How to Master the Features of GA4 Even if You’re a Beginner

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google’s web analytics platform. It represents a significant evolution from the previous version, Universal Analytics (UA), and uses machine learning strategies to provide more accurate and data-driven user insights.

Google Analytics collects and analyzes data from multiple sources (websites, mobile apps, and offline data). This web analytics platform provides SEO service providers or marketers with a comprehensive view of user behavior.

Whether you’re an SMB, enterprise, or agency, you’ll learn how to master the features of Google Analytics 4 that will let you work faster and get more out of GA4. But first, understand the differences between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics.

GA4 vs. UA

Google Analytics 4:

GA4 uses an event-based data model, recording each user interaction as an event, such as page views, button clicks, video plays, etc. It offers two significant changes.

1. Browsing behavior that happens across both devices and platforms.
2. Privacy changes to protect user anonymity! Within GA4, there is less visibility of user data through cookies, while a greater emphasis is placed on aggregated data.

Universal Analytics (UA):

UA uses a session-based data model, where interactions are grouped into sessions. Each session contains multiple hits, such as page views and events. Unlike GA4, which uses an event-based model, UA reports on individual user sessions.

Mastering the Features of Google Analytics 4

Set Up Your Property Correctly

Even if you’ve gone through the jumpstart process or migrated your account, you may be uncertain whether or not you’ve taken all the necessary steps to customize your property. Consider the subsequent suggestions below.

Follow the steps as an SEO service provider or advertiser.

• Confirm your Google Ads links imported
• Validate that your goals and conversions migrated
• Ensure you’re bidding on the right conversions and audiences in Google Ads.

To bring your UA events into GA4, select “Collect Universal Analytics Events” in your GA4 tag settings. This action will create a single GA4 event category to record Category/Action/Label as its parameters. Confirm this works by examining the Events segment within the Configure section.

GA4 could be a complex platform for you. It is, therefore, important to spend some time familiarizing yourself with and understanding fundamental concepts. Also, get through its different reports and features and learn how to customize your data view.

GA4’s Exclusive Features That Are Missing in UA

GA4 has several features that are missing in Universal Analytics. These features include event sampling, data retention, and predictive analytics. Take advantage of these features to get more out of your data.

SMB-friendly Features:

• Business Objectives: When you define your business objectives in Google Analytics 4, the signal automatically generates reports relevant to your objectives. These reports are related to leads, online sales, brand awareness, etc.

Check the ‘Report Library’ to access your “Business Objectives Collection.” The best part is that you can easily add some or all of the reports to your property.

• Customized Home Page: The home page of GA4 leverages product usage and user signals to customize the experience for you. This isn’t like UA (Universal Analytics), which shows the same data points to everyone.
• Analytics Intelligence: With the help of analytics intelligence, GA4 can easily notify you of any significant changes and emerging trends in your data collection. This uses machine learning and rules that let you set up automated and custom analytics insights.

Here are a few steps to reap the benefits of this feature:

• Tap on GA4.
• See “Ask Analytics Intelligence” suggestions at the bottom.
• Hit “More Suggestions,” and a whole sidebar of questions will appear.
• Enhanced Event Measurement: The functionality of Enhanced Event Measure allows you to enable events directly in the GA4 interface. Also, you can measure interactions with your content, like form interactions, downloads, and video engagement page scrolls.
• Cross-Device or Platform Audiences: GA4 is built for cross-device measurement. It integrates personalization across user journeys by using data to boost advertising audiences.
• Predictive Audiences: Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 leverages AI to create predictive audiences. Predictive analytics need sufficient data.
• Analytics Audience Builder In Google Ads: You don’t need to change accounts to leverage audiences in both UA and GA4.
• UA lets you create audiences and import them into ads simultaneously.
• Conversely, with GA4, you can easily create regular and predictive ad audiences.

What Are the New Improvements in GA4?

• User-ID: 

Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 is designed to use a User ID throughout its entire reporting process. The goal is to provide an accurate, exact, and user-centric analysis of customer actions, behavior, histories, and journeys.

• Explorations:

With explorations that are accessible from Explore in the left-hand navigation, you can better analyze the reports. This allows for a better view of customer behavior by understanding key business metrics. Previously, this functionality was available in UA 360.

• Custom Funnel Reports:

With the help of custom funnels, you can track the sequence of users’ actions to accomplish a task. Thus, you can analyze how many users drop off between each step of a website or app.

You can also save your funnel explorations in the report library for quick reference.

• BigQuery export:

BigQuery event export is a feature in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) that allows you to export your raw event data from GA4 into Google BigQuery. BigQuery is generally a powerful cloud-based data warehouse. This integration offers several benefits and insights to help you make more informed decisions and analyze your data more effectively. 

• GMP Integrations:

With the help of GMP Integrations, you can now easily integrate DV360, Ad Manager, and other Google Marketing Platform products.

• App Ecosystem Integrations:

App Ecosystem Integrations” refers to the ability to connect and integrate data from various third-party platforms and applications into your GA4 property. Due to the functionality of deep integrations with Firebase, Play, App Campaigns, AdMob, and Ad Manager in GA4, you clearly understand user behavior and monetization in your apps.

Unlock the potential of ad Integrations:

For advertisers, Google Analytics 4 is more important than UA. It offers much more robust audience builder functionality. To unlock the potential of this specialty, you need to follow the below steps carefully:

• Link your Google Ads, Display & Video 360, or Search Ads 360 accounts to your Analytics Property for personalized advertising.
• Now, you can automatically capture, share, and activate the targeted audiences in your ad campaign.

When you import your conversions from GA4, you get great feedback regarding your campaigns. It improves automated bidding performance.

Learn about Report Identity and Data Thresholding:

Privacy is a core component of GA4. It uses four identity methods to unify touchpoints:

• User-ID
• Google Signals
• Device-ID
• Modeling

Simply put, there are three reporting identity options:

• Blended: 

It runs through each of the above four methods to identify users.

• Observed:

It analyzes the first three identity methods regardless of behavioral modeling.

• Device-based:

It only uses the device ID.

Conclusion

Becoming a GA4 pro is within reach, even if you are a beginner. Setting up your property correctly, defining your business objectives, checking the report Library, customising the home page, understanding enhanced event measurement and the data model, mastering event tracking, etc., are key steps to harnessing the full potential of GA4.

To know more, contact us online today or give us a ring at +1-888-512-1890 to learn more!