GA4 is the 4th release of Google Analytics. it offers exciting new features, but puts existing data at risk.
KEY POINTS
Google Universal Analytics will stop working on July 1st, 2023.
This means you’ll no longer receive data under GA3.
you’ll have a 6 month grace-period to access your GA3 data, separate from GA4
After this grace-period, you will lose access to all previous data.
you need to export your GA3 data and import it into GA4
By using Data Studio or Tableau we can help you export previously processed data in Universal analytics and then blend it with GA4 data so you can see the data all in one place.
configuration & implementation
First&Third can configure GA4 and its custom events to be tailored to your business needs.
dashboards & reporting
The Google Analytics (GA4) Overview Dashboard gives a high-level overview with some of the most important metrics GA4 has to offer. This dashboard is created to minimize the time you waste going through all of the data that GA4 has to offer.
audit & optimization
Analytics need to be set up properly in order for you to make as much revenue as possible. Our analytics audit will ensure that you can track the exact data required to create significant and lasting strategies for your business.
as experts in GA4, we can fully migrate you the right way.
We’ll provide an analytics audit, analysis and reporting service. Your account will retain your data so you can continue comparing year over year trends.
1
create a ga4 property that tracks pageviews and “standard” events.
2
implement kpi related events (e.g. form fills)
3
implement e-commerce events (optional)
4
implement other custom track tracking (e.g. non-kpi events, custom dimensions, integrations)
5
full implementation audit once data is collected, make adjustments as required.
key changes to be aware of before migrating
the biggest difference between Universal Analytics and GA4 is the measurement model that they use.
Universal Analytics uses a measurement model based on sessions and pageviews. A session is a group of user interactions (hits) with a website which take place over a given timeframe. A session can contain multiple pageviews, events and eCommerce transactions.
Google Analytics 4 uses a measurement model based on events and parameters. The principle here is that any interaction can be captured as an event. As a result, all Universal Analytics hit types translate to events in GA4.
in Universal Analytics there is a hit limit of 10 million hits per account on a monthly basis. GA4 has no hit/events limits.
BigQuery integration is another key feature of GA4 – BigQuery is a cloud data warehouse that lets you run highly performant queries of large datasets.
You can export all of your raw events from Google Analytics 4 properties to BigQuery, and then use an SQL-like syntax to query that data. In BigQuery, you can choose to export your data to external storage or import external data for the purposes of combining it with your Analytics data.
don’t be alarmed to discover the GA4 interface is totally different to the UA interface.
Google created GA4 to be much more customized than GA3. Due to this focus, GA4 doesn’t come with a standard report that loads at login. Instead, you will need to think through what information you would like to see and build a report to meet your needs.
faq's
Universal Analytics is the most current data collection technology for web-based analytics. It uses js tracking code for websites, an SDK for mobile apps, and the Measurement Protocol for other digital devices.
Google’s three stated priorities for 2022 are Measurement, Privacy and Automation – GA4 is at the heart of all of those. In order for Google to achieve their goals, they needed to build a totally new version of Analytics from the ground up – this is GA4.
Google Analytics 4 is an analytics service that enables you to measure traffic and engagement across your websites and apps.
After July 1, 2023, you’ll be able to access your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months. Google strongly encourages users to export your historical reports during this time.
featured resources
- introducing the new google analytics
- full ga4 set-up information
- gtm – ga4 tag information
- google analytics – creating events
- easy tag – gtm & data layer for shopify (ga4 supported)
- google analytics 4: ecommerce guide for google tag manager
- new ecommerce setup and reporting in google analytics app+web
- tag assistant preview mode in google tag manager
- how to track conversions with google analytics 4 (previously known as goals)
- how to connect ga4 (google analytics 4) with google data studio
- ga4 demo account
