Google Analytics (GA4) - How the Update Benefits Businesses

According to Google, “Google Analytics 4 is an analytics service that enables you to measure traffic and engagement across your websites and apps.” This new property is a major update to Google’s Universal Analytics featuring some powerful new features that allow website and app owners to dig deeper into their analytics, glean better insights and better target and measure their digital marketing efforts.

Google Analytics 4 or GA4 was rolled out as a new iteration of Google Analytics in October 2020. As with many updates to software and technology, there was a needed period to iron out bugs and for IT staff to learn how to best use the product. Intrada has been gradually converting our clients over to GA4 in 2022.

Google plans to discontinue use of the standard Universal Analytics on July 1, 2023. Businesses should take the time to understand the changes and how to best utilize the data to benefit their digital marketing efforts going forward.

Updates and Changes to Google Analytics

While Google Analytics 4 has some similarities to Google’s Universal Analytics, GA4 upgrades and changes a number of things. Business’ analytics must be upgraded to the new property to utilize the new features.

According to their website, GA4 embodies the future of measurement through the following features:

• Collection of website and app data to better understand the customer journey
• Tracking events or distinct user interactions on a website or app, instead of using session-based data
• Privacy controls and behavioral and conversion modeling
• Predictive capabilities
• Direct integrations to media platforms

Changes Benefit Businesses

The new property focuses on:

• Machine learning and artificial intelligence to help users identify and forecast trends,
• Data visualization to help all users read and understand insights and spot trends through graphs and charts in addition to data tables,
• Ease of tracking for business owners and marketers to better understand the customer journey with properties’ data streams aggregated into one view

Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to fill in missing data due to the push for user privacy and in preparation of a cookie-less future.

Universal Analytics generated a wide variety of standard reports. GA4 provides fewer standard reports and more customizable options.

New GA4 reports show where new users come from, top performing campaigns, pages with the highest views, how users enter and behave in the conversion funnel, demographics, technology functionality, conversions and event.

Some analysts predict the new Analysis Hub will be the greatest benefit to marketers. The Analysis Hub provides multiple types of analysis and some advanced analysis techniques. Current analysis types include:

• Exploration: helps to identify new insights and display data in different ways for ease of use
• Funnel Analysis: shows the steps users take to complete an event and if they had trouble or succeeded at any step
• Path Analysis: creates a “tree graph” that visually shows the path visitors take and if there are areas where they get stuck
• Segment Overlap: provides a way segment users, events or sessions by demographics and/or actions (in Universal Analytics, only user and session segments could be created)    
• Cohort Analysis: sorts or groups users by common characteristics
• User Lifetime Analysis: identifies and shows sources that funnel in the most valuable users with the greatest likelihood to purchase

Moving Forward with Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 is the future of digital marketing measurement. Businesses who choose to make the transition and learn how to best read and use the tools provided will have an advantage over those who wait.

Intrada Technologies digital marketing team is actively transitioning, learning and utilizing Google Analytics 4 or GA4 to help our clients grow their businesses. If you have questions about GA4 or would like our team to help your business make the transition and best incorporate the new analytics into actionable insights, let us know. We are here to help!

Contact us by calling 800-858-5745.