Update on the New Google Analytics 4
The prior Universal Analytics available through Google Analytics is now long gone. The transition has not been a smooth one based on the feedback we’ve gathered from our clients. Change can always be hard, but the new Analytics 4 provides a wealth of new data and is far more customizable than the previous iteration. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of the new Google Analytics system.
Why Did Google Change to 4?
Google Analytics 4 is the newest version of Google Analytics. This is a whole new generation of web analytics that will allow marketers to effectively analyze important customer usage metrics, not just track traffic.
Google Analytics 4 tracks the entire customer path across multiple platforms and leverages AI and machine learning to provide more detailed insights into how users interact with your website and app.
GA4 is also focused on customer privacy. This comes in the face of some of the latest privacy laws, such as GDPR and CCPA. With privacy-first tracking, cross-channel data measurement, and AI-driven predictive analytics, GA4 is an advanced tool that provides unparalleled insights.
Google Analytics 4 Features a New Dashboard
The first change you are likely to notice is the entirely new dashboard. It is more streamlined and many of the reports you are used to are gone or have been moved. The navigation bar to the right includes buttons for home, reports, explore, advertising, configure, and library.
All Measurements Are Events in GA4
With Universal Analytics, page views were the most important metric. With Google Analytics 4, all measurements are events. Instead of seeing generalized data, you can now gain a fuller understanding of how users interact with your app and website.
What does this mean for you? You can still view session-level reporting, but the ability to break it down by interaction means more in-depth reports and insights.
GA4 also has an array of new metrics. These include engagement metrics such as:
- engaged sessions
- engagement rate
- engagement time
It also tracks a number of other dimensions, including attribution, demographics, events, and so forth.
This is a big change, but it’s actually going to make it easier to track customers throughout their journey. GA originally assumed page views were the most important metric—that is no longer true. The new parameters might have a learning curve, but you will have access to more data.
GA4 Gives Marketers More Control
GA4 allows you to customize the dashboard, enabling you to see the reports that matter most to your business. It even works well in conjunction with Google Data Studio so you can create custom visualizations of the data collected.
You can also create custom segments based on trigger events which are essentially a subset of events that occurred on your website or application. This enables you to more accurately track customer interactions.
For example, you can create segments on all conversion events that occurred in a particular location. These capabilities make it possible to take a more granular view of your users and their behaviors.