Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the newest version of Google’s web analytics platform that aims to provide a more comprehensive analysis of user behavior across websites and apps. GA4 comes with several new features and capabilities that can help businesses to better understand their customers and improve their online presence. In this post, we’ll answer the top 10 questions about GA4 that you might have.
What is GA4 and how is it different from Universal Analytics?
Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of Google’s analytics platform that is designed to provide a more comprehensive and advanced tracking and analysis of user behavior across websites and apps. GA4 differs from Universal Analytics in several ways, including its event-driven data model, machine learning capabilities, cross-device tracking, and privacy controls.
How do I set up GA4 and migrate from Universal Analytics?
Setting up GA4 is relatively easy and involves creating a new GA4 property in your Google Analytics account, adding the GA4 tracking code to your website or app, and configuring the data streams. Migrating from Universal Analytics to GA4 requires exporting your GA3 data, as well as updating the tracking codes and configuring the data streams.
What are the new features and capabilities of GA4?
GA4 comes with several new features and capabilities, including automated event tracking, machine learning-based insights, cross-device tracking, advanced integration with Google Ads, data privacy controls, and more.
How does GA4 handle user tracking and privacy?
GA4 is designed to provide a more privacy-friendly approach to user tracking, including an opt-out feature for users, enhanced data controls, and a more transparent data collection process.
How can I use GA4 to track and analyze my website or app traffic?
GA4 provides several ways to track and analyze website or app traffic, including event tracking, user behavior analysis, conversion tracking, and more.
How can I use GA4 to track and analyze my e-commerce transactions?
GA4 provides advanced e-commerce tracking capabilities, including tracking of product views, clicks, and purchases, as well as detailed revenue and conversion data. However, the ecommerce tracking will need to come from your ecommerce software (shopify, classy, etc.) and not all ecommerce solutions have caught up with GA4 just yet. There are ways to manually setup GA4 ecommerce tracking in GTM, but they require a more advanced understanding of data layers, code and tagging.
How can I create custom reports and dashboards in GA4?
GA4 provides several ways to create custom reports and dashboards, including drag-and-drop interface, data visualization tools, and pre-built templates. However, I recommend Looker studio for ease of use and ability to make it pretty.
How can I integrate GA4 with other Google tools and services?
GA4 can be easily integrated with other Google tools and services, including Google Ads, Google Tag Manager, and Google Search Console.
How can I use GA4 for cross-device tracking and measurement?
GA4 provides advanced cross-device tracking capabilities, allowing businesses to track and analyze user behavior across multiple devices and channels.
How can I use GA4 for advanced audience segmentation and analysis?
GA4 provides advanced audience segmentation capabilities, including demographic, geographic, and behavioral targeting, as well as machine learning-based audience insights and recommendations.
In conclusion, Google Analytics 4 is a powerful analytics platform that provides several new features and capabilities to help businesses to better understand their customers and improve their online presence. By answering the top 10 questions about GA4, we hope to have provided you with a better understanding of what GA4 is, how it works, and how you can use it to drive business growth.
If you’re still looking for help with your GA4 configuration, contact us because we can help.
If you’re looking for an online course, we have that too. Check out the Advanced GA4 Course: From GA3 to GA4 – The Who, What, How, Why of your site with GA4
Why the heck should you trust us?
Column and Row Consulting is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to unlocking growth for authentic brands, mission driven organizations and non profits all over the world. We help track, strategize and optimize websites so that do-gooders had good data to work with and grow.
Full Disclosure: We use AI to help us write these blog posts. Just thought you should know.
