How to See Page Views in Google Analytics

Knowing which pages on your website get the most attention is fundamental to understanding your audience. In Google Analytics 4, this answer comes from the "Views" metric. This article will show you exactly how to find total and individual page views, and how to dig deeper to see which content truly resonates with your visitors.

What Are "Views" in Google Analytics 4?

In the world of Google Analytics 4, the "Views" metric is simple: it's the total number of times a page on your website or a screen in your app was viewed by users. If a user lands on your homepage, that's one view. If they then click to your "About Us" page, that's another view. If they hit the refresh button on the "About Us" page, that counts as a third view. It's a raw count of every time a page is loaded.

This is an important shift from Universal Analytics (the older version of Google Analytics), which had separate "Pageviews" and "Screenviews" metrics. GA4 combines them into the single, straightforward "Views" metric, making it easier to analyze performance across both websites and mobile apps.

Views vs. Users vs. Sessions: What's the Difference?

It's easy to get these terms mixed up, but they tell very different stories about your website traffic. Understanding the distinction is vital for accurate reporting.

• Views: The total number of times pages are viewed. As we saw, one user can generate many views.
• Users: The number of distinct individuals who visited your site. If one person visits your site five times in a week, they are still counted as one user.
• Sessions: A group of interactions a single user takes within a given timeframe. A session starts when someone visits your site and ends after 30 minutes of inactivity. One user can start multiple sessions, and one session will almost always contain multiple views.

Think of it like this: One User (a person) might go to your coffee shop (start a Session) and look at the menu on the wall, then look at the pastry display (generate two Views). They might come back later that day for another coffee (a second Session) and just look at the menu (one more View). At the end of the day, you had 1 User, 2 Sessions, and 3 Views.

How to See Your Website's Total Page Views

First, let's find the high-level number: the total views across your entire website for a specific time period. This is a great starting point for a quick health check.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Reports section using the left-hand side menu in your GA4 property.
2. Under the Report snapshot or inside the Engagement dropdown, click on Engagement overview.
3. Look for the card titled "Views". This square box shows you the total number of page views on your site for the selected date range.
4. To change the time period, use the date selector in the top-right corner of the screen. You can choose from presets like "Last 7 days" or set a custom range.

This overview card gives you an immediate pulse on your website's overall traffic volume. Is it higher or lower than usual? This is the first question it helps you answer.

How to See Page Views for Specific Pages

While the total view count is useful, the real insights come from knowing which specific pages are attracting eyeballs. This is where you identify your most popular blog posts, best-performing landing pages, and potentially undiscovered content gems.

Here’s how to access this key report:

1. From the side menu, go to Reports > Engagement.
2. Click on the Pages and screens report.

You'll now see a detailed table. The first column lists your pages (by Page path, which is everything after your domain name, like /blog/five-marketing-tips). The very next column is Views, showing you the exact view count for each page during your selected date range.

By default, this table is sorted to show your most-viewed pages at the top. You can click the arrow next to the "Views" column header to reverse the sort order and see your least popular content.

Using the 'Pages and screens' Report to Get Insights

This report is more than just a list of numbers. Here are a few ways to use it:

• Find your top performers: Identify your content workhorses. These are the pages driving the most traffic. Consider updating them with new information, adding stronger calls-to-action, or promoting them further.
• Analyze Views vs. Engagement Time: Look for pages with high views but a low "Average engagement time." This might indicate that the page title or description is promising something the content doesn't deliver or that the page loads too slowly, causing people to leave quickly.
• Find a specific page: Use the search bar directly above the table to type in part of the page path or page title. You can change the primary dimension to "Page title" if required to find a particular article quickly.

Advanced Techniques for Analyzing Page Views

1. Comparing Page Views Over Time

Did a recent marketing campaign lead to a spike in traffic on a specific landing page? Is that new blog post gaining traction? Comparing date ranges is essential for answering such questions.

1. In the Pages and screens report, click on the date selector at the top.
2. Toggle on the Compare switch.
3. Set your two date ranges, e.g., "This Month vs. Previous Month" or "Last Week vs. the Week Before".

GA4 includes a table to show each change in percentage, making it easy to see at a glance where views have gone up or down.

2. Segmenting Page Views by Traffic Source

Want to know which of your articles are hitting it off with organic search, social media, or email campaigns? Segmenting by traffic source answers this directly.

1. In the Pages and screens report, click on the "+" icon next to the primary dimension header (Page path by default).
2. Select the "Traffic source" or "Session medium" option.

This adds a new column to the table, showing you exactly how people arrived on each page. For instance, you might see that one of your most popular blog posts primarily receives views from "Google/Organic", while another landing page is mostly visited from "Facebook/CPR".

3. Creating Custom Reports in "Explore"

One of the most powerful ways to slice and dice your data is by building custom reports in the Explore section. This can be a bit intimidating at first, but it’s incredibly flexible.

1. From the left menu, click on "Explore".
2. Click on "Blank" to start a freeform creation.
3. Name your exploration something like "Views by Device".
4. Under Variables, click the plus sign next to "Dimensions" and search for and add Platform/Device Type and Page Path or Page Title. Add more categories if needed.
5. Now, drag your dimensions into the "Rows" section of the tab and create the table layout you desire.

You'll see a full pivot table breaking your page views down across desktop, mobile, and tablet. This is just one example of what the Explore section can do.

Final Thoughts

Understanding and finding page views data in Google Analytics 4 is crucial for data-driven decision-making. Once you know where to look, you'll walk through finding your total view counts, analyzing the performance of specific pages, and leveraging advanced reports to segment traffic sources and device types. This knowledge empowers you to be decisive about your content strategy and website improvements.

Having a manual view on managing dimensions in GA4 is essential knowledge, which can be a tedious process when using a tool like Graphed to connect your Google Analytics account and manage your insights seamlessly.