What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. GA4 offers a variety of new features and options to help companies analyze their website activity.
Why should companies use Google Analytics 4?
GA4 offers businesses many benefits compared to previous versions.
It allows businesses to track all aspects of their online activity. From website and app usage to e-commerce transactions and customer interactions, GA4 offers a wide range of features to analyze and understand your online presence.
Some of the key features of GA4 include:
- Real-time analytics: GA4 provides real-time information about activity on your website or app, so you can react quickly to changes.
- Personalized Reports: GA4 offers personalized reports tailored to your organization’s unique needs and goals.
- Machine Learning Integration: GA4 uses Machine Learning technologies to provide better predictions and recommendations and to improve the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Trends and patterns should be recognized hereby. Businesses can gain valuable insights that will help them improve their online strategy and better understand their target customers.
- Google Ads integration: GA4 offers the possibility to include Google Ads data in your analysis to get a better understanding of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.
- App analytics: GA4 offers extensive mobile app analytics, including tracking usage, engagement and conversion rates.
Why GA4 and not Matomo?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Matomo (formerly known as Piwik) are both popular web analytics tools used by businesses and website owners to understand and optimize their online presence. Both tools offer many similar features, but there are also some differences between them.
One of the main differences between GA4 and Matomo is that GA4 was developed by Google while Matomo is an open source analytics tool. This means that GA4 is supported by Google and updated regularly, while Matomo is supported by a community of developers and users.
Another difference is that GA4 is based on machine learning technology and is able to automatically adapt and recognize new trends and patterns in the data. Matomo does not offer such a function.
In addition, GA4 offers deep integrations with other Google products such as Google Ads and Google Marketing Platform, allowing businesses to better understand and optimize their online marketing efforts. Matomo also offers integrations with other marketing tools, but they’re not as deep as GA4.
How do I start using GA4? What steps do I need to take to install GA4 on my website?
In order to use GA4 on your website, you must first create a GA4 account and install GA4 on your website. Here are the steps you need to follow to use GA4:
- Create a GA4 Account: To do this, go to the GA4 website and click Start Now. Or click the plus sign in the admin panel to create a new account. Enter an account name and keep working on it. At the property setup point, enter a property name for your website. Customize the time zone and currency. You can provide information about the company; however, this is not absolutely necessary.
- After you have accepted the Google Analytics terms of service, the account with the associated property will be created and you can continue with the data collection. Choose the platform, mostly web. Enter the website URL and stream name to set up a web stream. You will then be shown general installation instructions for the Google tag and details of the web stream.
- Install the GA4 tracking code on your website.
- The data should arrive after a maximum waiting time of 2 days.
How do I set and track goals in GA4 to measure my website’s performance?
In GA4 you can create conversions and use them to measure the performance of your website. Conversions are specific actions you want users to take on your website, such as filling out a contact form or purchasing a product. To set and track conversions in GA4, you need to follow these steps:
Create the conversions to be recorded in GA4 as events. Then go to the property-level management panel and set specific events as conversions.
How can I create custom reports in GA4 to analyze specific aspects of my website performance?
GA4 offers the ability to create your own custom reports to analyze specific aspects of your website performance. Here are the steps you need to follow to create a custom report in exploratory data analysis:
- Go to the Exploratory Data Analysis section and select a template. As a first example, take the Free Format template.
- There you will already find a sample report with the evaluation of active users by city, each divided according to device categories.
- Try adding more dimensions or metrics, or see the difference between organizing dimensions in a row and a column.
How can I use GA4 to track and analyze user activity on my website to improve conversion rate?
To improve conversion rate with GA4, you can follow the steps below:
- Set goal conversions in GA4: Conversions are specific actions you want users to take on your website, such as filling out a contact form or purchasing a product. You can set conversions in the property admin panel.
- Track conversion rate for each goal: Once you’ve set conversions in GA4, you can run a report in the Explore panel to track conversion rate for each goal. You can then display the conversion rate and see how many users or how many sessions have reached the goal.
- Optimize your website to improve conversion rate: Once you have tracked and analyzed the conversion rate for your goals, you can optimize your website to improve conversion rate. For example, you can improve navigation, optimize the user experience on mobile devices or revise the call-to-action elements on your website.
How can I leverage GA4’s integration with other Google products and tools to dig deeper into user activity and improve user experience?
GA4 provides the ability to leverage integration with other Google products and tools to dig deeper into user activity and improve user experience. Here are some examples of Google products and tools that you can integrate with GA4:
- Google Ads: If you use Google Ads to drive traffic to your website, you can leverage GA4’s integration with Google Ads to dig deeper into user activity generated by Google Ads ads. For example, you can evaluate conversions, ads costs or sales per advertising channel in the Advertising section under Performance, or you can create your own reports to compare user activities for different Google Ads campaigns.
- Google Search Console: If you use Google Search Console to track your website’s search performance, you can leverage GA4’s integration with Google Search Console to dig deeper into user activity generated by organic search results. For example, you can track users who came to your website from organic search results, or create custom reports to compare user activity for different search terms.
In order to take advantage of GA4’s integration with other Google products and tools, you must first ensure that GA4 is installed on your website and that the appropriate Google products and tools are used. You can then activate the integration in the admin area at property level and link the corresponding Google products and tools.
Why does it make sense to have GA4 set up by an analytics agency?
There are many good reasons why it can make sense to have GA4 set up by specialists.
- Time Saver: Setting up GA4 properly can take time, especially if you are using GA4 for the first time. An expert can speed up GA4 setup and save you time by working quickly and efficiently. An agency can set up GA4 for you and ensure it is properly configured. For example, it ensures that GA4 is installed and configured on your website and that goals and custom reports are set up correctly.
- Expertise: A specialist agency usually has experts who have extensive expertise in GA4 and can help you get the most out of GA4. For example, they can show you how to create custom reports or how to integrate GA4 with other Google products and tools.
- Error prevention: A specialist agency can help avoid errors when setting up GA4. Failure to set up GA4 properly may result in data collected by GA4 being inaccurate or incomplete. An agency can ensure that GA4 is set up correctly and that the data collected is accurate.
- Future-proof: An expert can help you set up GA4 to meet your future needs. For example, he can ensure that GA4 is set up to adapt to changing requirements.
- Consulting: An agency can not only help you set up GA4, but also act as a consultant for your online marketing activities. It can also help you choose metrics and dimensions relevant to your business.
- Support: An agency can offer you support not only in setting up GA4, but also in maintaining and managing GA4 in the future, for example analyzing data. It can help you use GA4 effectively and improve your website performance.
- Training: An agency can train you and your team on how to use GA4 and show you how to use GA4 in order to optimize your website and increase conversions.
What options are available to learn Google Analytics 4?
For companies that want to use Google Analytics 4, there are a variety of options that can help them implement and use it. Here are some possibilities:
- Google Analytics 4 Documentation: The Google Analytics 4 documentation provides comprehensive guidance on how to implement and use the platform.
- Google Analytics 4 Help Center: The Google Analytics 4 Help Center provides answers to frequently asked questions and how-to on various features and tools of GA4.
- Google Analytics 4 Training and Courses: Google offers a variety of Google Analytics 4 training and courses that can help businesses use the platform.
- Google Analytics 4 Community: The Google Analytics 4 Community is a platform where companies can ask questions and exchange ideas with other users.
- Google Analytics 4 Blog: The Google Analytics 4 Blog provides news and information about new GA4 features and tools.
- Google Analytics 4 Agency: We have a team of specially trained GA4 experts who can help companies implement and use GA4.
If you have additional questions about GA4 or would like to learn more about GA4’s features and capabilities, let us know. We will do our best to further help you.
