There are dozens of reports, hundreds of events, and countless metrics in GA4. Yet many teams still cannot give a clear answer to the question:
"Where and why are we losing the user?"

CRO opportunities are often missed not due to a lack of data, but due to looking at data from the wrong perspective.
However, when GA4 is approached with the right perspective, it offers a strong starting point for conversion rate optimization.

How Should We Look at GA4 from a CRO Perspective?

The main task of GA4 is to answer the question of "what happened?"
The job of CRO, on the other hand, is to ask the questions of "why did it happen and how can we improve?"

Therefore, in GA4:

• A single metric

• A single dashboard

• Or a single report

does not directly produce CRO action.

CRO opportunities arise from the gaps between expected user behavior and actual behavior. GA4 allows us to see these gaps; however, insight lies not in the data itself but in its interpretation.

The Most Critical GA4 Reports for Identifying CRO Opportunities

Funnel Exploration: Where Are We Losing Users?

The Funnel Exploration report is one of the most commonly referred starting points for CRO efforts. However, merely looking at it as a "drop-off" rate is not sufficient.

The questions that need to be asked from a CRO perspective are:

• At which step are users dropping off more than expected?

• Is this drop-off valid for all users or only for specific segments?

• Is the expected action from the user at this step really clear?

CRO Perspective:
There is always a drop in every funnel. The CRO opportunity arises;

• If there is disproportionate drop-off among similar steps

• If there are significant differences among segments at the same step
  it becomes apparent.

Path Exploration: Are Users Progressing as We Expected?

In many websites, the user journey is assumed to be linear. However, Path Exploration reports often show that this is not the case.

Users:

• May go to unexpected pages

• May return to different content before making a purchase

• May interrupt the process and seek more information

These behaviors are not always negative. On the contrary, when interpreted correctly:

• Information scarcity

• Need for trust

• Decision-making points

can offer very valuable signals from a CRO perspective.

Landing Page Reports: How Strong is the Initial Contact?

High traffic to a page does not mean it has a high conversion potential.

When examining GA4 landing page reports, the following questions should be asked:

• What is the intent of users coming to this page?

• Is the traffic source consistent with the page promise?

• Does the same page show different behaviors for users from different sources?

These analyses reveal important CRO opportunities in terms of content clarity and message alignment.

Micro Conversions: The Hidden Source of Large CRO Opportunities

CRO is not just about focusing on main conversions like purchases or form submissions. Micro conversions help us understand the user's intent and how close they are to the process.

However, there is an important point:
Not every event defined in GA4 is a micro conversion.

Real micro conversions:

• Starting a form

• Adding to cart

• Using filters or sorting

• Critical content interactions

are actions that indicate user intent.

For example, on an e-commerce site:

• Product page is being viewed

• But if the add-to-cart rate is low

the problem is not at checkout, but in the persuasive power of the product page.
Such micro signals create the real starting point for CRO efforts.

Why is It Risky to Do CRO Without Segmentation?

Looking at GA4 data with all users as a single group leads to misleading results from a CRO perspective.

• Mobile and desktop users,

• New and returning users,

• Campaign and organic traffic

can exhibit completely different behaviors in the same funnel.

With segmentation:

• The real problem points become clear

• Problems hidden by average values become visible

• Multiple CRO opportunities arise for the same page

CRO decisions made without segmentation often optimize the wrong user.

The Most Common Mistakes in the GA4 + CRO Process

The most common mistakes encountered while searching for CRO opportunities with GA4 data are:

• Trying to track every metric

• Seeing conversion rate as the only success metric

• Mistaking the number of events for insight

• Ignoring contexts such as campaign, season, or inventory

CRO needs not only data but also the context of the data.

Where Should GA4 Be Positioned in the CRO Process?

GA4, in the CRO process:

• Does not show the test results

• Indicates the areas that need to be tested.

Analyses conducted without asking the right questions, examining the right segments, and understanding user intent can be misleading rather than uncovering CRO opportunities.

A brief roadmap to start CRO with GA4:

1. Clarify the main funnel

2. Define micro conversions

3. Examine segment-based anomalies

4. Focus on user behavior rather than numbers

CRO arises not from the metrics you see in GA4, but from the story those metrics tell.