Skip to main content

Session Source

Where each visit came from, and which of those routes actually end in a purchase.

90 second readAppears on: /google-analytics/sessionSource

The tables​

Every visit arrived from somewhere, and you are paying for some of those routes. This is where you find out which ones end in money and which only look busy.

Read every rate against the Summary row at the foot. There are no share-of-total columns on this page, so that comparison is yours to make.

Which tab first. Start on Session Medium to see how few buckets your traffic really falls into. Then Session Source for the named sources inside them. Session Source Medium when you need the exact pairing, and Session Campaign Name only if your links are tagged.

All four tabs carry the same six metric columns, each followed by a % △ against the previous period, and a Summary row of totals at the foot.

Columns: the tab's own name · Total RevenueTotal RevenueCross-check against Shopify to confirm tracking is firing. · Conversion RateConv. RateWebsite visits that ended in a purchase. Not the same as Google Ads Conv. Rate, which divides by clicks.3.5% or more is healthy · TransactionsTransactionsPair with sessions to sanity-check conversion and spot tracking gaps. · Avg. Purchase RevenueAvg. Purchase RevenueYour typical order size as GA4 sees it. · SessionsSessionsTraffic to your listings; only lifts sales if conversion holds. · Revenue Per UserRevenue Per UserWhat an average visitor is worth to you.

They arrive sorted by Total Revenue, highest first, and every column header sorts.

Session Source Medium​

One row = one source and medium paired together.

How to scan it

  1. Leave the sort on Total Revenue, highest first.
  2. Read Revenue Per User down the top ten rows.
  3. The row that matters: two pairings from the same source where one earns far more per visitor — the medium is doing the work, not the source.

Session Source​

One row = one named source.

Sessions against Conversion Rate, on the Session Source tab
Conversion Rate high
Conversion Rate low
Sessions high

Your best route in

Volume and intent arriving together. This row is why the Summary rate looks as good as it does.

→ Find more of the same and protect the budget behind it.

Volume without intent

The source is broad and the landing page or the offer is not matching what it sends.

→ Check where this source lands people on the Pages guide before cutting spend.
Sessions low

Small and serious

A narrow route full of people who already decided. Worth more than its Total Revenue suggests.

→ Try to buy more of it; the ceiling is the only unknown.

Not enough to judge

Too few visits behind the rate for it to say anything. Leave it until the count grows.

→ Read Transactions instead of Conversion Rate on this row.

How to scan it

  1. Sort by Sessions, highest first.
  2. Read Conversion Rate across and hold it against the Summary row.
  3. The row that matters: your biggest source converting below your own average.

Session Medium​

One row = one medium.

A handful of rows here cover all your traffic, which is why it is the fastest read on the page.

How to scan it

  1. Read Sessions and Total Revenue side by side down the whole tab.
  2. Find the medium taking a big slice of the visits and a small slice of the money.
  3. The row that matters: that one. Then open Session Source to see which named source inside it is responsible.

Session Campaign Name​

One row = one campaign name, as Google Analytics recorded it.

How to scan it

  1. Sort by Transactions, not by revenue.
  2. Look across at Avg. Purchase Revenue.
  3. The row that matters: a campaign winning orders while its Avg. Purchase Revenue sits below the Summary row — it is buying small baskets.

Filters​

Set Source and Medium back to All before you read anything here. They stay set across the whole Google Analytics section, so this page can be showing you one channel while you believe it is showing you everything.

  • Source and Medium — the two dropdowns above the tabs. They cut all four tables, and they follow you between Google Analytics pages, so a filter set on Pages or Device is still applied here. Leaving Source on a single value reduces the Session Source tab to one row and makes the Summary row equal to it.
  • Date range and the country filter at the top of the app both apply.
  • Property picker — shown only when more than one Google Analytics property is connected. Switching it resets Source and Medium to All.
  • Each table has a search box, and a table/bar/line/pie toggle charting the top 10 rows by Total Revenue.

Watch out for​

  • These are session sources, not first touches. A returning customer's second visit is credited to how they arrived that time. The ad that first found them gets nothing for the visit that bought, which is why these numbers will not match Meta or Google Ads.
  • Campaign names come from Google Analytics, not from your ad accounts. A campaign appears under the name the link carried. Untagged links will not show up under the name you gave them in the ad platform.
  • The four tabs are the same visits cut four ways. Never add a row on one tab to a row on another.
  • A blank % △ is not a zero. New sources and new campaign names have no row to match against last period, so the cell is left empty.
  • The dropdown lists cover the last 365 days. A source can appear in the list and produce no rows for your date range. Nothing is broken — nobody arrived that way in that window.

Do this first​

The medium carrying the most Sessions and converting below your own average is where your money is leaking. Go and name it.

Open Session Medium and read each row's Conversion Rate against the Summary row at the foot.

Then move to Session Source and find the one named source inside that medium dragging the rest down.

See yoursYour sources, mediums and campaigns, ranked by revenue, with conversion beside each.

Open Google Analytics →