Channel Groups
In Google Analytics (GA4), channel groups are a way of aggregating traffic sources into categories. They allow you to study your acquisition channels in a synthetic way, without going into too much detail.
For example, if you want to study the traffic volume and conversion coming from SEO, you can filter your dashboards with the Organic search channel group. The results will contain all traffic from search engines (Google, Bing, etc.), excluding that generated by advertisements such as Google Ads.
Similarly, if you want to study traffic from social networks and only that generated by ads, you can apply a filter with the Paid Social channel group.
Google Analytics automatically classifies your traffic into channel groups according to source and medium. You can therefore use UTM parameters in your URLs to classify your external links in the group you wish. The categorization rules can be consulted on Google Analytics website.
Here are the most common channel groups with their meaning:
| Channel group | Traffic source |
|---|---|
| Direct | Unknown or URL entered directly or bookmarked |
| Organic Search | Unpaid search engine results |
| Paid Search | Paid search ads |
| Organic Social | Unpaid social media posts or profiles |
| Paid Social | Social media ads |
| Emails such as newsletters | |
| Referral | Other websites |
In Linito, you can filter your traffic dashboard on a channel group simply by clicking on the filter button next to it. Alternatively, you can use the filter button in the menu bar.