Google Analytics 4 has introduced a benchmarking feature that allows you to compare your website’s performance with other businesses in your industry.
To access the benchmarking feature, go to the Home section, click the drop-down icon next to any metric, and select Benchmarking. You can then choose a metric to benchmark, such as active users, purchase rate, event count, and more.
For the Benchmarking feature to appear in GA4 property, you have to opt-in Modeling contributions and business insights under the Account details section.
You’ll also select an Industry category related your organization under the Property details section.
While the Benchmarking feature is designed to help compare your website to others in your industry, it doesn’t have the context needed for a true, apples-to-apples comparison.
For example, if your organization is in a smaller city, traffic to your website may naturally be lower than that of a similar organization in a larger city with a bigger population. This population difference can skew benchmarks, making it hard to interpret how your site’s performance actually measures up.
Additionally, websites vary in what they consider important metrics. For example, the key event metric may differ from one website to another; one website might count a pageview to the contact page as a key event, while another might not. These differences lead to inconsistencies in key event counts, making it difficult to assess meaningful comparisons.
Overall, without standardized metrics and more contextual comparison, the Benchmarking feature may not effectively indicate whether a website is performing better or worse than others in its industry. If you want to assess whether your website is performing well or not, it’s best to work with a GA4 consultant. If you want book a consultation with our GA4 consultant and we will be happy to help.