Additionally, you can list these segments by selecting the System option on the left side. Custom segments created with special selections provide us with shared segments shared via the Google account that we provide access to, starred segments that we have designated as favorites, and selected segments displayed in the report. When a System segment is edited, changes will be added to the custom segment field. Furthermore, you can also include segments created by other users and published through the Analytics Solution Gallery, as well as other solutions they have developed. Please remember that a single user can access a maximum of 100 segments under one view. In a single view, up to 1,000 segments can be created and edited.

Segments and Audiences

Google Analytics > Account > Property > Audience Definitions > Audiences allows you to import segments as audiences. Using the Audience Builder, you can segment all users’ data, create a new segment using the segment field on the displayed report page, and then select the relevant segment via the same field to transfer it to an audience using the Audience Builder link. This enables us to target these users in our Google Ads advertising campaigns.

For example, let’s assume we’re using payment steps in Google Analytics to segment users and pages. This way, we can re-target users who are experiencing issues during the payment process (funnel) so they can complete the step at which they got stuck. Here, it’s important to note that user-based segments will cover a maximum date range of 90 days. If the date range is set beyond 90 days when viewing or evaluating the report as a segment, Google Analytics will automatically adjust the date range to start from the beginning date and extend for 90 days. Additionally, within this 90-day period, only the first 1,000 sessions per user are reported.