What Does GA4 Mean to you & your Business?

Today we’re discussing GA4 (Google Analytics 4) including what this is, what it means to your business and how to successfully prepare for the change over.

How will Inner City Digital help clients?

As industry specialistrs we understand the importance of GA4 to businesses and are working hard to ensure everything is in place when the switch occurs. For all clients who have SEO & PPC services with us, if we’ve not already, we will be in touch to discuss GA4 and set it up for you.

What is GA4?

Desoigned for the future measurement of data, GA4 is set to replace Universal Analytics. Collecting both website and app data, the information provided will help business owners better understand the customer journey. As of July 1st 2023, Universal Analytics will no longer record data meaning website owners need to be fully prepared and ready to go ahead of time.

What exactly has changed?

GA4 fundamentally differs from Universal Analytics in the way it structures data and collects logic. As it stands, Analytics users are presented with data measuring sessions. As of July 1st, this changes to users and events meaning there’s much more data to be utilised internally.

Why is this beneficial?

Flexibilities provided by the new event based model makes it much easier to predict user behaviour. GA4 will become the central tool when considering marketing strategy.

When Should I Switch to GA4?

It’s not a matter of ‘should I switch’, it’s ‘when should I switch’ and the answer is now. Data will begin collkecting in the background whilst strengthening machine learning models and making future analysis more purposeful.

With such a mammoth change on the horizon, preparation is key. Now is the time to begin the GA4 process. The sooner you have data, the faster this information can be utilised within marketing strategies.

Setting up GA4

Setting up GA4 is a straightforward process. Companies are required to do this prior to 1st July this year. Alternatively, should an external company manage your marketing, now is the time to contact them. 

There are a number of points to take into consideration during the setup stage. Let’s discuss further.

Account Structure

It is intrinsic companies use GA4 to their gain and this all begins with structuring properties to meet requirements of the busines. Getting this right from the offset allows you to make informed choices based upon the data received.

Linking to Google Ads

This critical step needs to be completed sooner rather than later. Once Google Ads is linked you will start seeing data in your GA4 account. From here, data can be used when optimising campaigns and creating new ones.

Further enhance your GA4 experience by validating and bidding on GA4 conversions in Google Ads. Importing conversions ensures you receive detailed campaign feedback to be utilised in the future. This automatically improves performance when using the automated bidding strategy.

Custom Events

Universal Analytics tracks page views and sessions. These highly important factors tell us how many website visitors have been received and the time spent on site per session. GA4 takes data collection to the next level with the ability to track and measure factors such as:

• Purchases
• Scrolls
• Button Clicks
• External Links
• Form Submissions
• Video Plays

The above list is by no means exhaustive and it pays to take time out in determining the right custom events to track for your business.

Goals & Conversions

Universal Analytics tracks the goals you have set and conversions alike. This data must be imported across to GA4 in order for tracking continuation. From creating new accounts to making an online purchase, this information is paramount to the success of future SEO, PPC and marketing strategies.

There seems to be a lot to consider, why should I take time out to get this right?

Whilst there’s a number of details to contemplate when switching to GA4, it’s important to ensure setup is completed correctly and within the aims and goals of your business. What we have here is a formidable tool and utilising this to the max ensures our marketing strategies are the best they can be.

Prebuilt Audiences

GA4 comes fully equipped with prebuilt audiences and as a rule will split these into two specific categories:

• All Users: Users that have visited your site or launched your app
• Purchasers: Users that have made and completed a purchase

Additional prebuilt audiences include (among numerous others):

• Billable users
• Cart abandoners
• Checkout starters
• Item searchers
• Item viewers
• Leads
• Registered users
• Searchers
• Tutorial abandoners and finishers
• Wishlist users

Choosing relevant audience lists ensures you’ll gain the data required to strategise more effectively.

Custom GA4 Audiences

If there’s a specific element you would like to track in GA4, you have the option to create a custom audience. Examples include:

• Users from a specific country
• Users who have downloaded material and not made a purchase
• Visitors who’ve arrived directly from Google Ads

GA4 is well equipped, allowing users to create audience lists based upon almost any criteria required.

Universal Analytics is making the switch to GA4 on 1st July 2023. Make sure you’re prepared.