Contents
- It's GA4's conversion rate, relative to sessions rather than ad clicks.
- It exists in two variants, per session and per user, which give different figures for the same reality.
- It never compares to an ad platform's conversion rate: the denominators differ.
Definition
The key event rate per session measures the proportion of sessions that triggered at least one key event.
Formula
Rate = sessions with a key event divided by total sessions, times one hundred.
Worked example
A site records 10,000 sessions and 320 sessions with a form submission, so 3.2%. Google Ads shows at the same time a 4.6% conversion rate: it computes on its clicks, not on sessions, and attributes only what follows an interaction with its ads.
Orders of magnitude
No useful reference out of context. It reads by channel: brand traffic always converts markedly better than cold acquisition, and a global average blends the two.
The most common mistakes
- Comparing the per-session and per-user variants. One user who came three times before converting gives two very different figures.
- Comparing it to Google Ads or Meta. The denominators and attributions don't line up.
- Reading it across all channels. The average masks gaps from one to ten.
Where to find the metric
In GA4, the Key event rate per session and Key event rate per user metrics, available in the acquisition reports and explorations.
Frequently asked questions
The Adwise team connects Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, GA4 and Search Console so agencies and freelancers can run their campaigns from a single place.