Why Make the Switch to GA4?

Are you in the process of reviewing your website analytics options and considering Google Analytics (GA) 4? If so, you may be wondering what sets GA4 apart from previous versions like Universal Analytics, and why it could be a better solution for understanding how people interact with your website.

In this blog post we dive deep into the differences – highlighting new features, transition considerations and strategic advantages of GA4 that enable you to gain more actionable insights about how users behave on your site and craft successful marketing strategies. Read on to learn all about why making the switch to GA4 is well worth exploring!

Benefits of switching to GA4

Google Analytics (GA) is essential for tracking and analyzing website traffic. The recently released GA4, however, offers several advantages over the previous versions of Google Analytics. We explore some of the key benefits of switching to GA4.

• More accurate data tracking: Event-based tracking, introduced in GA4, enables more precise data collection regarding visitors’ actions on your site. That’s right, now you can monitor not just pageviews but also particular actions like button clicks and video plays. You can improve sales by tweaking your site’s content and UX in response to user behavior
• Improved cross-device tracking: Increased importance of cross-device tracking as more people use multiple devices to reach the same website. GA4 improves upon previous versions by working with Google’s advertising platform. To learn more about how your customers engage with your site across devices, you can implement this tracking method.
• Better integration with Google Ads: GA4 offers a more unified method of monitoring and analyzing user behavior for Google Ads campaigns. To get a complete picture of how well your Google Ads are doing, you can use GA4 to monitor user actions and conversions.
• More advanced AI-powered insights: With GA4, machine learning provides deeper insights into user activity. You can learn more about your target market and find the most effective ways to reach them with the help of the brand-new AI-powered insights tool.
• Enhanced data privacy features: With growing worries over personal data, GA4 includes new safeguards to secure your information. For instance, a consent setting lets you modify data collection and usage based on user approval. 90% of US Internet users agree that online privacy is important -Surfshark. That’s why Google Analytics 4 (GA4) was developed with a “privacy-first” data collection and usage approach.
• Streamlined and customizable reporting: More intuitive reporting interface GA4 makes accessing the reports and analytics you require simpler. It also provides more options for modifying reports to suit your requirements better.

Challenges of switching

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google’s web analytics platform, and it offers a number of benefits over the previous version, Universal Analytics (UA). However, switching to GA4 can also present some challenges for businesses. In this article, we will discuss some of the challenges that businesses may face when transitioning to GA4.

• No Views: If you’re familiar with Universal Analytics, you’re probably used to using views to configure your data. Views provide a valuable space for testing and filtering out internal traffic, as well as creating raw data views and other customizations. However, if you switch to GA4, you’ll notice that views are not part of the platform. There are no plans to include views in the future either. This can be a big adjustment for many users who rely on views for data management. Thankfully, there are ways to adjust to this new approach. For example, you can learn how to filter out internal traffic and make other customizations in GA4 without using views. To learn more about the missing views in GA4 and how to adapt, check out our previous blog post.
• ILimiting IP Filtering: GA4 has limited IP filtering capabilities, which might pose a challenge for users. Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 doesn’t support RegEx and limits the number of IP addresses that can be blocked. This can hinder users who rely heavily on IP filtering to analyze their website traffic.
• Data compatibility: The data paradigm is a key area of dissimilarity between GA4 and UA regarding ensuring data compatibility. This makes it difficult, if possible, to move the information gathered in UA to GA4. Companies that have been using UA for a while may find this difficult because they will need to begin data collection from the beginning.
• Training and resources: Lack of available training and tools is another problem that must be solved when transitioning to GA4. When making the switch to a new platform, businesses may need help finding the resources and support they need. Due to this, it may be challenging for businesses to learn all of GA4’s new features and functions and begin using them successfully.
• Customization: GA4 provides more customization choices than UA, which can be both a benefit and a burden for businesses. More options make it harder to determine which ones to implement and how to tailor them to specific company requirements.
• Limited integrations: Not all third-party tools companies rely on today may be compatible with GA4, as it is still a relatively new platform. Companies that use these methods to gather and analyze data may find this problematic.

How to switch to GA4

Here’s a simple step-by-step process for businesses to switch to Google Analytics 4:

• Log into the Google Analytics account and select the “Admin” section.
• Click on “Create Property” and choose the “GA4” option.
• Give the new property a name and select the appropriate time zone and currency.
• Set up data streams by selecting the “Data Streams” option from the “Property” menu and clicking “Add Stream.” Provide the necessary information, such as the name of the data stream and the platform it will collect data from.
• Integrate GA4 with other platforms such as Google Ads, Firebase, and BigQuery by selecting the “Integrations” option from the “Property” menu and following the integration instructions provided.
• Maintain a parallel implementation of Universal Analytics (UA) during the transition period by keeping both GA4 and UA properties active and collecting data simultaneously.

By following these simple steps, businesses can easily switch to GA4 and take advantage of the new features and capabilities offered by the platform. The best way for companies to guarantee that they don’t lose any data is to keep running a copy of Universal Analytics (UA) simultaneously. This necessitates maintaining data collection and operation of both GA4 and UA characteristics at the same time. This will enable companies to check for inconsistencies in their data during the move by comparing records from both locations.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, upgrading to Google Analytics 4 has many advantages for companies, such as improved data tracking, a deeper comprehension of user behaviour across devices, and more potent data analysis tools. Planning ahead will help businesses make the switch to GA4 as painless as possible so they can immediately begin reaping the benefits of this robust analytics framework.

Explore GA4’s features and learn how our team of experts can assist you in migrating to this robust analytics tool by visiting our GA4 Landing page today. Don’t put off making preparations for the upgrade to GA4 any longer.