Discover the Power of Google Analytics 4: The Essential GA4 Guide

As a marketer, data-driven decisions are crucial to your success. That’s where analytics come in, and there’s no better tool for the job than Google marketing platform. However, there’s a new version of this tool that you need to know about: Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

GA4 is the latest version of Google’s popular analytics platform, which has been designed to offer more advanced features and insights to help you better understand your customers.

In this blog post, we’ll explore everything you need to know about GA4, from setting up your account to using its advanced features such as event tracking, custom dimensions, gathering web and app data, and enhanced measurement.

We’ll also discuss the differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics, and provide you with a tutorial and training to help you get started with GA4. So, whether you’re an admin of a Google Analytics account, a marketer looking to use GA4 to track conversions from Google Ads or to create funnels, or someone who simply wants to learn more about this new analytics tool, read on to discover everything you need to know about Google Analytics 4.

Here’s how to get started with Google Analytics 4.

What Is Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest release of Google’s analytics platform. It is a comprehensive suite of tools that track and analyse website performance with real-time data. GA4 provides critical insights into user behaviour, allowing businesses to make smarter decisions based on customer interactions.

GA4 also enables users to create custom reports and track customised events, such as user interactions with particular pages or actions within an app. With its intuitive design and powerful features, GA4 enables marketers to gain deeper insights into how people interact with their site and make better-informed decisions in order to maximise their online presence.

New Google Analytics 4: What’s Changed from Universal Analytics?

GA4 comes with several new features that make analysing data easier. Perhaps the most significant change in GA4 is the move from a traditional pageview-centred approach to one focused on user interactions. Instead of just seeing how many people hit your website, GA4 gives insights into how those users engage with particular pages or content types, giving you deeper insight into user behaviour. Additionally, GA4 comes with more custom reporting capabilities and integrates seamlessly with other services like Adwords, making it easy to track multiple campaigns across different platforms. With its powerful new features and intuitive design, GA4 makes analytics simpler and more efficient than ever before.

Unlocking the Complete Customer Journey with GA4.

Gain a comprehensive understanding of your customer’s journey from start to finish, even when they interact with your website and app on multiple platforms and devices. By unifying the customer journey across different sessions, you’ll gain valuable insights into how customers engage with your digital presence and move through your website or app. This holistic approach will provide a clearer picture of your customer’s interactions, empowering you to make data-driven decisions to improve their experience.

A Necessary Focus on User Privacy

While (GA4) offers comprehensive insights into customer behaviour, it also takes user privacy and security seriously. GA4 adheres to strict data privacy standards, collecting merely the necessary information and protecting it with encryption. Furthermore, it provides businesses with the tools they need to control how user data is used and accessed. This helps them ensure that customers’ personal information is kept secure and not misused in any way. Ultimately, GA4 enables businesses to keep their users safe while still providing the insights necessary for better decision-making.

Predictive Capabilities When It Comes to User Behaviour

Businesses may more effectively predict user behaviour and modify their tactics thanks to GA4’s strong predictive capabilities. GA4 uses machine learning to identify trends in user activity and offer information about how people use a company’s website or app. For organisations, these datasets are priceless since they can be leveraged to customise user experiences and improve content conversion rates. Additionally, GA4’s robust analytics engine gives marketers access to in-depth demographic information about their consumers, enabling them to send the most pertinent messages. Businesses may tailor their user experiences to the unique requirements of their customers with the aid of GA4’s predictive capabilities.

Improved Interaction With Other Google Services

Improved interaction with other Google services, including Google Ads, YouTube, and Google Search Console, is also made possible by (GA4). It enables marketers to see things like which websites are generating the most traffic, which campaigns are producing the most leads, or how YouTube users are interacting with their material. Additionally, organisations can examine data from several sources in one location and obtain greater insights into customer behaviour by connecting GA4 to Google Ads and Search Console. They are able to improve their advertising as a consequence, increasing lead conversion. In the end, GA4 offers a powerful solution to integrate different Google services and make the most of them for increased user engagement.

Improve Your Marketing Efforts With Data-Driven Attribution

With data-driven attribution, marketers can use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to assign value to each customer interaction for a more accurate picture of how their customers are engaging with their business. By analysing website and app data across channels like paid search, email marketing and display ads in GA4, businesses can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their campaigns and what content is driving conversions. GA4’s data-driven attribution model takes into account multiple customer interactions to determine the true value of each one and helps marketers optimise their campaigns accordingly. Through this powerful approach, businesses are able to not only understand their user engagement but also make better decisions that will lead to increased ROI.

Should I Switch To Google Analytics 4?

If you’re wondering whether you should switch to GA4, the answer is yes, and here’s why. GA4 is the future of analytics, and it comes with several advanced features that will help you gain better insights into your website or app’s performance. Although Universal Analytics is still a viable option, it’s important to start transitioning to GA4 as soon as possible.

While there may be a learning curve to using GA4, there are many resources available to help you get started. Google provides a course curriculum and a Google Analytics 4 course to train you on how to use the tool, and there are several tutorials and help guides available online. You can also leverage your existing knowledge of Universal Analytics as many of the reports and features are similar between the two platforms.

When it comes to conversions, GA4 offers a more flexible and robust conversion tracking system. The enhanced measurement feature allows for automatic tracking of events, making it easier to set up and manage conversion tracking. The funnel analysis feature in GA4 also provides a better visualization of the customer journey and allows for more in-depth analysis of the conversion process.

How To Set Up Google Analytics 4?

Setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a simple process that can help marketers utilise the powerful insights of Google’s data-driven approach. Here are the steps to get you started:

1. Sign in to your existing Google Analytics account or create a new one.
2. From setup, select “Create Property”, and choose “Google Analytics 4”
3. Enter the name of your property and select either “Website” or “Web + App” depending on which type of analytics you wish to set up
4. Select “Global Site Tag” and copy the code that appears in the window
5. Insert the code into every page on your website/app
6. Finally, click “Create Stream ID” to generate a unique tracking ID for GA4
7. Once these steps are complete, you are ready to start using GA4 and leveraging its power for data-driven attribution analysis and optimising campaigns for increased ROI.

Event Tracking

Event tracking is a powerful tool in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) that can help marketers gain valuable insights into user behaviour. Through event tracking, marketers can track an array of activities like page views, downloads, purchases and more to better understand how customers are engaging with their business. Event tracking also helps marketers measure the key actions that drive their business and make better decisions about how to optimise their campaigns for maximum ROI. With proper setup and analysis, event tracking can be an invaluable asset in any organisation’s digital marketing strategy.

Alongside an Existing Property

Setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) alongside an existing property is a great way to take advantage of the powerful insights that GA4 can offer. This process involves creating a new property, linking it with your existing property, and setting up tracking codes accordingly. Linking a GA4 property to an existing one gives you access to the same reports found in your existing analytics account, but with the added power of data-driven analysis to gain deeper insights into customer behaviour. Additionally, all future activity in both properties will be combined for a more comprehensive view of user interactions.

How Do I Use Google Analytics 4?

When You’re Already Using Analytics

The initial step towards integrating Google Analytics 4 with your website is to create a new Google Analytics 4 property via your Google Analytics account. It’s important to note that this won’t affect your current analytics (GA) setup, which will remain fully functional. The new GA4 property will collect data in parallel with your existing property, providing you with access to both data sets.

To help with the setup, Google has introduced the GA4 Setup Assistant wizard, which is accessible to users with an editor role on their Google Analytics account. Detailed instructions on how to access the wizard are available on Google’s page on how to add a GA4 property to a website with existing Analytics.

After creating your new property, there are a few additional steps you can take to optimise its use. Google Analytics 4 is designed to provide deeper insights into the customer journey and improve your marketing efforts. To ensure that you’re making the most of its capabilities, Google’s page on how to make the switch to GA4 offers a comprehensive overview of how to properly set up the new property. Additionally, Google offers a Skillshop Course for those interested in a deeper dive into the features and functionalities of Google Analytics 4.

When You’re New to Analytics

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a great choice for those who are new to analytics. GA4 offers an intuitive, user-friendly system that makes it easy to get up and running quickly. With its powerful data-driven analysis tools and numerous tracking options, marketers can gain valuable insights into how customers are engaging with their business. Plus, setting up a property is simple with the help of GA4’s guided setup process. All in all, GA4 is an excellent choice for new or inexperienced digital marketers looking to get started with analytics.

How Does GA4 Help With Reporting?

The strength of a data collection strategy lies in the quality of insights it provides. So how can transitioning to GA4 enhance your reporting capabilities? As user privacy measures make it increasingly challenging to track users across multiple platforms and devices, GA4 offers a forward-thinking solution. It uses advanced machine learning techniques to fill data gaps and create a single-user journey that links all data to a single identity.

Moreover, GA4 streamlines the reporting process with a simplified interface that enables marketers to quickly identify key trends and irregularities in their data. Rather than providing an exhaustive list of predefined reports, GA4 uses overview reports presented in summary cards. For a more detailed analysis, users can simply click on the scorecard to dive deeper into the data.

Best Ways to Use GA4 Reports

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers a variety of reports that marketers can use to gain valuable insights into customer behaviour and improve their campaigns.

Here are the best ways to make use of GA4 reports:

• Use Trend Reports to identify changes in user activity over time, such as spikes in web traffic or changes in conversion rates.
• Use Conversion Reports to track how users interact with certain content, such as which pages generate the most sales or leads.
• Analyse Behaviour Reports to learn about which parts of a website perform poorly or attract fewer customers.
• Utilise Audience Reports to get an in-depth view of customer demographics, interests and behaviours.

By leveraging these powerful reports, marketers can better understand their audiences and fine tune their campaigns for maximum results.

You can also combine mobile app and website data usage in one property.

Real-Time Report

The Real-time Report is the next default report in the left navigation and provides a detailed view of events happening within the past 30 minutes. This report can be used to:

• Quickly confirm that tracking code is working correctly.
• View the effects of a YouTube video in real-time.
• Monitor new product drops as soon as they happen.

Life Cycle Reporting

Life cycle reporting provides marketers with an in-depth view of their customers’ journey from acquisition to conversion. By leveraging this powerful insight, marketers can gain a better understanding of their customer’s behaviour and optimise their campaigns for maximum engagement and sales.

The best way to carry out life cycle reporting is to be as detailed and thorough as possible. In order to gain a full view of the customer’s journey, marketers should leverage data from all sources, including analytics platforms, database systems, and email campaigns. Once this data has been collected, it can then be analysed to identify patterns in customers’ behaviour and optimise campaigns accordingly. With the insights gained from life cycle reporting, marketers can craft strategies that are tailored to their customers’ needs and create powerful campaigns that drive engagement and conversions – making life cycle reporting an invaluable tool for improving marketing performance.

Explorer Reports: Analysis

Explorer reports analysis can provide a wealth of valuable insights into the effectiveness of campaigns and strategies. By analysing click-through rates, sales transactions, time spent on pages, and other data points, marketers can gain a better understanding of how users are interacting with their brand. With this knowledge, they can then optimise existing campaigns and develop new strategies to maximise engagement and conversions. Furthermore, explorer reports in combination with the new GA4 Analysis Hub can help marketers identify areas where they could be losing customers – whether it be a confusing page layout or an overly complex checkout process. By proactively identifying issues in these areas, marketers can quickly address them and improve the overall customer experience.

Creating a New Analysis

• Define which data points to measure in the data set
• Explore the data in more detail through segmentation and other analyses
• Cross-reference with secondary data sources if needed
• Create reports that summarise findings and present actionable insights

How to Read Analysis Hub Reports

The Analysis Hub feature within GA4 provides an all-in-one dashboard that allows users to quickly read insights from their data through customisable reports. To use GA4 to read Analysis Hub reports:

• Log into Google Analytics 4
• Navigate to Analysis Hub located on the left side navigation menu
• Select Reports on the Analysis Hub page
• Click “Open” to view and analyse individual reports
• Use the data table or visualisation options to understand insights in your report
• Choose a metric, comparison period, and segment within your report if desired
• Save any changes made by clicking “Save” and close the report when you are done

Types of Analysis

Exploration

Exploring data within Analysis Hub is one of the key benefits of using GA4. Exploration analysis gives users the ability to quickly and easily answer complex questions about their digital properties without having to manually create a report. With exploration analysis, you can explore real-time trends and historical data with a few clicks, identify user segments of interest, compare multiple metrics side by side, and apply filters in order to get detailed insights from your data. The data table or visualisation options make it easy to spot trends in user activity or engagement levels over time.

Funnel Analysis

Funnel analysis is another key feature of GA4’s Analysis Hub. With funnel analysis, you can identify opportunities for improvement in your user experience by analysing user flows across different steps, such as signing up for an account or completing a purchase. You can create reports that show trends in engagement and user activity from each step of the funnel and compare them against industry benchmarks. Additionally, you can use this type of analysis to identify potential issues that may be preventing users from completing their desired action on your digital properties. This information is invaluable for optimising user experiences and maximising conversions.

Path Analysis

Path analysis is a powerful feature of the GA4 Analysis Hub that helps users to see how users interact with their digital properties. It allows you to view user pathways and identify areas of attrition or where users are dropping off. Additionally, it can help you identify what sequence of interactions is driving the most successful outcomes for your business. You can apply filters to these reports in order to get more granular insights into user behaviour and uncover additional opportunities for optimisation. With path analysis, you can make informed decisions on how best to engage and retain your online customers.

Segment Overlap

Segment overlap is another powerful feature of the GA4 Analysis Hub. It helps you to see the common characteristics between different user segments and identify patterns of behaviour. This allows you to understand how users interact with your digital properties across different segments, such as gender, age, device type or geographic location. Segment overlap also gives you the ability to uncover potential areas of opportunity for improvement in your user experience and zero in on your most profitable customers. With this kind of analysis, you can optimise your campaigns to reach more relevant audiences and maximise ROI from online-only activities.

Cohort Analysis

Cohort analysis is a useful tool in the GA4 Analysis Hub that provides insights into user behaviour over time. It allows you to compare how different user groups interact with your digital properties and understand if they are converting into customers or abandoning your site. You can also measure how effective certain campaigns are by tracking the performance of users who were exposed to a particular messaging strategy or feature. With cohort analysis, you can identify trends in user engagement and make more informed decisions on how best to optimise user experience and maximise ROI.

User Lifetime

User lifetime is a metric used to measure the total amount of time a user engages with your digital properties. This is an important indicator of customer loyalty, as it shows how often they return to your website or app and which features they use most often. Tracking user lifetime allows you to understand which products or features are driving repeat visits and maximise the value of your customers by focusing on engagement and retention. With this data, you can better target users with tailored messages that appeal to their interests and needs, leading to more meaningful relationships and improved ROI.

Conclusion

By adding a GA4 property to your account, you can familiarise yourself with the new data analysis capabilities and features it provides. Doing so won’t affect your current analytics setup, as you’ll still have access to both the GA4 and Universal Analytics properties until July 2023 as an admin. Although Universal Analytics can still be used until that time, it’s worthwhile to begin utilising GA4 to gain insights into your audience and marketing campaign performance.

As one of the most powerful marketing tools available, an analytics tool provides essential insights into website traffic and user behaviour. With better analytics and data modelling, you can make more informed marketing decisions. GA4 offers enhanced insights and flexibility to marketers while also upholding user privacy through advanced machine learning techniques.

Google also offers a GA4 certification that will help you learn to work on web analytics, custom events, and different data collection techniques.

Although there may be a learning curve involved in transitioning to GA4, the benefits of its upgraded insights and flexibility make it a valuable investment for marketers. By making the switch, you’ll be able to predict user behaviour with greater accuracy, improving the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.