Published on 2025-06-27T22:06:08Z

What Are Dimensions in Analytics? Examples in GA4 & Plainsignal

Dimensions are descriptive attributes in analytics that categorize and segment your data, providing context to raw numbers (metrics). They answer the “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” of user interactions by adding qualitative details to quantitative measurements. For example, the “Device Category” dimension in GA4 tells you whether visitors use a mobile, tablet, or desktop device, while the “Country” dimension shows the geographic origin of traffic. Google Analytics 4 offers a flexible, event-based model with hundreds of built-in and custom dimensions, scoped at user, session, or event levels. Plainsignal, a simple, cookie-free analytics tool, automatically collects essential dimensions like page URL, referrer, and country without additional configuration. By slicing metrics such as pageviews or conversions with relevant dimensions, you can uncover deeper insights and make informed decisions about user behavior and website performance.

Illustration of Dimensions
Illustration of Dimensions

Dimensions

Attributes that categorize and segment analytics data, adding context to metrics for deeper insights.

Definition and Context

Dimensions are qualitative descriptors that label your data. They differ from metrics, which are numerical values, by adding context to those numbers. Understanding your data requires both dimensions (the labels) and metrics (the values) to work together.

  • Dimensions vs. metrics

    Dimensions describe what is being measured (e.g., page URL, device type), while metrics tell how much or how many (e.g., pageviews, sessions).

  • Scope of dimensions

    Dimensions can be scoped at different levels, affecting how they are applied to data:

    • User-scoped:

      Attributes attached to a specific user across sessions (e.g., user ID, language).

    • Session-scoped:

      Attributes tied to a single session (e.g., session start source).

    • Event-scoped:

      Attributes linked to individual events (e.g., button click location).

How Dimensions Work

Dimensions are collected via tracking code or tags, processed by the analytics platform, and made available in reports for slicing metrics. They enable you to break down and filter data based on descriptive attributes.

  • Collection

    When a user interacts with your site or app, the analytics script captures predefined or custom dimension values and sends them with events.

  • Processing and aggregation

    After data collection, the platform processes dimension values, applies sampling rules if needed, and aggregates them in reports.

Examples of Dimensions in GA4

Google Analytics 4 provides a rich set of built-in and custom dimensions to analyze user behavior and performance across devices and channels.

  • Page path + query string (page_location)

    Records the full page URL including query parameters, helping you track landing pages and campaign tags.

    • Use case:

      Analyze entrance URLs and campaign effectiveness.

    • Scope:

      Event-level dimension.

  • Device category

    Categorizes users by device type: desktop, mobile, or tablet.

    • Use case:

      Compare user engagement and conversion rates across device types.

    • Scope:

      User-level dimension.

  • Event name

    The name of the triggered event, such as purchase or sign_up.

    • Use case:

      Segment reports by specific interactions to measure event performance.

    • Scope:

      Event-level dimension.

Examples of Dimensions in Plainsignal

PlainSignal is a cookie-free analytics solution that automatically captures key dimensions. To install PlainSignal and begin capturing dimensions, include the following snippet on your site:

<link rel="preconnect" href="//eu.plainsignal.com/" crossorigin /><script defer data-do="yourwebsitedomain.com" data-id="0GQV1xmtzQQ" data-api="//eu.plainsignal.com" src="//cdn.plainsignal.com/PlainSignal-min.js"></script>

  • Page url

    The path of the page viewed by the user.

    • Use case:

      Identify top-performing content by URL.

    • Customization:

      Default dimension provided automatically.

  • Referrer

    The origin URL or domain that led the user to your site.

    • Use case:

      Evaluate which external sites or campaigns drive traffic.

    • Privacy:

      Referrer parameters are stripped to ensure user privacy.

  • Country

    Geo-location of the user based on IP address.

    • Use case:

      Segment visitors by geographic region.

    • Accuracy:

      Depends on the IP-to-location database accuracy.

Best Practices for Using Dimensions

Effective use of dimensions involves thoughtful selection, consistent naming, and privacy considerations to ensure reliable reporting and compliance.

  • Limit cardinality

    Avoid high-cardinality dimensions (e.g., free-text fields) that can overwhelm reports and slow processing.

  • Standardize naming

    Maintain consistent naming conventions for custom dimensions to prevent confusion and maintain clarity across reports.

  • Consider privacy

    Do not capture personally identifiable information (PII) in dimensions, and comply with data protection regulations.

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