How to Use Google Analytics 4 Explore

If you've spent any time in Google Analytics 4, you've probably had this thought: "Where did all my reports go?" Compared to Universal Analytics, the standard reports in GA4 can feel sparse. While you can see the basics, digging deeper to answer specific questions about your business often feels like you've hit a wall. That's because GA4's true power lies in a different section: the Explore tab. This article will show you how to use GA4's Explore reports to create custom views that tell you what you actually need to know.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

What Are GA4 Explore Reports?

Think of the main "Reports" section in GA4 as your dashboard overview - a great starting point for high-level metrics. The "Explore" section, on the other hand, is your workshop. It’s where you go to build custom reports from scratch to answer questions that the standard reports can't.

Maybe you want to know which landing pages are bringing in the most valuable users from organic search. Or perhaps you need to see exactly how users navigate from a blog post to a product page before converting. These are the kinds of specific questions Explore transformations are designed to answer, giving you access to a much deeper level of analysis.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

The Building Blocks of an Exploration

Before diving in, let's get familiar with the key components you'll be working with. Once you get these, building your own reports becomes much more intuitive. When you open a new exploration, you'll see two main panels: Variables and Tab Settings.

Think of it this way: The Variables panel is your toolbox. The Tab Settings panel is your canvas where you put those tools to work.

Variables Panel (Your Toolbox)

This is where you'll import all the data ingredients you need for your report. You can't use a dimension or metric until you've added it here first.

• Dimensions: These are the attributes of your data - the "what." They are typically text-based descriptions. Examples include Page path, First user source, Device category, or Country.
• Metrics: These are the quantitative measurements of your data - the "how many." They are the numbers you use to measure dimensions. Examples include Sessions, Total users, Conversions, or Engagement rate.
• Segments: These allow you to isolate and analyze specific groups of your users. Think of them as custom filters. For example, you could create a segment for "Mobile Traffic," "Users from Canada," or "Users who viewed a specific product."

Tab Settings Panel (Your Canvas)

This panel is where you drag and drop the dimensions and metrics from your Variables panel to bring your report to life. How you arrange them here determines what the final report looks like.

• Technique: This is the type of report you're building. GA4 offers several templates like "Free form," "Funnel exploration," and "Path exploration." We'll focus on "Free form" to start, as it's the most flexible.
• Rows: Dimensions you add here will appear as rows in your data table. This is perfect for things like a list of landing pages or marketing channels.
• Columns: Dimensions you add here will create columns. For example, you could add "Device category" to see your data broken down by desktop, mobile, and tablet.
• Values: This is where your metrics go. The metrics you add here will populate the cells of your table, corresponding to the rows and columns you've set up.
• Filters: Here, you can apply filters to narrow down your data, such as excluding internal traffic or only showing data for a specific campaign.

Step-by-Step: Building a Landing Page Performance Report

One of the most common reports missing in GA4’s standard setup is a simple landing page report that shows conversions. Let's build one right now. This is a practical example that will give you a feel for the workflow.

Step 1: Navigate to Explore and Start Fresh

In the left-hand navigation menu of GA4, click on Explore. On the Exploration screen, select Blank to create a new exploration from scratch.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Step 2: Name Your Report

At the top left, you'll see "Untitled Exploration." Click on it and give your report a descriptive name, like "Landing Page Performance - Organic." This helps keep your workspace organized.

Step 3: Add Your Dimensions to the Variables Panel

In the Variables panel, click the plus sign (+) next to "Dimensions." You will now see a list of every available dimension in GA4. Use the search bar to find and select the following:

• Landing page + query string: This shows you the first page a user "landed" on in a session.
• First user source / medium: This tells you where a new user originally came from.
• Session source / medium: This shows where the specific session came from. This can be different if a user returns from a new source.

After checking the box next to each one, click the blue Import button at the top right.

Step 4: Add Your Metrics to the Variables Panel

Now, do the same thing for metrics. Click the plus sign (+) next to "Metrics." Find and select the following, then click Import:

• Sessions: The total number of sessions.
• Engaged sessions: The number of sessions that met Google's engagement criteria (lasted longer than 10 seconds, had a conversion, or had 2+ pageviews).
• Total users: The total count of unique users.
• Conversions: The count of your key conversion events (e.g., a purchase, sign-up, or lead form submission).

Step 5: Build the Report in Tab Settings

Your toolbox is now ready. It's time to build the report on your canvas.

1. Drag the Landing page + query string dimension from your Variables panel and drop it into the Rows area in the Tab Settings panel. Your table on the right should now populate with a list of URLs.
2. Drag the metrics you imported — Sessions, Engaged sessions, Total users, and Conversions — from Variables and drop them into the Values area.

Congratulations! You've just built a custom landing page report. The table on the right now shows you every page where users started their sessions and how many users, sessions, and conversions originated from each page.

Step 6: Refine the Report with a Filter

Let's make this report even more useful. What if we only want to see traffic from organic search?

1. In the Tab Settings panel, drag the Session source / medium dimension from Variables and drop it into the Filters box.
2. A filter configuration box will appear. Set the conditions to: matches exactly and start typing "google / organic" (or your preferred organic source).
3. Click Apply.

Your report is now filtered to show only landing page performance for traffic from Google's organic search results. You can now clearly see which pages on your site perform best as organic entry points.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Beyond the Basics: Other Exploration Techniques

The "Free form" table we just built is awesome, but it's just the beginning. The "Technique" dropdown in your Tab Settings panel opens up a world of other visualizations.

• Funnel exploration: Ideal for visualizing the journey users take toward a conversion. You can define a series of steps (e.g., viewed product > added to cart > began checkout > purchased) and see exactly where users are dropping off in the process.
• Path exploration: Lets you see the paths users take after visiting a specific page or triggering an event. It creates a tree-like graph that helps you understand user flow and navigation patterns on your site.
• Segment overlap: This technique uses a Venn diagram to show you how different user segments overlap. It's great for understanding if your "Mobile Users" also belong to your "Users from the USA" and your "Engaged Users" segments.

Final Thoughts

While GA4's Explore reports can feel intimidating at first, they are surprisingly straightforward once you grasp the core concepts of dimensions, metrics, and the two-panel layout. By starting with a clear question and then pulling in the necessary building blocks, you can create powerful, custom reports that give you actionable clarity on your marketing performance.

Building these reports yourself is a huge step up from the limited standard views. However, this process still involves manually picking dimensions, dragging metrics, and setting up filters for every question you have. We created Graphed because we believe getting these insights shouldn't require you to become a GA4 wizard. Instead of building reports click by click, you can just ask in plain English, "Show me my top 10 landing pages from organic search by conversions last month," and get a live, interactive report back in seconds, with all your data sources connected in one place.