3 Tips & Tricks for Google Analytics GA4

Google Analytics GA4 is one of the best free tools available to people and businesses with a website. This powerful software allows users to find key information to drive their website’s success. Understanding the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics and implementing these tips and tricks can help give your site a boost.

What Is GA4?

GA4, or Google Analytics 4, is the most up-to-date version of Google Analytics is a new type of property and will become the next generation of Universal Analytics by mid-2023. GA4 Google Analytics is a no-cost, powerful tool that gives people and businesses an in-depth look at their websites. GA4 Google Analytics has a variety of built-in tools that measure your website’s effectiveness and performance statistics.

Google Analytics 4 integrates seamlessly with plug-ins such as:

• Google Ads 
• Google Optimize,
• Search Console 
• Google Task Manager

GA4 Google Analytics tracks information such as audience movement, website traffic, user behaviors, and user demographics.

The information provided by GA4 Google Analytics is necessary to understand your website’s efficacy and whether users are finding, staying on, and purchasing from your website. So, what is the difference between GA4 Google Analytics and Universal Analytics, and why is GA4 taking the main stage? Our experts explain.

What Is the Difference Between GA4 & Universal Analytics?

The main difference between GA4 vs. Universal Analytics is monitoring hits (a user visiting a website) and how they are labeled and tracked. 

Universal Analytics

Universal Analytics is session-based and uses hit types such as page hits, event hits, and social interaction hits. 

GA4 Google Analytics

GA4 Google Analytics is event-based, and hits previously session-based in Universal Analytics are now event-based. Essentially, this means instead of categorizing interactions as page hits or event hits, they are now all counted as events. 

Tips & Tricks for Google Analytics GA4

1. Comprehending User Interests

To take a closer look at user interactions and begin to understand their interests, look under “Interests,” and you will find “Affinity” and “In-Market” segments.

Affinity

Under the “Affinity” category, you will see the breakdown of user interests who have visited your website. These users are individuals who have not heard of your brand before. This information is useful in understanding other interests that users visiting your website have and being able to target potential future customers.

In-Market

Looking under the “In-Market” segments, you will find users that want to buy your product and are ready to buy your product now. One important note in looking at users under this segment is to exclude interest categories that do not align with the product or service on your page. This step will narrow down the group of users that are ready to purchase your product.

2. Understanding the Entire Customer Journey

Under the “Behavior” tab, find “Behavior Flow.” In “Behavior Flow,” you will find the complete customer journey that a user takes on your website. This information allows you to see exactly how users have navigated throughout your site in an in-depth visual representation. This information is important in recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your site.

For instance, if a user is leaving your website on a particular page of the site, you will want to consider improving the page’s content or removing the page entirely. Conversely, if you see an increase in traffic to a particular page of your website, you will want to improve or expand the content of that specific page.

3. Traffic and Conversions Via Social Media

Under “Social,” locate “Overview” to understand which social media streams are leading users to your website. Understanding exactly which social media platforms users are seeing and following your website will be the key determining factor on where to best spend your energy and money on improving and advertising that social media channel.

These few tips and tricks for navigating and understanding GA4 Google Analytics are just scratching the surface of the capability that GA4 Google Analytics provides. With some time and practice, you can become well-versed in the world of GA4 in no time. If you have a website and are unsure what is working and what isn’t, utilizing GA4 is your best bet for a fast and successful website with growing user traffic.

To help get your website better visibility online, the expert team of designers, SEO strategists, and developers at Levy Online can put together a plan to boost your online presence and help your business thrive.