Sarah Berry is a Google Analytics-certified Web Marketing Consultant at WebFX. She’s written over 400 articles on digital marketing, covering topics like SEO, CRO, and Amazon. When she isn’t polishing her Time Magazine Person of the Year Award, she’s spending time with her flock of ducks.
Did You Know? Google Analytics 4 has replaced Google Analytics on July 1, 2023. Learn how to get started with GA4 now!
Smarter marketing is at your fingertips with the new Google Analytics, called Google Analytics 4 or GA4.
What is Google Analytics 4? GA4 is the new Google Analytics that allows your business to track website and app analytics together, as well as adapt to evolving standards for using cookies to track user activity so that you can create a smarter, data-driven marketing strategy.
We have a short video about the basics if you’d prefer that format.
That’s just the beginning, though, so keep reading to learn more and get answers to questions like:
P.S. Love analytics and want to power your marketing strategy with even more data? Then check out MarketingCloudFX, which provides real-time insight into your marketing performance alongside strategic recommendations from the artificial intelligence power of IBM Watson and Google AI.
Meet MarketingCloudFX:
One platform tracking countless metrics and driving stellar results.
Google Analytics 4, also called GA4 or App + Web, is the new version of the tool and is a type of Google Analytics property. Besides allowing users to unify website and app analytics for increased insights into buyer journeys, GA4 also future-proofs itself by supporting cookie-free tracking and evolving privacy standards.
What is the difference between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics?
If you’re like most Google Analytics users, then you’re most familiar with Universal Analytics or UA. Universal Analytics, like GA4, is a type of Google Analytics property, and it’s the property type your business most likely uses to track its website analytics.
This introduces the question, what is the difference between GA4 and UA? Find out in this table:
Difference
Universal Analytics
Google Analytics 4
Hit types
Tracks multiple hit types, like: Pageview, Event, Social, Transaction, and User timing
All hit types, from pageviews to transactions, register as an event.
Events
Organizes events by: Category, Action, Label
Eliminates Category, Action, and Label organization. Instead, GA4 uses the following model: Automatically collected, Enhanced measurement, Recommended events, and Custom events
Pageviews and screenviews
Uses the following attributes: page_title, page_location, page_path, None
Uses the following attributes: page_title, page_location, page_path, page_referrer
Sessions
Sessions end after 30 minutes of inactivity.
Detects user activity automatically versus relying on a 30-minute inactivity timer.
Custom dimensions and metrics
Uses the following scopes: Hit, User, Session, Product
Uses the following equivalents for UA scopes: Hit scope becomes an event or event parameter, a user scope becomes a user property, a product scope becomes an ecommerce parameter GA does not have an equivalent for session scopes.
Content grouping
Groups content so you can see an overview of content performance and compare metrics between content within that group.
Removes the content groupings feature. Instead, you can create event parameters for content groupings.
User ID
Allow users to analyze their data.
Allows you to see user activity across your app and website but requires you to generate unique and persistent IDs.
Client ID
Stored as a cookie to identify a browser instance and associate activity with the same user.
Remains the same in GA4
Parameters
Unavailable in UA
Get additional information on user actions. For example, a pageview could also include the article title or article_title. GA4 allows you to include up to 25 parameters per event.
This account will provide you instant access to GA4 and UA for the Google Merchandise Store. Use that account to compare and experience the different features between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics.
3 of the best Google Analytics 4 benefits for businesses
The new Google Analytics is noticeably different from the old Google Analytics, which is why it’s helpful to understand the advantages that come with Google Analytics 4. That way, you can adopt and start benefiting from the new platform sooner.
Three of the best Google Analytics 4 benefits include:
1. Improve your marketing ROI with automatic alerts from GA4
Thanks to advanced machine learning models from Google, your business can receive automatic alerts from G4 when trends start to appear in your data.
For example, if your company starts selling more of Product A, then Google Analytics 4 will let you know before you start to see the sales increase. You can then respond fast, like by notifying your suppliers so that you can keep that product in-stock.
Google Analytics 4 can also help you predict behavior among customer groups. For example, GA4 could create models that calculate the potential revenue of a group of customers or the churn probability of different user segments.
2. Make your marketing campaigns smarter with audience insights from GA4
Unifying your website and app data is another Google Analytics 4 benefit.
Even if you don’t have an app now, GA4 provides a future-proofed solution if you develop one later. Besides syncing your website and app data (and how user journeys happen across the two), GA4 also makes it possible to analyze user behavior by their place in the buying funnel, like awareness versus conversion.
You can also connect your other Google accounts, like Google Ads, Google Search Console, and more, to gather even more insights into your audience.
One of our resident WebFX GA4 specialists has the inside-scoop on how Google Analytics 4 can help you launch smarter marketing campaigns:
Expert insights from
WesleyWebFX GA4 Expert
“By integrating your Google Accounts with GA4, you’ll be able to see how your customers interact with your digital assets across different touchpoints, from your website, to social media, CRM, and other analytical touchpoints.
GA4 comes with a range of advanced machine learning analytics features that can help businesses get even more insights into their customer behavior. By integrating your Google Accounts with GA4, you’ll be able to unlock even more advanced features, such as predictive analytics and machine learning models, to get even deeper insights into your customer behavior.”
With GA4, you have the power to create a relevant marketing experience that drives more revenue.
3. Keep your marketing strategy ahead with a future-proof design from GA4
One of the biggest benefits of the new Google Analytics is its future-proof design.
With greater interest in user privacy and a move away from cookie-based tracking, it’s become critical for analytics platforms like Google Analytics to adapt. That’s why GA4 provides a solution that doesn’t depend on cookies to operate.
While Google acknowledges that some data gaps will happen with this approach, the company plans to use accurate modeling to fill those gaps. That way, you still have trusted data to reference and power your marketing approach and reports.
When should I upgrade to Google Analytics 4?
When it comes to the question of “Should I upgrade to Google Analytics 4?” there is a great answer. Since GA4 has replaced UA as the primary analytics platform, it’s essential to make the transition. Google has announced that starting on July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new data. To maintain your website measurement, you’ll need a Google Analytics 4 property.
So, go ahead and upgrade to Google Analytics 4 to stay ahead of the curve!
How to get started with GA4
If you want to add a GA4 property to your website, follow these steps:
Log into your Google Analytics account
Click “Admin”
Choose your account from the “Account” column
Select your Universal Analytics property from the “Property” column
Click “GA4 Setup Assistant” from the Property column
Select “I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property”
Google Tag Manager will offer the fastest and easiest solution for this step because you avoid manually updating your website pages to add your Google Analytics 4 tag. Instead, you’ll update your Google Tag Manager container with a GA4 tag.
Our GA4 expert, Wesley, has tips on your next steps:
Expert insights from
WesleyWebFX GA4 Expert
“Once your integrations are set up, it’s important to monitor your data to ensure that everything is working properly, and we are here to help you with that! Reach out to our team of experts to make sure that you’re getting the insights that you need and that the data is accurate!”
Go beyond GA4 and get more data from your site with MarketingCloudFX
Google Analytics 4 is the next step towards smarter, more data-driven marketing for businesses worldwide. If you’re looking to take your small-to-midsized company’s marketing to the next level, though, consider MarketingCloudFX.
Craft a tailored online marketing strategy! Utilize our free Internet marketing calculator for a custom plan based on your location, reach, timeframe, and budget.
Craft a tailored online marketing strategy! Utilize our free Internet marketing calculator for a custom plan based on your location, reach, timeframe, and budget.
Since GA4 has replaced UA as the primary analytics platform, it’s essential to make the transition. Google has announced that starting on July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new data. To maintain your website measurement, you’ll need a Google Analytics 4 property.
Sarah Berry is a Google Analytics-certified Web Marketing Consultant at WebFX. She’s written over 400 articles on digital marketing, covering topics like SEO, CRO, and Amazon. When she isn’t polishing her Time Magazine Person of the Year Award, she’s spending time with her flock of ducks.
