With Google Analytics 4 arriving, Google has embraced the mobile-device age with the latest iteration of Google’s web analytics platform. Its arrival means it is arguably one of the biggest updates in the history of the tool.
What You Need To Know About GA-4
A New Event-Driven Data Model
The longstanding page view and screen view models have not always been helpful with today’s mobile websites and apps. For example, a user can run a music app on their phone that plays in the background while the user browses websites.
Analytics cannot count page views in the traditional sense for that set of activities, so developers had to find a new model. That’s where the event-driven data model comes in.
In addition to page views, Google Analytics 4 can now track on-page activities or “events”, such as loading a game or a video in an app. Suppose that you want to record conversions that take place on your app after a user has visited your mobile website.
Simply create an event for that activity, add parameters that describe the event, and let GA4 do the rest. You can still apply GA4 to traditional page and screen view models, but your analytics will have the flexibility that is needed with today’s technologies.
What Are The Benefits of Google Analytics 4?
Whether you feel excitement or intrigue, GA 4 is here to stay.
Traditionally, tracking user activity across mobile apps and web data has always been complex activity.
GA4’s cross-device, event-driven technology is set to make life a whole lot easier for analysts, marketers and developers alike. Here are some other advantages that the tool has to offer:
1. Customer-Centric Measurement
As users navigate among multiple devices, data becomes fragmented and difficult to track. GA4 uses customer-centric measurements, such as marketer-provided user IDs, that streamline data collection across devices. You’ll be able to track user behaviour, for example, that starts at your website and ends with conversion in your app.
2. Machine Learning Insights
Thanks to machine learning, GA4 has predictive capabilities that can detect trends and likely future behaviour. It can detect key metrics among users, such as churn likelihood and conversion likelihood. The best part is, the data will be automatically available on your dashboard instead of buried in loads of time-consuming data.
3. Privacy Enhancements
Google stays ahead of the curve with new tools that provide enhanced privacy controls of user data. GA4 uses cookieless measurement techniques, along with regulatory compliance and cutting-edge data management. Here, we see the future of user-level privacy controls.
4. Integrations
Thanks to some new integrations, GA4 provides more avenues for you to build audiences, create reports and track subscription-based metrics. For example, Data Studio provides tools to create interactive reports on user activity. Integration now lets you create audiences in GA4 for targeting in Google Ads. For those who have apps in the Play Store, integration helps you monitor subscription and cancellation data.
Your Next Steps
Are you ready to switch to GA4? You can upgrade from Universal Analytics to GA4 right from your Administrator console. You can even use Universal Analytics at the same time as GA4. When you add tags to your GA4 property, the Universal Analytics will stay in place, and data will be recorded through both properties. When you migrate from older versions of Google Analytics to GA4, however, you’ll need to be aware of differences between the two.
Migration
You will find some key differences between Google Analytics and GA4. For example, the bounce metric and certain default reports are no longer available in GA4. Tags are now added using global site tags or gtag.js. As noted earlier, you will not lose your Universal Analytics tags.
To Summarise: New Analytics for New Metrics
GA4 provides analytical and predictive technologies that are needed in today’s mobile environment. While Universal Analytics will continue to be available to users, Google recommends that both property types be set up in order to run them in parallel – You can find more helpful documentation by visiting this link.
Alternatively, a professional consultant can help you upgrade and keep you informed of the latest developments – get in touch with us now if you want assistance.
GA4’s innovative technologies will help future-proof your business and benefit you and your team.
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