In Google Analytics 4, everything is tracked as an event. An event is triggered by anything a user does while on your site. This could be landing on a page, adding to a cart, searching the site, or selecting content.

Google Analytics 4 is the new standard for analytics tracking on your website or for your app.

One helpful event to track is to see what webpage or article someone clicked to first enter your site. It’s a valuable report for content marketing purposes because it helps you measure what content is being seen and clicked on in the SERP or by referral. This event is tracked as an Entrance in GA4.

What are entrances in Google Analytics?

An Entrance in Google Analytics 4 is the number of times the first event recorded for a session occurred on a particular screen. Entrances are incremented on the first pageview or screenview hit of a session. 

If you’ve previously used the Landing Pages report in Universal Google Analytics, Entrances is your answer to this report. 

The Landing Pages Report in Google Analytics is one of the main ways to see where someone first lands on your website. This report shows you the webpage or article that made them interested in your website and where they first enter.

In the new GA4, Landing Pages, now Entrances, is not as simple to find, so I’ve put together a quick tutorial on setting up the Entrances report for your website.

Landing Page in Universal Google Analytics

In Universal Google Analytics, you can find Landing Pages by choosing Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages. 

Or, if you have Google Search Console connected, you choose Acquisition >  Search Console > Landing Pages.

Entrances in GA4

Now, let’s set up an Entrance report in GA4. If you haven’t already added GA4 to your Google Analytics dashboard, here’s how to add it.

Once you’re in the new GA4 property, you’ll notice the dashboard looks much different.

In the left menu, choose Analysis, then select Analysis hub.

Now, click Blank analysis to create a new analysis.

In the Variables column, you’ll see an area called Metrics. Click the + button.

Another menu will open, and you’ll choose Entrances. If you can’t find it, search it or look under the Others category. Click Apply.

Next, find Dimensions in the Variables columns and click the + button. Choose Page title as the Dimension. This will show you the title of the page on your site. Click Apply.

Now, drag the Page title block over to the Rows section and drag the Entrances block over to the Values section.

You should now see your information in the Exploration tab!

You may need to sort the data by clicking on the Entrances column a couple of times to sort it from highest to lowest.

Explore More

You can add additional Dimensions such as Device category to the Columns section to see how many Entrances came from Desktop, Mobile, or Tablet. Or add the Region Dimension to the Columns section to see where users are located.

Final thoughts

GA4 is a whole new way to view your traffic analytics. Even if you’re savvy in Universal Google Analytics (or have your individual qualification or advanced certification), it’s worth learning since it’s already the default when you create a new property. 

Read through the GA4 documentation to learn what all the new terms mean and how you can start setting up reports to help your company.