What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 is the next iteration of Google’s analytics platform. GA4 (Google Analytics 4) has implemented artificial intelligence to combat data gaps caused by data blocking. Google Analytics is a free tool that you can use to better understand your users and traffic. These tools let you measure advertising ROI and also track your social networking, video, applications, and other interactions.
With the increase in data blockers, GA4 uses the data it can collect to feed through its algorithms. Generally, Universal Analytics has been limited to websites, GA4 (previously Web + App) but now can be used for websites, apps, or for both at the same time. Google Analytics 4 also provides different reports, replacing Category, Action, Label, and hit type with Events.
New Metrics in Google Analytics 4
The new AI metrics can help with more accurate representations of their audience and interactions. This can especially help to make decisions around Ads and SEO on different platforms. It will make more use of the user metrics, such as the lifetime of a customer, engagement metrics, and many more.
As a result, it provides a more in-depth view of the previous analytics, with many more aspects yet to be implemented. You can read more about the difference between Universal Analytics versus Google Analytics 4 data here.
How to set up GA4
First-time Set-up for Google analytics:
1. Visit Google Analytics and sign in/ sign up.
2. Click the “start measuring” prompt.
3. And fill in the account details and click next.
4.Then fill out the property details and select the correct reporting time zone and currency.
5.Now select your primary data stream to collect (you can add more data streams once you complete the setup).
6.And fill out the webstream options and data required and create the stream.
7. Once you have created the stream, follow the tagging instructions on how to add it to your website.
8. Enjoy GA4.
Upgrading or Setting up GA4 from an existing Universal Analytics property:
Upgrading or Setting up GA4 from an existing Universal Analytics property:1. Log into your Analytics Account.
2. Click Admin.
3. Under your property tab, click GA4 Upgrade/ Setup.
4. Afterwards, click the “I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property” option.
5. If you have existing tags, you can click the option to enable data collection through the existing tag. Click next.
6. Create your new property, and now click “See your GA4 property”.
7. If you did not set up your existing tag, click tag installation and follow the instructions.
8. Enjoy GA4.
The future of GA4
Google Analytics 4 is now the default experience for new properties and is where future improvements will continue to be added. This new type of analytics change comes as the internet shifts to a cookie-less future, with more users blocking data collection through VPN’s and browser extensions.
GA4 will be able to run in parallel with existing properties and it is encouraged for users to create a Google Analytics 4 property. Google is currently in beta with versions that will offer SLAs and advanced integrations with tools such as BigQuery. However, there are many more features and tools are in the works, making analytics a must-have for any website owner that wants to grow his traffic and user ads.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the new iteration of Google analytics will change the way data is viewed, giving more in-depth reports and cross-domain tracking. This change comes as websites third-party cookies, with the anticipation of fewer data collected from users. This new form of analytics will rely on machine learning to fill in data gaps also add a more complete cross channel view of the customer lifecycle. By the way, If you haven’t been making the most of Google Analytics then now is the best time to start!
