What Are the Most Important GA4 Parameters?

With the evolution of digital analytics, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has emerged as the most advanced platform for tracking user interactions across websites and apps. As businesses in the Philippines and across the globe migrate from Universal Analytics to GA4, understanding the most crucial GA4 parameters becomes essential for accurate reporting, performance monitoring, and business decision-making.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the most important GA4 parameters you should be familiar with, how they impact your analytics strategy, and how to use them effectively. Whether you’re a marketer, analyst, developer, or entrepreneur, this article will help you master GA4's core components.

Why Parameters Matter in GA4

Unlike Universal Analytics, which relied heavily on predefined events and category-action-label tagging, GA4 adopts an event-driven data model. Every interaction on your site or app is an event, and each event can have multiple parameters attached to it.

What Are Parameters?

In GA4, parameters are additional pieces of information that describe an event. For example:

• An event called purchase may have parameters like value, currency, items, transaction_id, etc.
• A page_view event may include page_location, page_title, or page_referrer.

These parameters allow you to customize and expand your data collection based on your business goals.

Most Important GA4 Parameters to Track

Below is a categorized breakdown of the most critical GA4 parameters, grouped by usage and business relevance.

1. Traffic Source Parameters

Understanding where your users come from is foundational in digital analytics. GA4 captures traffic sources with the following key parameters:

a. source

• Indicates the origin of your traffic (e.g., Google, Facebook, Newsletter).
• Helps attribute users to marketing campaigns accurately.

b. medium

• Specifies the marketing medium (e.g., organic, CPC, email).
• Crucial for ROI analysis and channel attribution.

c. campaign

• Represents the name of a specific marketing campaign.
• Useful for tracking paid ads, email promotions, and affiliate efforts.

d. content

• Used in A/B testing to differentiate versions of ads or links.
• Example: content=blue_banner vs. content=red_banner.

e. term

• Captures the keyword in paid search campaigns.
• Valuable for PPC managers optimizing ad spend.

Use Case Example:

If you’re running a Google Ads campaign targeting e-commerce users in the Philippines, you could set:

• source=google
• medium=cpc
• campaign=summer_sale
• term=cheap_air_conditioner

2. Engagement Parameters

Understanding how users interact with your site or app is key to improving retention and conversions.

a. engagement_time_msec

• Measures the total time a user is engaged with your content (in milliseconds).
• Essential for calculating meaningful metrics like Average Engagement Time.

b. session_engaged

• Boolean value (true/false) indicating if the session was considered “engaged.”
• Helps differentiate between bounce and active visits.

c. scroll

• Indicates when a user has scrolled at least 90% of the page.
• Useful for assessing content performance.

d. screen_view

• Used mainly for mobile apps to log the screen name being viewed.

Tip: High engagement often correlates with better SEO rankings and user satisfaction. Use these parameters to inform UX improvements.

3. E-Commerce Parameters

For businesses running online stores, GA4 includes robust e-commerce tracking via custom and predefined parameters.

a. value

• The monetary value of the transaction or conversion.
• Can be used to calculate ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).

b. currency

• Always include this (e.g., currency: PHP), especially for international operations.
• Critical for accurate revenue reporting.

c. items

• An array that includes multiple product-level details like: item_id item_name item_brand price quantity

d. transaction_id

• A unique identifier for the transaction.
• Prevents duplicate conversions and enables order tracking.

e. coupon

• Tracks discount codes used during purchases.

Philippines Context Example:

If your Shopify store sells gadgets in the Philippines, a typical purchase event might look like:

{
  "event": "purchase",
  "parameters": {
    "value": 17990,
    "currency": "PHP",
    "transaction_id": "TXN12345PH",
    "items": [
      {
        "item_id": "G102",
        "item_name": "Wireless Gaming Mouse",
        "price": 17990,
        "quantity": 1
      }
    ]
  }
}

4. User Properties (Technically Not Parameters, But Just As Crucial)

While not parameters per se, user properties in GA4 function similarly by providing context about the user.

a. user_id

• A unique identifier tied to a user (not device).
• Enables cross-device tracking.

b. user_type

• Helps segment between new and returning users.

c. location, language, device_category

• These user-scoped values help in targeting and UX optimizations.

5. Custom Parameters

In GA4, you can define your own parameters to meet unique business needs. Custom parameters must be registered in the GA4 interface to be used in reporting.

Examples:

• membership_level (e.g., free, silver, gold)
• article_category (e.g., politics, sports, tech)
• video_length (in seconds)

Caution: GA4 limits the number of custom dimensions and metrics. As of now:

• 50 custom dimensions per property
• 50 custom metrics per property

How to Use GA4 Parameters Effectively

Here are a few tips to get the most out of GA4 parameters:

1. Standardize Naming Conventions

Use consistent naming for parameters like item_id, category, and campaign to ensure clean reports.

2. Use Google Tag Manager (GTM) for Flexibility

GTM allows you to dynamically assign and trigger parameters without hardcoding.

3. Leverage DebugView

DebugView in GA4 shows real-time event and parameter tracking. Use it during implementation to validate your setup.

4. Use BigQuery for Advanced Analysis

Export GA4 data to BigQuery for in-depth exploration of parameter-level data.

5. Align With Business Goals

Only track parameters that align with key business questions. Over-tracking adds noise and impacts performance.

Common Pitfalls When Using GA4 Parameters

1. Exceeding Limits

GA4 has quota limits on event names, parameters, and user properties. Avoid sending unnecessary parameters.

2. Missing Currency for Revenue Events

Always include the currency parameter to avoid misinterpretation, especially when reporting across different markets like the Philippines, where PHP is used.

3. Not Registering Custom Parameters

If you don’t register custom parameters in the GA4 UI, you won’t be able to use them in standard reports.

4. Sending Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

GA4 does not allow PII like names, email addresses, or phone numbers to be sent via parameters. Violations can lead to account suspension.

Best Practices Checklist

• ✅ Define a clear taxonomy for events and parameters
• ✅ Use consistent and meaningful parameter names
• ✅ Tag all e-commerce events with value, currency, and items
• ✅ Track scroll depth and engagement for content sites
• ✅ Monitor parameters in DebugView before publishing
• ✅ Avoid exceeding parameter limits or including PII
• ✅ Export to BigQuery for granular insights

Final Thoughts

GA4 parameters are the building blocks of modern web and app analytics. They enable precise tracking, flexible reporting, and actionable insights. By focusing on the most important parameters—such as traffic sources, engagement metrics, e-commerce values, and custom data—you can create a robust analytics framework tailored to your business goals.

For businesses in the Philippines, implementing GA4 with localized parameters (like currency: PHP) ensures that your analytics reflect true market performance. Whether you're selling products online, running marketing campaigns, or managing mobile apps, mastering these GA4 parameters can be the difference between data overload and data-driven growth.

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