Do I Need Google Analytics 4?

It’s the news that everyone in the digital marketing world is talking about: GA4 is nearly here.

But the question still looms:

“Do I need Google Analytics 4?”

It’s a great question. You’re probably very settled with the way that your analytics operate at the moment, having spent years getting to grips with them and learning to understand the most important metrics to your business.

We get it. It’s frustrating.

With that said though, there are plenty of positives on the way with GA4 and whether you like it or not, it’s something that you’ll have to adopt by 2023. Google has announced that they’ll be shutting down Universal Analytics (GA) as we know it at the moment for good next year and that the platform will be entirely replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

So, it’s pretty obvious that you’re going to get to grips with GA4 sooner rather than later, so why not start now? You’ll find yourself ahead of the curve and ready to start moving forwards much earlier than your competitors, standing you in great stead to maintain consistent growth over the next couple of years.

Carry on reading below to learn a little more about Google Analytics 4 and how Embryo can assist you in your adoption journey!

What is GA4?

Let’s kick things off by explaining what GA4 actually is.

We’re sure you’ve probably seen and heard lots of techy, jargon-filled definitions of the new platform, but that’s not really useful is it? To help you out, we’ve simplified everything for you into one handy, round up, explaining all of the benefits in a straightforward way.

Here are the benefits of the Google Analytics 4 platform:

Combined App & Website Analytics

GA4 enables companies to merge their app and website analytics into a single property for cross-platform audience analysis.

Complete user journey tracking in GA4

In a similar vein to the previous point, GA4 is much better at monitoring people across platforms AND devices, which can help you better understand the complete customer journey from initial visit through conversion.

More event parameters in GA4

In GA4, event parameters have a significantly broader range than in UA. This enables for more in-depth analysis and tracking of individual event data.

Many common events are tracked automatically in GA4

GA4 offers integrated tracking for pageviews, scrolling, video plays, outbound link clicks, website searches, and website search, which is far superior to UA.

Use any Events as a conversion in the GA4 interface

GA4 makes it easier to convert events to conversions (goals).

Configure Events within GA4 interface

It is possible to set up events directly within the GA4 platform without using Google Tag Manager, albeit this is not our preferred option at the time.

25 User Properties available in GA4

User characteristics (akin to segments in UA) enable for more granular analysis of specific parts of your audience based on the dimensions you define.

Advanced Analysis capability within GA4 Interface

Within the the data GA4 containsmonitors, a new exploration tool allows you to construct practically any report you can imagine. Instead of endless single reports to figure out each individual metric, you can now construct custom detailed reports in minutes.

Debugging capability within GA4 interface

GA4 includes a built-in debugging function that allows webmasters to rapidly and efficiently resolve tracking difficulties.

GA4 has Predictive Metrics

Because AI is a basic component of GA4, you may use “predictive analytics,” in which GA4 forecasts certain data points for you, such as “liklihood of purchase, likelihood of attrition, and revenue,” over the next 28 days.

Easily setup Cross-Domain tracking

Cross-domain tracking has been improved and can now be configured directly within GA4.

Built-in GA4 and BigQuery integration

GA4 can natively interface with BigQuery, which means no additional third-party solutions are required to migrate that critical data into BigQuery.

AI & ML to counter cookie blocking and deletion

As we move closer to a world without cookies for internet monitoring, AI and Machine Learning will become increasingly important in analytics solutions like GA4. If a user disables cookies or tracking, GA4 will attempt to fill in the blanks as best it can.

Segmentation based on events

Because every interaction in GA4 is an event, you may now design segments solely based on events.

Many more Customer Dimension and Metrics in GA4 

GA4 features a significantly larger limit for custom dimensions, metrics, and user dimensions, allowing for more granular data analysis.

How important is the switch to Google Analytics 4 going to be?

Very.

The importance of this switch seriously cannot be overstated; you need to ensure that you’re prepped and ready to take the next step in analytics, or you face being left behind and unable to effectively track and monitor your digital performance across all channels.

Monitoring performance in UA is a core function that almost every business operating online utilises, particularly the comparison data such as month-on-month or year-on-year data. This kind of statistic helps you to clearly see your growth over a specific time period, which is often a key indicator on how your business is performing in line with your targets .

Now imagine that you just lost all of this invaluable data that you’ve spent years collating.

It’s not something that we want to think about. It would be catastrophic.

Well, this is exactly what you risk if you don’t make this switch.

As of 1st July 2023, Google will stop collecting and processing data for Universal Analytics, which will mean that you start to lose that important information that helps you to monitor progress and make informed decisions.

Don’t miss out. Make that transition now.

How can we help you transition?

Transitioning to a new, unfamiliar platform for all of your stats, metrics, and analytics is daunting. It’d be foolish to say that it isn’t.

That’s why you need to ensure that you make that transition properly, with the help of knowledgeable experts at every step.

If you are currently using UA and would like to migrate your setup to the new GA4 platform, Embryo can help. Here are the major factors that Embryo’s GA4 migration solution can help you with:

• Pageview Events (pageviews in UA)
• All Existing Event Tracking (events in UA)
• All Existing Goal Tracking (conversion in UA)
• Monetisation Tracking where needed (e-commerce in UA)

UA is a completely engagement and pageview based setup. ‌GA4 won’t track pageviews or anything else a visitor does on your site without an “event” being created. ‌This requires a completely new set up to track events and conversions (goals), so thorough testing is required to make sure‌ ‌it‌ ‌works‌ ‌as‌ ‌expected. Failure to test this tracking could lead to inaccurate date over a long period of time.

So, what’s the answer to the question “Do I need Google Analytics 4?”

It’s a resounding “YES”! And the sooner you take the leap, the sooner you’ll be able to start capitalising on the advanced features that the platform has to offer.

For more information on GA4 and the support that we’re able to offer to your business, get in touch with a member of the Embryo team today!