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Dimensions vs metrics: the building blocks of every analytics report

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Every analytics report is built from two components: dimensions and metrics. Understanding the difference between them changes how you read your data and what questions you can answer. Learn what they are and how to use them.

Analytics dashboards can look overwhelming at first. Numbers everywhere. Charts and graphs. Columns and rows. But underneath all of that, everything is built from two simple building blocks: dimensions and metrics. Once you understand what these are, everything else makes sense.

What is a dimension?

A dimension is a descriptive attribute. It is the "what" or "who" in your data. Dimensions are categories. They are descriptions. They answer questions like "what page" or "what traffic source" or "what device."

Examples of dimensions include:

Page (what page did the visitor view?)
Traffic source (where did the visitor come from?)
Device type (was it mobile or desktop?)
Country (where is the visitor located?)
Campaign (which marketing campaign brought them?)

Dimensions are always text or categories. They are never numbers on their own. "Homepage" is a dimension. "Mobile" is a dimension. "Organic search" is a dimension.

What is a metric?

A metric is a measurable number. It is the "how much" or "how many" in your data. Metrics are counts or measurements. They answer questions like "how many visits" or "how much time" or "how many conversions."

Examples of metrics include:

Visits (how many times did people come to the site?)
Session duration (how long did they stay?)
Bounce rate (what percentage left without action?)
Conversions (how many people took the action you care about?)
Pages per session (how many pages did they view?)

Metrics are always numbers. They can be whole numbers (42 visits), percentages (65%), or decimal numbers (3.2 pages per session).

How dimensions and metrics work together

Dimensions alone are not useful. You need a metric to know what to do with them. Metrics alone are not useful either. You need a dimension to know what the number means.

A dimension without a metric is just a category. "Mobile" is interesting, but so what? A metric without a dimension is just a number. "42 visits" is fine, but visits to where? From what source?

Together, they tell a story. "42 visits to the homepage from organic search" is useful information. You can act on it. You understand where it came from and what page it relates to.

A real example from your analytics

Open your analytics dashboard and look at a report. Look at a report that shows your top pages. You will see two columns. One column lists page names (that is the dimension). The other column shows visit counts (that is the metric).

The page name tells you "what." The visit count tells you "how many." Together, they show you which pages get the most traffic. That is how every analytics report works. Dimension on one side. Metric on the other. Question answered.

Why dimensions and metrics matter for your decisions

When you understand dimensions and metrics, you can ask better questions of your data. Instead of just looking at a report someone else made, you can create your own reports. You can answer questions you actually care about.

You want to know which blog post gets the most engagement. You pick the dimension "blog post" and the metric "average session duration." You want to know whether your ads are working. You pick the dimension "traffic source" and the metric "conversion rate." You want to see if mobile visitors behave differently than desktop visitors. You pick the dimension "device" and the metric "bounce rate."

This is the power of understanding dimensions and metrics. You can design a report to answer almost any question about your website.

Building a custom report

Most analytics tools let you build custom reports by picking dimensions and metrics. You choose a dimension (what do you want to segment by?) and a metric (what do you want to measure?). The tool does the rest.

You want to see which traffic source brings the highest conversion rate. You pick the dimension "traffic source" and the metric "conversion rate." Now you see the answer broken down by source.

You want to know if certain countries visit longer than others. You pick the dimension "country" and the metric "average session duration." Now you see how long visitors from each country stay on your site.

In WEMASY analytics, you can build these reports from your dashboard. Choose what dimension you want to analyze, pick the metric that matters, and the dashboard shows you the answer immediately.

Common dimensions and metrics to track

Not every dimension and metric matters for your site. Start with the ones that answer your most important questions.

Traffic understanding

Dimensions: Traffic source, campaign, device type, country

Metrics: Visits, new visitors, returning visitors, bounce rate

Engagement understanding

Dimensions: Page, section, content type

Metrics: Average session duration, pages per session, scroll depth, time on page

Conversion understanding

Dimensions: Landing page, traffic source, device type

Metrics: Conversion rate, conversions, cost per conversion

Start with one dimension and one metric that matter most to your business. Learn how to read that report. Then add another combination. This is how you build from basic understanding to advanced analysis.