What is GA4? GA4 is Google Analytics 4 – the latest version of Google Analytics. It is not an updated version of Google Analytics, rather an entirely fresh approach to collecting, storing, and filtering data gathered about site visitors and customers. It creates a detailed scope of the entire user journey – from the very moment they first visit your site to when they leave, transact, or engage.
Ultimately, this is Google’s response to rising privacy concerns, stepping away from the cookie and IP address-based measurement approach, differing greatly from the current version of Universal Analytics. The features aim to aid businesses in better understanding their site visitors with insights that direct attention to weak spots in marketing strategies. These insights will help businesses build on and tweak their existing platform in the most productive and lucrative ways.
Why Do You Need GA4?
GA4 comes with loads of beneficial features that offer insights that allow you to observe, analyse, and adjust the entire customer journey of your business, such as:
- Tracking where your site visitors come from
- Tracking how your site visitors navigate site pages
- Tracking which URLs draw in traffic
- Tracking which URLs draw in repeat visits
- Tracking which content drives engagement
- Tracking which content drives conversions, and so much more.
On top of that, GA4 is equipped to track other applications, giving you a broader scope of your business’s performance. GA4 includes analytical tools that have customer engagement as the focal point, privacy and tracking features, curated visualisations and reporting, etc.
When Will The GA4 Transition Happen?
However, regardless of its benefits, Google Analytics users don’t have an option when it comes to transitioning over. GA4 will be replacing Universal Analytics (UA), the current default version of Google Analytics, and all non-GA4 accounts will stop processing new hits after the 1st of July 2023. If you have not transitioned over by then, you will lose all data and not be able to track further.
The Gone Digital Group team of data analysts recommend that the transition over to GA4 be implemented by the 30th of June 2022 to ensure that clients have access to a full year’s worth of captured data to utilise as historical data for future reference and benchmarking when the change actually occurs. Making the transition before this date gives businesses ample time to become accustomed to the new features and functions while also preparing for a successful and confident migration over to GA4. We are here to guide you!
The final step before transitioning is to ensure that you are well prepared for it and everything is tracking perfectly. We will take care of all of this for you. Chat to your Gone Digital team member today or pop us an email to get started.
