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Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is coming. Ready to make the switch?

Google has announced that Universal Analytics, which is used by most websites and online shops, will stop collecting data on 1 July 2023.

As a result, Google Universal Analytics will be deleted as of 1 July 2023 and replaced by Google Analytics 4, which means that UA will only be able to collect and analyse data until 30 June 2023.

Early implementation ensures a smooth transition to the new information collection system, while allowing analysis of results from websites and applications without interruptions or loss of key data.

What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?

Google Analytics 4 is the latest version of Google's analytics platform that provides advanced tracking, reporting and insights for websites and apps. It's designed to enable businesses to analyse user journeys across websites and apps, and takes a more flexible and advanced approach to data processing. Improved data collection will allow businesses to make more meaningful analysis and develop and implement better-informed strategies.

GA4 also offers privacy controls that allow companies to manage and control their data in compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

What new features does GA4 bring?

1. New user interface

The sheer number of reports and tools can make Universal analytics quite complex, especially for new users. The new GA4 analytics are much more simple, flexible and intuitive.

The new GA4 interface has five sections:

• Life cycle — contains all the information about where visitors come from, how they behave and how data is stored.
• User — the demographic report provides information on user behaviour for all countries and for each country separately. The technical report contains information on the devices, browsers and operating systems of users who have visited the website.
• Events (Advertising) — this section collects all information about events and conversions.
• Explore — custom reports can be created here. There is a gallery of templates where reports can be built in the form of a dashboard with the necessary information.
• Configure — all the tools needed to create new audiences, attribute users and target groups.

2. Less dependence on cookies

Another important update that GA4 analytics brings is that it works across platforms and no longer relies on cookies on the device. It uses an event-driven data model and offers more intelligent data tracking by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence. This means that valuable data is not lost when people reject cookie files.

3. Improved overview of the customer journey

One of the changes in the new analytics is the remarkable ability to combine customer journey data across devices. Tracking provides a single view of how a potential customer interacts with a brand.
In addition, a potential customer can discover the company on their laptop, browse the product catalogue on their smartphone and finally make a purchase on their home laptop. GA4 displays all these stages of the journey as a whole.

4. A unified data model

Google Universal's analytics were based on sessions and page views, mainly analysing the number of visits to each page.
To unify the data coming from different devices, Google GA4 analytics has changed the way it analyses this data. Now, every interaction counts as an event — page view, app view, screen view, etc.

5. Analytics that predicts

Google's machine learning capabilities have come a long way. Changes in Google's new analytics make it possible to predict future customer behaviour. Based on machine learning algorithms and structured event data, GA4 provides a measurement of progress to conversions. It supports metrics that predict: likelihood to purchase, likelihood to abandon, and revenue.

6. Simplified audience creation

The Google Ads integration was one of the first updates for GA4. An improved customer tracking algorithm means improved audience generation for better paid campaign results. For example, an audience can be created based on customers who have viewed a certain product category but have not completed the purchase. This audience will not include people who have actually made a purchase on other devices.

7. A new approach to measuring customer engagement

Instead of analytics only providing the rate of visits to a single page, GA4 offers a positive engagement rate, which is the percentage of sessions engaged. An engaged session is one that lasts more than 10 seconds, includes at least one conversion event or at least two page/screen views.
ith the new "Engaged Sessions" metric, you can learn more about the interactions that keep a customer on your website. App users are also included in the report.

8. Creating customised channels

Previously, custom channels were only available for Google Analytics 360 Suite. With the changes, this feature is now available to all users of the platform.

9. Exporting data to Google BigQuery

For deeper data analysis, Google Analytics GA4 allows you to export raw data to BigQuery. The link between GA4 and Google BigQuery enables in-depth analysis of customer interactions and business performance.

10. Mobile app event tracking

GA4 allows mobile events to be tracked wherever the website is. This gives a comprehensive overview of what customers are using each site for.

Why does it make sense to include GA4 now?

The time until the end of Universal Analytics is fast approaching.

As of 1 July 2023, UA will no longer collect data, which will require a migration to GA4. Google GA4 analytics will not import historical data. It will only collect and process data once the new code is implemented. It is impossible to migrate previous data from Universal to GA4 as it is based on different data models. The earlier the data is migrated, the more data will be available.

The faster migration to GA4 allows access to both analytics at the same time. Running both analytics in parallel means that the website will collect data in both ways, allowing year-on-year comparisons, gradual adaptation to the new reporting system within the analytics and, most importantly, the rapid detection and correction of errors that can arise during such a transition.

At Stroka Business Group, we offer you help with the transition to the new platform and the opportunity to start using analytics on your website.

For any questions about the upgrade, please contact us at [email protected] or call 02 88 79 780.