How to Make an X Y Graph in Google Analytics
Creating a chart in Google Analytics that shows the relationship between two different metrics, like Sessions vs. Conversions, is one of the best ways to spot trends you'd otherwise miss. This chart is often called a scatter plot or an XY graph, and building one lets you see correlations, identify top-performing outliers, and find underperforming pages or campaigns that need your attention. In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to create and interpret your own XY scatter graphs directly within Google Analytics 4.
What Exactly Is a Scatter Plot (XY Graph)?
Before diving into the "how," let's quickly cover the "what." A scatter plot, or XY graph, is a type of chart that uses dots to represent the values for two different numeric variables. One variable's value is plotted on the horizontal (X) axis, and the other's value is plotted on the vertical (Y) axis.
In the context of marketing analytics, you might use it to answer questions like:
Do landing pages with more users (X-axis) also generate more revenue (Y-axis)?
Do ad campaigns with a higher cost (X-axis) lead to a proportional increase in conversions (Y-axis)?
Do users from certain countries with more sessions (X-axis) have a higher average engagement time (Y-axis)?
Each dot on the graph represents a specific item - like a landing page, an ad campaign, or a country - and its position shows its performance across those two metrics. The overall pattern of the dots helps you see the relationship, or correlation, between the X and Y variables.
This is incredibly powerful because a simple table of data can hide these relationships. Seeing them visually makes trends and outliers jump off the screen.
Times You'll Want to Use a Scatter Plot in Google Analytics
A scatter plot is your go-to visualization when you need to understand the relationship between two metrics to make better decisions. Here are a few practical scenarios where it comes in handy:
Identifying Your Best and Worst Performing Content: Plot Total Users (X-axis) against Conversions (Y-axis) for all of your landing pages. You’ll instantly see which high-traffic pages are great at converting (top right quadrant) and which high-traffic pages are failing to convert (bottom right quadrant), giving you a clear priority list for optimization.
Evaluating SEO/Content Effectiveness: Compare Organic Search Users (X-axis) with Average Engagement Time (Y-axis) for your blog posts. This can show you which articles not only attract organic traffic but also keep readers highly engaged, signaling that the content is matching user intent.
Optimizing Ad Spend: Plot Campaign Cost (X-axis) against Total Revenue (Y-axis). Ideally, you want to see a clear line of dots moving up and to the right, showing that higher spending leads to higher revenue. Any campaigns that are far to the right (high cost) but low on the vertical axis (low revenue) are prime candidates for review.
Analyzing User Behavior by Location: Wondering where your most valuable users come from? Plot Sessions (X-axis) versus Total Revenue (Y-axis) and use Country as your dimension. You might discover countries that drive lots of traffic but little revenue, or hidden gem locations with low traffic but very high purchase value.
Step-by-Step Guide: How to Create a Scatter Plot in GA4
Google Analytics 4 has a powerful reporting section called "Explorations" where you can build custom reports and visualizations, including scatter plots. Standard reports won't complete this task, so you'll need to jump into 'Explore'. Here’s how to do it step by step.
Step 1: Go to the "Explore" Section
Log in to your Google Analytics 4 property. In the left-hand navigation menu, click on the compass icon labeled Explore. This is where you can move beyond standard reports and start building custom analyses tailored to your specific questions.
Step 2: Create a New Blank Exploration
In the Exploration hub, you'll see a gallery of templates. For our purposes, we're going to build one from the ground up. Click on the Blank template (the large plus sign) to open a new, untitled exploration.
Give your exploration a descriptive name. In the top left corner, click on "Untitled exploration" and rename it to something like "Landing Page Performance - Sessions vs. Revenue".
Step 3: Add Your Dimensions and Metrics
An exploration is a blank canvas. To build anything, you first need to import the building blocks: Dimensions and Metrics. These live in the "Variables" column on the far left.
Let's break these down:
Dimensions: These are the descriptive attributes of your data. Think of them as the "what" or "who" – things like Landing page, Campaign, Device category, or Country. This is what each dot on your plot will represent.
Metrics: These are the numbers you want to measure. For a scatter plot, you need at least two. Think of them as the quantitative values, like Sessions, Users, Conversions, or Total Revenue.
For our example, let's create a chart to see how well different landing pages convert traffic into revenue.
Import Your Dimension:
In the "Variables" column, find the "Dimensions" section and click the + (plus) button.
A pane will slide out with all available dimensions. Use the search bar to find "Landing page + query string".
Check the box next to it and click the blue Import button in the top right corner.
Your chosen dimension will now appear in the "Variables" column, ready to use.
Import Your Metrics:
Now, in the "Variables" column, go to the "Metrics" section and click the + (plus) button.
Search for and select "Sessions".
Search again for "Total revenue".
Make sure both are checked, then click the Import button.
Like with dimensions, your imported metrics are now available for your report.
Step 4: Configure Your Visualization in "Tab Settings"
This is where everything comes together. To the right of the "Variables" column is the "Tab Settings" column. This is where you’ll drag and drop your dimensions and metrics to build the actual chart.
1. Select Scatter Plot as the Visualization Type:
At the very top of the "Tab Settings" column, you'll see a set of chart icons with "Table" likely selected by default. Click on it, and from the dropdown menu, choose the Scatter plot icon (it looks like a cloud of dots).
2. Build the XY Graph:
Once you select "scatter plot," the configuration fields will change. Now, simply drag your imported variables from the left "Variables" column into the appropriate fields on the right:
Breakdown: Drag the Landing page + query string dimension into this field. This tells GA to create one dot for each landing page on your site.
Values (X-Axis): Drag the Sessions metric into this field to set it as your horizontal axis.
Values (Y-Axis): Drag the Total revenue metric into this field to set it as your vertical axis.
And that's it! As you drop the metrics in place, Google Analytics will instantly generate the scatter plot on the large canvas to the right. You now have an XY graph plotting sessions against total revenue for every landing page.
Step 5: How to Interpret and Analyze Your Scatter Plot
You’ve built the chart, but what does it all mean? Here's how to read it:
Look for the general trend: Do the dots generally form a line going up from the bottom-left to the top-right? If so, that indicates a positive correlation. In our example, this would mean that pages with more sessions tend to generate more revenue, which is a good sign! If they trend downwards, that’s a negative correlation. If they're randomly scattered everywhere, there's likely no meaningful relationship.
Find the outliers: Outliers are the dots that don’t fit the general pattern. They are often the most valuable sources of insight.
High-Achievers (Top Left): Dots here have low X-axis values but high Y-axis values. In our example, these would be pages with few sessions but a lot of revenue - your conversion superstars! You should figure out what makes these pages so effective and apply those learnings elsewhere.
Underachievers (Bottom Left): These pages get low traffic and generate little revenue.
Growth Opportunities (Top Right): Dots here represent landing pages with both high traffic and high revenue. These are pages you want to send more of your best traffic.
Money Pits (Bottom Right): These are often the most important outliers to find. Dots here get a lot of sessions (high on the X-axis) but generate little to no revenue (low on the Y-axis). These are popular pages that are failing to perform. Why isn't all that traffic converting? This gives you a clear target for CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) efforts.
You can hover over any dot on the chart to see the exact landing page and its corresponding metrics - sessions and revenue.
Advanced Tip: Adding Segments and Filters
Want to dig deeper? You can use segments and filters to refine your analysis even further.
Use Segments to Compare Audiences: In the "Variables" column, you can create and add segments. For instance, you could create a "Mobile Traffic" segment and an "Organic Traffic" segment. Drag them both into the "Segment Comparisons" field in "Tab Settings." GA will then color-code the dots on your scatter plot, so you can see if a particular traffic source performs differently on the same page. Is organic traffic more likely to convert? This visualization makes it easy to see.
Use Filters to Focus Your Data: At the bottom of the "Tab Settings" column is a "Filters" option. You can use it to narrow your view. For instance, you could add a filter to only include data where Session medium contains "cpc" to analyze only your paid traffic, or to exclude low-traffic pages for a clearer view of your top content.
Final Thoughts
Creating an XY scatter plot in Google Analytics gives you an entirely new perspective on your data. Instead of just looking at raw numbers in tables, you can visually uncover the nuanced relationships between key metrics like cost vs. revenue or traffic vs. engagement, helping you make smarter, more data-informed decisions about where to focus your efforts.
As powerful as GA4's Explorations are, analytics often requires connecting data from multiple platforms at once. Your customer's journey doesn't just happen on your website, it starts with an ad click, involves email open rates, and ends with a purchase or a deal marked "closed-won" in your CRM. This is where we built Graphed to help. We make it easy to connect all of your sources - Google Analytics, Google Ads, Shopify, HubSpot, and dozens more - in one place. Then, you can simply ask for the visual you need in plain English. Instead of building the report step by step, you can just ask, "Create a scatter plot comparing Facebook Ads spend versus Shopify new orders by campaign", and get an interactive, real-time chart in seconds.