This blog post teaches how to create the Referrals report in GA4. In Universal Analytics this was a much easier report to access than in GA4. Here you will learn step-by-step how to create this the referral traffic sources report so it exists in the Reports menu.
Universal Anlaytics Referrals report
This is the GA4 Reports menu WITHOUT the Referrals report option.
This is the GA4 Reports menu WITH the Referral Traffic sources report as an option.
In Universal Analytics this report was found easily under Traffic > Acquisition > Referrals
Here is where we could see non-organic, non-paid search sources.
In G4 this same data is not as readily available. It takes a few more clicks and some filtering to get the referral sources data to appear like it did in Universal Analytics. And once you navigate away from what you’ve created in the UI (user interface), that report will disappear and you’ll have to build it again. Yes, you could just use your browser’s back button, but once you close your browser, you’ll have to rebuild it.
CREATE THE REFERRAL REPORT IN GA4 manually
Click on Acquisition > Traffic acquisition
Click on the “+”
Type in “source” and click on Session source.
This will add a secondary dimension, “Session source”, to the table.
Click in the Search box.
Now we want to filter the channel to just be the referral traffic. Type in “Referral” and hit the Enter key.
If manually creating the referral traffic in GA4 was your intent, this exercise is done.
However, if you navigate away to another page in GA4 or exit, your referral traffic report will disappear. If you stay in GA4, you can use your browser back button to return to your manually created report but eventually a page refresh or going to another client will be the end of your report.
CREATE THE REFERRALS REPORT IN GA4 STEP-BY-STEP (in a more permanent way)
GA4 Referral sources report
In order to make the referral traffic report a convenient menu choice that never goes away, follow these steps below.
In the upper right hand corner below the date range, click on the pencil icon to customize the referral traffic report. You’ll notice what you just created is now gone. Not to worry, the more permanent solution will suit your GA reporting needs better.
Click on the + Add Filter button under REPORT FILTER
Next, click in the Select Dimension box and type in Session default. Select Session default channel group from the drop-down list.
In the Match Type box, click on Select match type and select contains.
In the Value box, type Referral and click the Apply button on the bottom right hand corner.
You’ll notice your data has changed in the report.
Now, we want to change the primary dimension in the table to be the referral sources. To do that, click on Dimensions and select the 3 dots next to Session source and then select Set as default.
Then click Apply.
For all intents and purposes, this referral traffic sources report is done. Click Save and then Save as a new report.
Give your report a name and click Save.
The Referral Traffic sources report or whatever you named it is now saved in the Library. Click on the Back button in the upper left-hand corner. Get yourself back to the Reports menu and click on Library on the bottom of the Reports menu column.
Click on the 3 dots and select Edit
Scroll down to the bottom and find your newly created Referral traffic sources report. Click on, then drag and drop that report over in the Acquisition box and place it under Traffic Acquisition and hit Save.
Select Back in the upper righthand corner even though Save is still looking like it needs to be clicked on.
Click on Acquisition to see your new report listed in the menu.
Now, your Referral Traffic report is an always available menu choice. At the time this post is written, unfortunately, you cannot simply copy this report to another account.
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