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Gravitate Team
February 14, 2023 | Gain Knowledge
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This has been a long time coming. Google introduced Google Analytics 4 (GA4) in October 2020.
After that, Google also announced that Universal Analytics (Google Analytics 3) will no longer collect or process new data on July 1, 2023, for standard properties.
In an ideal world, everyone would have had a Google Analytics 4 property created before July 1, 2022. Then there would be historical data to compare against this year when the changeover happens.
While the nuances of how everyone in the industry is uncovering GA3 and GA4 measure sessions, users, and events, we can help clients get a headstart with an audit of their existing Google Analytics property.
After creating your Google Analytics 4 property – or upgrading your existing property – you’ll start with fresh, better data across the board.
Events, Goals, and Conversions have been reconfigured. Specifically, “Goals” have been eliminated, and we are left with Conversions. The nice thing is, all conversions are event-based and not URL-based. So for example, you can mark users who watched 10 seconds or more of a video as a conversion and push those users further down your marketing funnel.
Google is leveraging its best machine learning technology to provide automated insights and intelligence to analytics users. The insights gathered from the machine learning algorithms look promising and are an exciting way to gain new insights and visibility on problem triggers without doing any dirty work. In addition, Google has mentioned that they may use these machine learning tools for future features such as forecasting conversions, right-sizing sessions to offset data privacy losses, and more.
The user experience is a critical component of any website, and it’s important to know how users interact with your website. One of the most exciting features of GA4 is the expansion of the reporting, analysis, and customization tools. With a robust set of templates, we are able to analyze user behavior with improved user experience and visibility in ways that we have never been able to before in Universal Analytics.
Not to mention the funnel analysis, user retention, and cross-device tools are miles ahead.
Focusing on user acquisition, retention, segmentation, and lifetime value, GA4 is taking measures to close the gap on cross-platform user behavior, essentially making single-session reporting obsolete.
All this being said, GA4 is far more complex than it appears. You’ll want to spend some time in the documentation to understand the tracking platform’s fundamentals fully.
If the powers that be at Google have anything to say about it, Google Analytics 4 is the future of Analytics and will be the platform that will continue to receive updates and maintenance. GA4 is readily prepared to stand up against the inevitable blow that data compliance regulations like GDPR and CCPA will have on the accuracy of reporting. Cross-device and cross-platform tracking capabilities in GA4 will continue to evolve over time as new tech gets released. But if you own a website or app, GA4 is closing the gap in the user journey. And that alone will take your analytics to new horizons.
We know the last thing you need is more on your plate so we’ve prepared a custom package to handle the full migration to GA4 at a discounted price. In fact, if you opt-in for a GA4 Migration now we’ll also run a free website & SEO audit to make sure there are no other red flags or low-hanging opportunities for a quick boost.
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