How Web Analytics can Help You

What is web analytics?

Web Analytics is the process of collecting, processing, measuring, and analyzing data from digital sources, such as websites or mobile apps.

Through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs), web analytics can help you:

• Understand website viewers and engagements.
• Analyze your conversions.
• Boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
• Strengthen marketing campaigns.
• Set accurate business goals.

Lets look at an example

Suppose you are doing marketing in the entertainment industry. You may want to look at what kinds of marketing campaigns generates the most traffic to your website. Using web analytics, you can locate this information.

In other words, you can use web analytics to see where a website viewer came from, how long that viewer stayed on the page, and if they eventually converted. You can then tie this information back, to see what piece of digital content led them to checking out your website, and to eventually convert.

Why use Google Analytics for marketing?

Google Analytics 4, or GA4, is a more updated version of Universal Analytics, or UA, which is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website and mobile app traffic, amongst other things, as a part of Google's Marketing Platform Brand.

Some key benefits of using Google Analytics 4:

• Collection of both website and mobile app data.
• Uses event based data rather than session based data.
• Includes privacy control.
• Easy to use predictive capabilities.
• Direct integration with media platforms.

Essentially, GA4 allows users to get all sorts of different details on their potential customer's online journey, which can be crucial to increase conversions in both the short term and long term.

One additional feature that GA4 offers, is full integration of all their marketing applications. This includes Google Ads, Google Search Console, Search Ads 360, Display & Video 360, and the Google Cloud.

Why did Google switch from UA to GA4

As society moves more towards a digital age, marketers are able to access more information about consumers than ever before. However, with this new access to detailed information, comes some concerns.

Privacy

As you have likely heard by now, privacy in the digital age is a major concern of internet users. In UA, cookies were the main source of data collection, which allowed marketers access information that they otherwise would not be able to access.

In GA4, the process of collecting user information has changed to allow for much more user privacy. Some of the key changes made in GA4 include:

• All the previous UA privacy features.
• All user IP Addresses are kept anonymous, and are not stored for later access.
• Data is collected to satisfy the European Union GDPR.
• Data on users is stored for a maximum of 14 months, with the default being set to just 2 months. Previously, UA allowed for data storage indefinitely.

Event Tracking

Previously, UA focused on collecting data using sessions and page views, whereas now, GA4 uses events to collect data. An event, is any specific interaction on your website that you as the marketer can choose. This allows for much more personalization and detail on the marketing side of things.

Mobile focus

The increased use of mobile applications has opened a new frontier for digital marketing. UA did not have the capabilities to adapt to this new mobile age, which is another reason why the update to GA4 was necessary.

With GA4, synchronizing both your website AND mobile app is so much easier.

Machine Learning and AI

GA4 focuses more on using Machine Learning and AI than UA ever did. Machine learning, is a set of algorithms that are used to train models with the intention of finding patterns, trends, and anomalies.

These patterns, trends, and anomalies allows businesses to gather a deeper understanding of consumer behavior, preferences, and needs. With machine learning as a tool, marketers are able to make better and more informed decisions

Moving from the age of precision to the age of projection

The age of precision is more focused on the ways in which we gather information. In this digital age, making sure the information we gather on consumers is accurate is critical for making correct business decisions.

The age of projection is more focused on using the precise information collected, and projecting it into what could happen in the future. Using tools like web analytics and machine learning, we can more accurately forecast consumer behavior.

With web analytics, using tools like GA4 and machine learning, marketers are able to maintain a forward thinking approach to their digital marketing strategies.