How to use Google Analytics in a metric
Add Google Analytics data to journey-map metric cards, including properties, dimensions, and metrics field mapping.
Turn a number from Google Analytics, like sessions or page views, into a live chart on any journey map.
Prerequisites
The Google Analytics integration is set up at the account level. See How to set up the Google Analytics integration.
Editor role at the workspace level.
Add a Google Analytics metric
You can create a Google Analytics metric from two places:
From the workspace Metrics tab - Click Metrics in the sidebar, then + Create metric. The full-page Add metric form opens.
From a journey map - Click + Add card on a card slot and pick Metric under Advanced cards. In the Add metric picker, pick an existing metric or type a name and click Create. The metric opens in a compact modal; use Full screen view to switch to the full-page form.
The steps below walk the workspace-tab flow because the full-page form shows every field on screen. The journey map modal has the same fields in a more compact layout.
Name the metric and pick Google Analytics as the source
In the Add metric form, type a name that describes what the metric shows (for example, Website signups). In Source, pick Google Analytics.
If you see a red Google Analytics setup required error below the Source field, the integration isn't connected for this account yet. Follow How to set up the Google Analytics integration before continuing.
Pick the metric type
Open the Type dropdown and pick Series, Number, or Comparison. The fields below the Type dropdown depend on this choice, so set it before mapping the Google Analytics fields.
For which type fits which question, see How to create and configure a metric.
Map the Google Analytics fields
With Series selected, the form shows a Date range field, a Google analytics metric selector, and a Google Analytics dimension selector. The metric is the number you're plotting; the dimension groups it.
Pick the number to plot under Google analytics metric (for example, Sessions, Page views, or Active users).
Pick how to group it under Google Analytics dimension (for example, Country, Device, or Page title).
Set a window under Date range.
Both selectors list only the metrics and dimensions an Admin chose when connecting the property, so the lists are deliberately short. If the value you need isn't there, ask whoever set up the connection to add it. For what each field means, see Field mapping below.
Important: Number and Comparison metrics show different fields
A Number metric drops the series-specific options and may ask for an aggregation, since it resolves to one value rather than a sequence. A Comparison metric collects two values to compare. The Google analytics metric and dimension selectors work the same way across all three types.
Set the chart options
In the Default card preview panel on the right, pick a default chart type from the strip (Bar chart, Horizontal bar, Pie chart, Line chart, or Number). Add an optional Chart heading and Chart subheading for labels above the chart. These settings are the defaults for new metric cards built from this metric; each card can override them on a journey map. For the full chart-options reference, see How to create and configure a metric.
Save the metric
Click Save. The metric appears in the workspace Metrics list and is ready to drop onto any journey map as a metric card.
For placing the metric as a card and customising it per-map, see How to use metric cards.
Field mapping
Google Analytics organises data as a Property that holds Dimensions and Metrics. The example below walks a Series metric, the most common type, showing sessions grouped by country.
Property - A website, mobile application, or device; a container for the data Google Analytics collects. The property is chosen once when the integration is connected, so it isn't a field on the metric form. Every metric you build pulls from a property an Admin already connected.
Dimensions - Attributes used to filter and group your data, such as Country, Device, or Page title. The Google Analytics dimension selector lists the dimensions curated at connection time. Picking Country, for example, gives one data point per country.
Metrics - Quantitative measurements of activity on your site or app, such as Sessions, Page views, or Goal completions. The Google analytics metric selector is the number that gets plotted.
You can narrow the data further with Filters (items to include) for AND conditions and Filters (items to exclude) for NOT conditions, each pairing a dimension with a value.
Tip: Match the dimension to the journey stage
Pick the Google Analytics dimension that matches what the journey stage is about. A regional journey reads cleanly with the Country or City dimension; a journey about a specific flow reads better grouped by Page title or Page path. The metric renders one data point per dimension value, so a focused dimension keeps the chart legible.
Refresh behaviour
Google Analytics metrics refresh on access, not on a timer. When you open the Metrics section or load a journey map with a Google Analytics metric, Smaply checks the data and pulls fresh values from Google Analytics only if what it has is more than about an hour old. There's no manual refresh button and no constant background sync.
Because of that hour-long window, events that just happened in Google Analytics may not appear in Smaply immediately. The next time the metric or map loads after the window passes, the values catch up.
Troubleshooting
If the connection itself isn't working, see How to set up the Google Analytics integration for connection troubleshooting. The issues below cover data-side problems once the connection is in place.
The metric or dimension dropdown is empty or missing a value you need - Curated at connection time
The Google analytics metric and Google Analytics dimension selectors only list the metrics and dimensions chosen when the property was connected. The list is kept short on purpose, so a value you expect may simply not have been added.
Ask whoever set up the Google Analytics integration to add the metric or dimension you need on the Configure Google Analytics page, then reopen the metric form.
No property's data is selectable, or the metric returns nothing - Access or API issue
The metric builds but comes back blank, or no Google Analytics data is available to pick from.
The connection identity may not have access to the property. For service-account auth, the service account email must be granted on the property in Google Analytics under Admin > Property Access Management. For OAuth, the signed-in Google account must have that access itself.
The property may be listing fine but returning no numbers because the Google Analytics Data API is disabled in the Google Cloud project. The Admin API populates the property and field lists; the Data API serves the actual values, so one can work while the other doesn't.
Both are connection-side fixes. See How to set up the Google Analytics integration.
A metric returns no data despite a valid metric and dimension - Incompatible pairing (Google Analytics behaviour)
Some Google Analytics metric and dimension combinations aren't compatible and return nothing, even when each is valid on its own. This is a Google Analytics platform constraint, not a Smaply one.
Edit the metric and try a more standard pairing (for example, Sessions by Country) to confirm the connection works, then narrow from there.
For wider questions about how integrations behave across tools (refresh frequency, switching auth, what happens on disconnect), see How to manage integrations.
Still not working? Contact support at help@smaply.com
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