How to Check Conversion Source in Google Analytics 4

Knowing which marketing channels drive results is essential, but finding this in Google Analytics 4 can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. The reports and terminology have changed from what you were used to in Universal Analytics. This guide will show you exactly how to find your conversion sources in GA4, using both the standard reports for a quick overview and the Exploration tool for a deeper analysis.

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First, A Quick GA4 Refresher: Events, Conversions, and Attribution

Before we jump into the reports, it's important to understand three core concepts in GA4 that directly impact how you track conversion sources. If you're coming from Universal Analytics, these are the biggest changes to wrap your head around.

Events vs. Conversions

In GA4, almost everything a user does is considered an event - a page view, a button click, a form submission, a purchase. This is different from Universal Analytics, which was based on sessions and pageviews. A conversion is simply a regular event that you've told Google you care most about.

To see your conversions, you first have to tell GA4 which events to treat as such. You can do this easily:

1. Navigate to the Admin section (the gear icon in the bottom-left).
2. Under the Property column, click on Events. Here you'll see a list of all events being captured on your site.
3. Find the event you want to treat as a conversion (e.g., form_submission, generate_lead, purchase).
4. On the right side of that event row, simply flip the switch under the Mark as conversion column.

That’s it. Within 24 hours, GA4 will start treating that event as a conversion in all its reports. This is a crucial first step, if you haven't marked any events as conversions, you won't see any conversion data populate in your reports.

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GA4's Data-Driven Attribution Model

An attribution model is a rule, or set of rules, that determines how credit for sales and conversions is assigned to touchpoints in conversion paths. In simpler terms: if a user clicks a Facebook ad, then later searches for you on Google, and finally clicks an email link before buying, who gets the credit?

Universal Analytics defaulted to a "Last Non-Direct Click" model, which gave 100% of the credit to the final channel the user came from (unless it was a direct visit). GA4 defaults to a more sophisticated Data-Driven Attribution (DDA) model.

Here’s the difference:

• Last-Click: The final channel before the conversion gets all the credit. It’s simple but often undervalues top-of-funnel channels that introduced a customer to your brand.
• Data-Driven: This model uses machine learning to analyze the entire conversion path, assigning partial credit to each touchpoint based on its contribution. A Facebook ad that started the journey might get 20% of the credit, the organic search 40%, and the email newsletter that sealed the deal gets the remaining 40%.

This is often a more realistic view of marketing performance, but it's important to know this is the default setting. The numbers you see in GA4 are distributed based on a more holistic view of the customer journey, not just the last click.

Method 1: Find Conversion Sources in the 'Traffic Acquisition' Report

For a quick, high-level view of where your converting users come from, the standard 'Traffic acquisition' report is your best starting point. This report shows you how users first discovered your website or app. This is focused on the user's first touchpoint.

Here’s how to find and use it:

1. In the left-hand menu, navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
2. By default, this report shows you data grouped by the Session default channel group dimension. This buckets your traffic into broad categories like Organic Search, Direct, Paid Search, Organic Social, etc.

You’ll see a table with several columns like Users, Sessions, and Engaged sessions. You need to scroll all the way to the right to find the Conversions column.

Here's a critical tip: By default, the main Conversions column shows data for all your conversion events combined. If you have a primary goal like purchase set up, it might default to showing only that. To see data for a specific conversion event, click the small dropdown arrow on the word "Conversions" in the table header. A list of all your defined conversion events will appear. Select the one you want to analyze, such as generate_lead.

The table will now update to show you exactly how many of those specific conversions are attributed to each channel group.

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Digging a Little Deeper in the Standard Report

Want a more granular view than the default channel groups?

• To see Source / Medium: You can see the classic 'Source / Medium' view (e.g., google / organic, facebook.com / referral) by clicking the dropdown arrow on the primary dimension (Session default channel group) above the table and selecting Session source / medium.
• To add a Secondary Dimension: Click the small plus sign (+) next to the primary dimension header in the table to add a secondary dimension, such as Device category, to see if conversions from organic search happen more often on desktop or mobile.

This report is perfect for quick answers and weekly check-ins. If you need to answer more complex questions, it's time to use GA4's most powerful feature: Explorations.

Method 2: Build a Custom Report with Explorations

Explorations give you the power to build custom reports from scratch. They are an incredibly flexible way to dig into your data when standard reports don't show you exactly what you need. Let’s build an exploration to analyze conversion sources in a way that gives us full control.

Step-by-Step: Creating a 'Conversion Source' Exploration

This process might seem like a lot of steps at first, but once you do it once, you'll see how logical it is. You're simply telling GA4 what dimensions (the "what") and metrics (the "how many") you want to see.

1. In the left-hand navigation, click on Explore and select Blank exploration to start fresh.
2. Import Your Dimensions: Dimensions are the "rows" of your report. In the Variables column on the left, click the plus sign (+) next to the Dimensions heading.

Search for and import the following (check the box next to each one, then click "Import"):

• Session source / medium: The traffic source of the session where the conversion happened.
• First user source / medium: The traffic source that originally brought this user to your website, ever.
• Event name: You'll need this to filter for your specific conversion event.

1. Import Your Metrics: Metrics are the "values" or numbers for your report. Click the plus sign (+) next to the Metrics heading.

Search for and import:

• Conversions: The count of your key events.
• Total Users: To see how many unique users contributed to those conversions.
• Sessions: To see the number of visits from each source.

1. Build the Report Table: Now, drag and drop the dimensions and metrics you imported into the Tab Settings column. It's like assembling with LEGOs.

• Drag Session source / medium from Dimensions to the Rows box.
• Drag Conversions and Total Users from Metrics to the Values box.

You should now see a table appear on the right, but it's showing all conversions. We only want one.

1. Filter for Your Specific Conversion: This is the key step that turns a generic report into a valuable one.

• Drag Event name from Dimensions down to the Filters box.
• A menu will pop up. Configure it as follows:

Your report will now be filtered to show only performance for your chosen conversion event, broken down by the source / medium of the session in which it occurred. You've successfully built a custom conversion source report!

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Session Source vs. First User Source: A Crucial Distinction

In the Exploration we built, you also imported First user source / medium. This is an extremely useful dimension. Swap out Session source / medium in your report's Rows field with First user source / medium to see the difference.

• Session Source / Medium: Answers "Which channels are best at closing the deal?" This is the assist or the final touch before the conversion happens. A user might arrive from 'google / cpc' and convert in that same visit.
• First User Source / Medium: Answers "Which channels are best at introducing valuable new users to our brand?" That same user might have originally found you via 'google / organic' two weeks ago but came back via a paid ad today to convert. This dimension credits the original source with generating a user who eventually converted.

Analyzing both provides a complete picture. One tells you what's fueling the top of your funnel, and the other tells you what's working at the bottom.

Final Thoughts

Getting comfortable with GA4 is a matter of understanding its event-based model and knowing where to look. You can get a fast and reliable overview of your conversion sources using the built-in 'Traffic Acquisition' report, and when you need to answer more specific questions, jumping into Explorations gives you the flexibility to build precisely the report you need.

We know that digging through menus and building reports across platforms like Google Analytics, your ad accounts, and your CRM can be time-consuming, even when you know what you’re doing. This is precisely why we created Graphed. We connect directly to all your data sources, letting you create real-time dashboards just by asking questions in plain English. Instead of building an exploration from scratch, you can simply ask, "Show me my top conversion sources from GA4 alongside my Facebook Ads spend for last month," and we instantly generate the report for you, keeping it updated automatically.