The Rise of GA4 & What You Need To Know

The ever-evolving enigma, Google, has rolled out another game changer in the digital world. GA4 is here with new and impressive features that are changing the way data is collected and used. This rollout is also Google’s way of addressing new user privacy standards, including the “cookie-less” future.

At Click Here Digital, we are aware that this change is much more than a re-brand or a simple platform change. The new GA4 is a completely different platform that uses machine learning technology to provide insights and projections on what users are likely to do next in their online journey.

What's the Difference Between GA4 & Universal Analytics?

GA4 is not built around user sessions (a group of user interactions with your website that take place within a given time frame). With GA4, event data is now the backbone of Analytics. There's also a new, completely redesigned dashboard.

What are "Events" in Google Analytics?

According to Google, Events are user interactions with content that could be measured independently from a web page. Examples of events include downloads, link clicks, form submissions and video plays. The data seen in Google Analytics 4 reports comes from events that are triggered while users interact with your website. For instance, a page_view event is triggered when a user views a page on your website. This change comes with the intention of better understanding user interactions and likely future behavior. This will not only help you better understand your user, but it will allow you to optimize your site accordingly, which is extremely important for user experience and SEO.

What Else is Changing in Google Analytics?

There are other important updates like a deeper integration with Google Ads, more cross-device measurement capabilities, updates to real-time reports, easier custom audience creation, and more that makes the rollout of Google Analytics 4 important across all marketing channels — not just from a website perspective.

What does this mean for you? At this point in time, Universal Analytics is still accessible. However, Google will be sunsetting Universal Analytics in July of 2023. In the meantime, it is recommended that a GA4 account be created as soon as possible in order to start data collection and avoid any gaps in data collection time.

How to Prepare for the Switch to GA4

While many features in GA4 are still in beta, Click Here Digital realizes that now is the time to begin data collection and dive in to get familiar with this new platform!

• Set up all your accounts as soon as possible
• Begin collecting historical data
• Learn the structure of GA4 and how to optimize it
• Get famliar with all the new features
• Figure out the best way to report on your data

Click Here Digital is currently in the process of ensuring all clients have GA4 set up prior to the transition happening next July. We always say that data drives decisions and we are ensuring you will be well-prepared for the upcoming changes. If you have any questions on where your website stands within this transition, please reachout to our GA experts! We'll ensure your GA4 account is set up for success no matter if you're tracking the ROI from your social media ads, driving brand awareness with CTV ads, or looking to improve your display ads. CHD is here for you!