In Google Analytics, cohort analysis is a specific technique for analyzing the behavior of a group of users over time. A cohort is a group of users who share a common characteristic, such as the date when they first visited a website. Another example would be the source of their traffic.
A cohort analysis allows you to understand the behavior of a cohort over a specified period. This could give you insight into the engagement and loyalty of the users in the cohort, but also into the factors that influence their behavior.
Cohorts in Google Analytics are created and managed through the Cohorts section of the interface. In this section, you can define the criteria for a cohort, such as the date range or traffic source, and to access the data and reports for the cohort.
You can use a cohort analysis to answer a variety of questions, such as:
- How does the behavior of a cohort of users change over time?
- Do users in a cohort become more or less engaged over time?
- Do users in a cohort return to the website more or less frequently over time?
- What factors influence the behavior of users in a cohort?