GA4: The next generation of Google Analytics

So, the sun is finally setting for Google Analytics Universal (GAU), with the new Google Analytics 4 (GA4) firmly on the horizon. After 16 years of serving over 60% of websites with invaluable website data¹ GAU is stepping aside, making way for this new insight-led and privacy-focused platform.

Before propelling into the world of GA4, we must understand the fundamentals of Google Analytics and its purpose in the digital marketing world:

Google Analytics is a fundamental marketing tool, invaluable in tracking website traffic behaviour. Used by businesses and agencies alike across the globe to understand a user’s journey, it provides insight into how they navigate through a website. Metrics centred on behaviour offer critical learnings that form the basis of many marketing strategies.

What’s new?  

GA4 is now being used by over 7 million live websites², but what is the new functionality and how can we use it to amplify our analytics, gaining greater value from our websites and app’s data?

Privacy

The main driver for a GA refresh is that the measurement method of using cookies is quickly becoming obsolete due to GDPS and CCPA laws. The solution? GA4 does not rely on IP addresses and cookies but instead leverages AI and machine learning to provide insight led website and app data. In short, we can expect to see a platform that delivers advanced insight whilst future-proofing the way in which it collects user data.

New dashboard

You’re in… but there is a whole new dashboard to navigate. The good news? It has undergone a “less is more” transformation. Unlike GAU where the dashboard incorporated a wealth of data presented in many different reports, what we now have is a much simpler top-line dashboard accompanied by relevant, real-time, and customised insights generated by Google with your business in mind. This layout is designed to deliver actionable information to your fingertips, helping you cut through the noise.

New dashboard quick win!   

Use the search bar to ask questions: How many users did my site receive from Canada last week? How many file downloads were completed last month? Which age group generated the most website hits over the last 2 weeks?

Customisable analytics

Insights have been propelled to the forefront of GA4, moving away from generalised session-based data in GAU. GA4 is built with user interaction-based events including:

• Engaged sessions
• File downloads
• Button clicks

These automatically collected events measure additional user behaviour, painting a more informed picture of the interactions happening across your website or app, levelling up reporting with additional measurable features.

In addition to automatically collecting events, Google allows you to create custom events, enabling you to choose what matters to your business. A new custom event is set using a custom parameter, defined by you, allowing greater control of the exact user interactions you want to measure.

Analytics intelligence led data

Using machine learning, GA4 can provide two types of insights.

Automated Insights: Trends, changes in activity and useful analysis of data are generated by GA4 using AI technology and are available to view either on the insights section of the dashboard or can be set up as a trigger to your email!

Custom Insights: True to the customisable theme running through the core of GA4, this functionality allows you to set the conditions that trigger the insights you are served. These insights will feature in the Insights on your GA4 dashboard and can be emailed to you in real time. With a limit of 50 custom Insights per property, the sky is the limit!

Even with a plethora of new functionality at our fingertips, every business values unique insights, using the interactions buttons attached to each insight card you can speak directly to Google, with feedback influencing the type of insights you see in the future.

Cross-platform tracking

With users active across multiple platforms, it is imperative to be able to see the complete customer journey on both web and app. Unlike the old Google Analytics, GA4 has the ability to hold both web and app data in one property. This is done by assigning unique user IDs as they log in to a website or application, joining up a customer’s journey with engagement, retention, monetisation and acquisition metrics.

What’s next?

Get excited! Google Analytics 4 is a powerful free analytics tool with several new invaluable insights and functionality which can be tailored to YOU.

Fortunately, transitioning is straightforward. Following the steps in the ‘admin’ section of your Google Analytics Universal account, you’ll be ready to use Google Analytics 4 in no time. Follow our quick set-up tips to make the transition as smooth as possible:

• There is no time like the present! By the 1^st of July 2023, GAU will stop processing data, leaving GA4 as the primary resource (only for a limited period after July 2023, reports in GAU will be accessible). Taking the leap to GA4 as soon as possible, we can build up a bank of historical data, enabling MOM and YOY comparisons in GA4.
• Create a checklist. When transitioning to GA4 some settings will be transferred from GAU, however, there are a wealth of settings in the admin section that will need to be sense checked. Are your Google Ads or Search Console accounts linked? Have you defined unwanted internal traffic from your data collection? Have you configured events and marked them as conversions? Check Google’s set-up assistant to ensure your GA property is in order.
• Go backward before moving forward: Looking back at your GAU goals and conversions can help to define the events and custom goals you want to track. What are you missing from GAU reporting? What type of insight would you love to know about your users? Ask GA4!
• Discover, test and tweak. One thing GA4 does not do is stand still, with evolving functionality and new features being added on a regular basis. To get the most from the platform you need to get deep into it, create custom reports using the explorations function, uncover deeper behavioural insight with events and enhance your advertising using model comparison and conversion paths.

FAQ

Can I use GAU and GA4 at the same time?

Yes, until GAU stops collecting data in July 2023 you will be able to collect and analyse data in both GAU and GA4. Although it is useful to have both running whilst getting used to the new platform, GAU will disappear soon so using GA4 as the primary reporting tool will mean that you are comfortable with the platform before the closing date.

Google Analytics 4 is an upgrade in reporting functionality – can I still access information free of charge?

Identical to GAU, there is no cost associated with GA4.

Will I always have access to my data on Google Analytics Universal?

According to Google, access to historical data on GAU will be available until the end of 2023. After this time you will not be able to log into to your GAU account and access your data.

Has ‘bounce rate’ disappeared as a metric?

Bounce rate is no longer a metric reported on in GA4. In its place is an ‘engagement rate’. The inverse of bounce rate, engagement rate is the percentage of users that qualify for an engaged session (10 seconds or more, triggers a conversion or has 2 or more page views).

Can I link Search Console with GA4?

Yes, linking Search Console with your GA4 property will allow you to view data such as Organic impressions, search queries and landing pages. Remember to publish your reports in the library menu.

Are there alternatives to Google Analytics?

Yes! If you are looking for a different tool to measure data on your website, we’ve listed a few alternatives to Goggle Analytics tracking.

References

1 Ketchum, R. (2022) Prepare for the future with google analytics 4, Google. Google. Available at: https://blog.google/products/marketingplatform/analytics/prepare-for-future-with-google-analytics-4/ (Accessed: December 16, 2022).

2 https://trends.builtwith.com/analytics/Google-Analytics-4 (2022) Google analytics 4 usage statistics. Available at: https://trends.builtwith.com/analytics/Google-Analytics-4 (Accessed: December 16, 2022).