The advantages of Google Analytics 4

Google announced the launch of Google Analytics 4 on October 14, 2020. This version of the widely used analytics platform is based on the 2019 beta release of the App + Web property.

The new version and the present one have some significant differences. The application of machine learning to help reveal insights from the gathered data is the most important aspect. Google asserts that the program's new iteration is "privacy-centric by design." That is, Google Analytics will be able to fill in the information gaps when the gathering and sharing of people's data is more strictly regulated.

Changes required to be made to Google Analytics in order for it to continue to be helpful to website owners while reporting on progressively less data.

We'll examine some of the following GA4 features and advantages in greater depth in this blog:

better tracking of customer journeys

improved analysis of user engagement

larger audiences for your advertising initiatives

more sophisticated user tracking and privacy features

Goals and Events Setup that is Simpler

Enhanced reporting and visualisations

many different parameters

1. More of the user's trip is shown.

Google Analytics has undergone significant modification, and not simply in the way that its user interface for reporting has been altered. Everything about it has changed. Sessions and other measurements that may be easily broken down by platform or device are no longer the main focus. Now, users and their interactions—which are now only recorded as events—are the main focus.

You can now look at both online and app data using a single set of metrics and dimensions thanks to our new user-focused and event-driven data architecture, enabling more intelligent aggregation. For instance, a consumer might visit your website on a mobile device, then return on a desktop computer to download, buy, or register.

The reliable Audience, Acquisition, Behaviour, and Conversion options are no longer available. In their place, a "Lifecycle" part has been added that breaks down analysis into four categories: acquisition, engagement, monetization, and retention. A new "User" section has also been added that focuses on user demographics and technologies.

One of Google Analytics 4's best features is its potent new user-centric metrics and dimensions, which employ AI to forecast consumer actions and value.

Google has since replaced the Bounce Rate measure with some other more potent and practical interaction metrics. With the use of these new engagement metrics as well as the newly pre-configured scroll, video, outbound click, and file download events, you should be able to determine whether or not your content is engaging and whether or not users are engaging with it.

3. Develop more effective consumers for your advertising activities.

With the addition of new, more potent measures in GA4, together with more potent analyst tools and integrations, marketing campaigns will be able to reach more potent audiences, improving their return on investment.

for instance

Imagine you're a university launching an advertising campaign across desktop, mobile, and app platforms. A user accesses your website via a mobile browser and completes a contact form; they then return via a desktop computer and start an application form using a separate browser; and they eventually finish the application form using your native Android or iOS App...

Until GA4, it would be difficult to optimise ad-spend for these kinds of user journeys – not least because you would struggle to join these different device and platform journeys together. Now, if you configure your web and apps correctly, you can stitch user journeys together and avoid wasting your ad spend.

3. Develop more effective consumers for your advertising activities.

Additionally, new predictive analytics that Google is releasing will aid in the quicker and more intelligent optimization of those audiences. According to Google, "We're constantly adding new predictive measures, like the potential money you could generate from a specific consumer category. In order to better understand why some consumers are likely to spend more than others, you can use this information to establish audiences to reach higher-value customers and do studies.

4. More clever features for user privacy and tracking

In order to comply with existing and future privacy rules, Google Analytics 4 allows you and your users more intuitive and precise control over the personal data that is gathered. For instance, GA4 now allows you to disable the personalization of advertising based on certain events and user data.

Google's new analytics strategy is basically created to be more adaptable and flexible in a future when cookies will be considerably less widespread and where users' and regulatory bodies' concerns over privacy will become increasingly important. GA4 has a flexible approach to measuring and will soon include modelling to close any gaps where data may be lacking.

5. Easier setting up of goals and events

Google refers to this as "Event Editing and Synthesis," which lets you fine-tune goal tracking and obtain detailed behavioural data with little to no need to alter code or modify goal setup. It will be especially helpful when transactional features, like application forms and checkouts, are housed on a sub-domain or third-party website because what was formerly complicated is now simple.

GA4 pre-creates a variety of actions and events right away. Clicks, scroll behaviour, transactions, file downloads, and a user's initial visit are some default parameters that formerly required manual setup. Although some e-commerce and form submission goals may not be automatically tracked, setting them up is now more simpler and takes considerably less time to accomplish than in earlier GA versions.

6. Improved reporting and visualisation

Although the platform's UI has mostly stayed consistent, there are a number of new visualisations and reporting features. The added reporting visualisations are a game changer, but existing visualisations and strong favourites like 'Real Time' have been improved and made more interesting.

The "Analysis Hub" is a major improvement and aids in the simplification of some more challenging cross-dimensional metric reporting. It includes a template gallery with charts that may be constructed, including those for exploration, funnel analysis, segment overlaps, and path analysis.

7. A large number of parameters

In order to extract value from analytics, having the appropriate data and level of granularity for some KPIs is extremely essential. Even while having more data doesn't always equate to better data, using the proper parameters can be useful.

For instance, in an e-Commerce environment, parameters can be used to associate a purchase's value, location, referring URL, and cross-device travel. The majority of the dimensions that were there in the previous version are still present, but GA4 makes them more usable and accessible.

Google explains: "You can submit parameters with each event in Google Analytics 4 attributes. Additional bits of information called parameters might further define the user's behaviour or provide more context for an event. Parameters can be used, for instance, to define the cost of a transaction or to give background information like the where, how, and why an event was logged. Some parameters are sent automatically, such as page titles. You can log up to 25 parameters with each occurrence in addition to the parameters that are automatically logged. You could want to add arguments such as level number, character name, etc. for a game-style event like level-up, for instance. Alternatively, you could wish to include arguments like article id, article title, and author name for a content-style event like content view.

Digital marketing companies in Dubai are switching to GA4 for their business analytics so what are you waiting for?

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