Google Analytics is a powerful tool that helps businesses make data-driven decisions. With the recent release of Google Analytics 4, commonly called GA4, businesses can get even more insights into their website and app performance. GA4 is a new analytics platform that offers enhanced tracking capabilities, cross-device tracking, and improved data privacy features.
Besides, the old Universal Analytics will be turned off by Google, and GA4 will be replacing it on July 1st, 2023, so it’s better to understand it to make use of it for your business. That’s why we’ve created this ultimate guide to help you start with GA4. This guide covers everything from setting up a GA4 account to its reports and the benefits.
So, let’s get started.
- What is GA4 (google analytics 4)?
- What is the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics?
- Is GA4 free?
- Understanding the basics of GA4
- What are the Properties in Google Analytics 4?
- What are Events in Google Analytics 4?
- Setting up Google Analytics 4
- Migrating from Universal Analytics
- Finding your GA4 measurement ID
- GA4 Reports
- Advantages of GA4
What is GA4 (google analytics 4)?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of the popular analytics platform that allows website and app owners to track user behavior and gather insights about how visitors interact with their digital properties.
GA4 differs from its predecessor, Universal Analytics, in several ways. It provides more advanced tracking options and improved data privacy features, such as cross-device tracking, which allows businesses to track user behavior across different devices and platforms. It also offers more granular data controls, allowing businesses to collect only the needed data.
Overall, GA4 is designed to provide a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of user behavior, allowing businesses to make better-informed decisions and optimize their online presence accordingly.
Now you know what GA4 is, let’s discuss how it’s different from Universal analytics.
What is the difference between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics?
As said above, Google Analytics 4 is the most advanced version of Universal Analytics, which is why there are lots of positive differences. You may already know some obvious differences, like better speed, more advanced tracking capabilities, and improved data privacy features.
However, there are more subtle differences that can make a real difference. Following are some of them.
Google Analytics 4 Has a New Dashboard
Google Analytics 4 has a completely new dashboard compared to Universal Analytics. The dashboard of GA4 is more intuitive and provides better control over data collection, allowing users to access all the information they need at a glance quickly. It also utilizes Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to surface insights about user engagement and website performance automatically.
GA4’s new dashboard is more user-friendly and provides a better overall experience than Universal Analytics. It has the same basic elements, such as page views and traffic sources, but it also offers additional features like segments, events, goal funnels, and metrics. By utilizing these features, users can gain deeper insights into their website’s performance and make smarter decisions about optimizing it for better results.
All Measurements Are Events in GA4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has changed the definition of a “measurement.” In Universal Analytics, measurements were limited to page views and traffic sources. However, with GA4, all user actions are considered events. This means any action taken by a user on your website or app is tracked as an event. These events can range from button clicks to page views, providing more detailed information about user behavior.
For example, when a user clicks your website’s “watch now” button, GA4 will track this as an event. This will give you insight into how many people clicked the button and what other pages or elements they interacted with on your website. You can also see the user’s journey from page to page and how long they spent on each.
Overall, GA4’s events provide more granular insights into user behavior than Universal Analytics. This allows you to understand better how people interact with your website or app and make smarter decisions about optimizing it for better results. Additionally, you can use events to set up custom goals and funnels that will help you track and measure the success of your website or app more accurately.
Gain Access to Predictive Insights With Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) utilizes AI algorithms to provide predictive insights about user behavior. This is a big improvement compared to Universal Analytics, which only offers basic insights into user behavior and does not allow for any predictions of future actions. With GA4, users can access more powerful insights about their website or app performance and take proactive steps to optimize it.
The predictive insights offered by GA4 are based on Machine Learning algorithms that analyze user data to generate predictions about their actions and behavior. These algorithms can accurately predict user engagement, conversion rates, revenue numbers, and more. Additionally, they can provide deeper insights into the effectiveness of different marketing campaigns and website optimizations.
By utilizing these predictive insights, users can better understand their website or app performance and optimize it for better results. Additionally, they can manage their budget more effectively by only investing in campaigns likely to produce the desired results.
GA4 Gives Marketers More Control
Google Analytics 4 gives marketers more control over their data collection and analysis. Unlike Universal Analytics, which is based on a fixed set of parameters, GA4 allows users to customize how they collect and analyze data. This enables them to tailor their analytics to the specific needs of their website or app.
For example, with GA4, users can decide which events to track, what types of user segmentation they want, and even define their custom metrics. This granular level of control allows users to gain a more in-depth understanding of their website or app performance and make more informed decisions about optimizing it for better results. GA4 also offers different levels of access control, allowing marketers to limit which users can view certain types of data.
Overall, Google Analytics 4 gives marketers more control over their analytics and lets them get the most out of their data. With its powerful features and predictive insights, GA4 enables users to gain valuable insights into user behavior and optimizes their website for better results.
Cross-Platform Tracking
As said earlier, the most important feature of Google Analytics 4 is the ability to track user behavior across different platforms. This means that when a user visits your website from their desktop and then continues browsing on their mobile device, GA4 will be able to recognize this and track the entire journey as one event.
This cross-platform tracking feature is incredibly powerful, enabling users to understand better how they interact with their website or app across different devices. Additionally, it makes it easier to analyze user behavior and optimize your website or app for better performance. This can help businesses reach new audiences and ultimately boost revenue numbers.
This feature wasn’t available in Universal Analytics, and its inclusion in GA4 is a major step forward for marketers.
Overall, Google Analytics 4 is the next generation of analytics tools, and it offers a much more powerful way for marketers to gain insights into their website or app performance.
By knowing the GA4’s amazing features, you must be wondering about its pricing. Let’s get to know if Google Analytics 4 is free or not.
Is GA4 free?
Yes, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a free analytics platform offered by Google, just like the previous Universal Analytics. You don’t have to pay anything to use it. All you can do is create a GA4 account and use it to track user behavior on your website or app at no cost. However, features like advanced machine learning capabilities may require a paid subscription to Google Analytics 360, a premium platform version designed for larger businesses with more complex data needs. But for most businesses, the free version of GA4 offers plenty of features and capabilities to help them make data-driven decisions and optimize their online presence.
Understanding the basics of GA4
So now you are more informed about Google Analytics 4 and its features. To get the most out of GA4, you need to understand the basics of the GA4 account, and for this, you must understand properties and events.
Let’s discuss them in detail so that you can use these features and make the most out of your GA4 account.
What are the Properties in Google Analytics 4?
A property in Google Analytics 4 is a website or app you want to track, like a blog, an e-commerce store, or a mobile app. Each property has its unique tracking ID, which you must add to each page on the site or app to enable tracking.
Properties are organized into views, where you can access data associated with each property. You can create multiple views for a single property, such as one for tracking page views and another for tracking transactions.
What are Events in Google Analytics 4?
An event in GA4 is an action taken by a user on your website or app, such as clicking a button or signing up for a newsletter. GA4 can track many different types of events, and you can use them to gain valuable insights into user behavior.
Events are associated with properties in Google Analytics 4, meaning all events tracked by one property will be visible in the same view. This makes it easy to track and analyze user behavior across different properties in one place.
That’s all you need to know about GA4 properties and events! Now that you better understand how Google Analytics 4 works, you can start tracking user activity by setting it up on your website or app and gain valuable insights into how users interact with your content.
But how can you set up Google Analytics 4? Let’s find out.
Setting up Google Analytics 4
Setting up Google Analytics 4 is easy. All you have to do is follow the given steps.
Creating a Google Analytics account
If you don’t already have a Google Analytics account, go to the Google Analytics homepage (analytics.google.com) and click the “Start for free” button. Sign in with your Google account or create a new one if you don’t have one.
Creating a GA4 property
Once signed in, you must create a new GA4 property for your website or app. To do this, click on the “Admin” tab in the bottom left corner, then select “Create Property” and choose “Web” or “Apps,” depending on your needs. Follow the prompts to enter your website or app information and select your data-sharing options.
Migrating from Universal Analytics
If you already have a Universal Analytics property set up and want to migrate to GA4, you can do so by clicking on “Upgrade to GA4” within the “Property” column in the “Admin” section. You’ll be prompted to create a new GA4 property and link it to your existing Universal Analytics property.
Finding your GA4 measurement ID
Once your GA4 property is set up, you’ll need to find your measurement ID, a unique identifier for your property that you’ll need to add to your website or app code. To find your measurement ID, click on the “Data Streams” tab within your property and select the appropriate stream (Web or Apps). You should see your measurement ID displayed at the top of the page.
That’s it! With your GA4 properly set up and your measurement ID in hand, you can start tracking user behavior and gathering insights about your website or app.
GA4 Reports
As you may know, Google Analytics 4 provides different types of reports. And if you have just signed up on GA4, you need to understand its reports. Following are 3 major reports of GA4:
GA4 acquisition reports
This report gives you a better understanding of how users find their way to your website or app. You can see which channels (e.g., organic, social, etc.) they use, what content they clicked on to get there, and more. This report also helps you see how well your properties perform so that you can optimize them for better results.
GA4 behavior reports
This report shows you the user’s journey on your website or app. You can track page views, session duration, page scroll depth, and more. This report helps see which pages engage your users the most, so you can focus more on those pages.
GA4 conversions reports
This report lets you track your website or app’s performance concerning user goals. You can see which actions lead users to complete an event (such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase), so you can prioritize those actions and optimize your website or app accordingly.
By leveraging the power of these reports, you can gain valuable insights into how users are engaging with your content, so you can make informed decisions about how to improve it.
Advantages of GA4
You are now ready to use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) by going through the above steps. But why should you use GA4? As mentioned, GA4 offers several benefits that Universal Analytics still needs. Here are a few:
• Improved user-level insights: GA4 gives you greater insights into individual users and their behavior on your website or app, so you can better understand how they interact with your content.
• Automated insights: GA4 uses machine learning to generate insights and recommendations, so you can make more informed decisions about how to optimize your website or app.
• Cross-platform compatibility: GA4 allows you to track users across multiple devices and platforms to get a comprehensive view of their journey with your brand.
• Predictive analytics: GA4 allows you to predict user behavior, anticipate their needs, and provide better experiences.
• Improved integration capabilities: With GA4, you can more easily integrate data from other sources (such as CRM systems) to gain even deeper insights into how users engage with your content.
So now you know the basics of Google Analytics 4 and how to get started. With this information, you can begin gathering valuable insights about your website or app and use them to optimize for better performance.
Conclusion
This was all about Google Analytics 4 and why you should use it. Google Analytics 4 offers several advantages over Universal Analytics. By using GA4, you can gain valuable insights into how users engage with your content and use them to make informed decisions about optimizing it. So get started with GA4 today and gain deeper insights into your user’s behavior.
FAQs
Why is Google Analytics 4 so hard to use?
While Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has a new interface and additional features compared to its predecessor Universal Analytics, it’s not necessarily “hard to use” once you get familiar with it. That being said, here are a few reasons some users may find GA4 initially challenging:
· It has a new user interface and additional features compared to Universal Analytics.
· You need to understand the basics of analytics and data collection to get the most out of GA4’s features.
· Different reports are available, so you need to understand which is most relevant to your goals.
· If you’re integrating data from other sources, you must understand how to do that properly.
· GA4 also requires technical knowledge to set up and configure it properly.
What is the difference between GA4 and GA4 360?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Analytics 360 (GA360) are both analytics platforms offered by Google, but they have some key differences:
1. Features: GA4 is a free version of Google Analytics that offers basic features for tracking and analyzing user behavior on your website or app. GA360, on the other hand, is a premium version of Google Analytics that includes additional features such as custom funnels, advanced analysis tools, and data integrations.
2. Data Limits: GA4 has a monthly data processing limit of 10 million monthly hits. If you exceed this limit, Google will begin sampling your data, which can affect the accuracy of your reports. GA360 has a higher data processing limit, which can be customized based on your needs.
3. Cost: GA4 is free, while GA360 requires a paid subscription. The cost of GA360 varies based on your specific needs and the size of your organization.
4. Support: GA4 offers basic support through the Google Analytics Help Center and community forums, while GA360 offers dedicated support through a team of analytics experts.
In summary, GA4 is a free version of Google Analytics that offers a basic set of features, while GA360 is a premium version with additional features, higher data limits, and dedicated support. The choice between the two platforms depends on your specific needs and budget.
How to add ga4 to my website?
Adding Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to your website is simple. All you need to do is follow the steps below:
1. Create a new GA4 property: Log in to your Google Analytics account and select “Create Property” from the home page. Select “Web” or “App,” depending on the type of website or app you are tracking.
2. Set up the property: Enter your website URL and any other relevant information, then click “Create” to set up the property. You can also customize data retention policies and privacy settings at this stage.
3. Generate a tracking code: Once your property is set up, you will be provided with the tracking code. Copy this code and add it to your website’s HTML before the closing <head> tag.
4. Test tracking: Once you have added the GA4 tracking code to your website, open a page in an incognito window and check that the GA4 tag is firing correctly.
Following the steps above, you can easily add GA4 to your website to track and analyze user behavior today. With a robust analytics platform such as GA4, you can gain deeper insights into user behavior which will help you optimize your website for maximum success.