Move over Universal Analytics – here comes GA4

If you’re a Google Analytics user, get ready to say your goodbyes to Universal Analytics. The search engine is rolling out GA4, and by the second half of 2023, the future of Google Analytics will be in full use. The move to the fourth generation of Google Analytics will offer you numerous benefits, including easier access to various features, less need to be an adept coder and a more holistic view of your customers’ journey with your brand. Here are a few things you should know about GA4.

Event-based analytics rather than session-based stats

With GA4 comes a shift from session-based analytics to event-based analytics. This means easy access to metrics about events like video plays and button clicks. The philosophy is that page views are not the only metrics that matter – it’s about every step of your customer’s journey with your website, app and brand as a whole. In Google’s words, GA4 is designed to give marketers “a more complete understanding of the customer journey across devices”. Rather than focusing on individual metrics, it looks at an end-to-end customer journey.

Boasting new features and overcoming privacy challenges

GA4 boasts enough new features to make it seem vastly different to Universal Analytics as we have known and loved it. “One of the most exciting new features is the introduction of artificial intelligence to the data modelling feature,” shared Dom Goosey, Tech Ops Director for Adopstar. “AI will now be able to fill in gaps in data to create a more holistic picture of your users’ journey with your brand.”

With its machine-learning processing capabilities, the new Analytics can fill the gaps in data created by users opting out of cookie usage. The need for this development has come about because of new privacy laws like the General Data Protection Regulation. It allows businesses to continue to view the bigger picture. GA4 has been designed for a world without cookies or any type of identifying data.

New features and capabilities

It will be music to the ears of many marketers that GA4 will allow them to alter the way events are tracked in their analytics without needing to modify the on-site code. Report templates for eCommerce funnels will provide an easy way to display and visualise data. Up until now, that feature has only been available to Analytics 360 users.

Its new-look dashboard is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what GA4 has to offer marketers. “The Adopstar team can show you the ins and outs or use your Google Analytics data to make recommendations that will drive your business into a more profitable future,” promises Goosen. “Give us a call and let’s get GA4 working for your business.”