Making the Switch to GA4: How to Get the Most out of Google’s New Analytics Service

What’s the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics?

One of the most significant differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics is the data model.

Universal Analytics uses a hit-based model, where data is collected at page level and organised into sessions, and each session is associated with a unique client ID.

GA4, on the other hand, uses an event-based model, where data is collected and organised into events. Events are actions taken by users, such as pageviews, clicks, and conversions. This means Google can now support analytics from both websites and mobile apps within GA4. This will make it much easier for you to track your performance across multiple platforms.

Why switch to GA4?

First, let’s address the elephant in the room. Universal Analytics is due to sunset on 1st July, 2023. After this date, Google will cease to record any new data for Universal Analytics properties, although historical data will still be available until at least the end of 2023. Given the impending deadline, now is a great time to familiarise yourself with GA4 if you haven’t already.

So, the short answer to this question is that you’ll have to make the switch sooner or later. But we’d argue that this is far more of an opportunity than a mere necessity! There are several benefits that GA4 offers over Universal Analytics:

#1 More acess to data

For me, one of the banes of using Universal Analytics was data sampling. Running Universal Analytics reports over long time periods and/or using several filters often lead to data sampling. Google would take a small subset of all the available data and extrapolate an answer. Very annoying.

In GA4, however, there is no data sampling, meaning that we have access to 100% of available data! Moreover, we now get access to a feature previously reserved for Analytics 360 premium customers – in the form of data back-ups to Google BigQuery, Google’s cloud data warehouse. These backups give you access and long-term storage of (almost) 100% of your analytics data. The only exception is personalised data such as user agent strings and Google Signals data.

#2 Advanced Reporting Capabilities

GA4 also offers more advanced and flexible reporting capabilities compared to Universal Analytics.

One of the most significant improvements is the ability to create custom reports that combine different data sources and metrics, allowing you to gain deeper insights into your website traffic and user behaviour.

GA4 also includes advanced analysis tools, such as predictive metrics and machine learning insights, which can help you identify trends and patterns in your data.

To access machine learning insights in GA4, simply visit the GA4 home page insights section, type a question into the search bar or click on "Insights" widget within the “Reports” section. From there, you can see a list of insights generated by GA4, such as changes in user behaviour or anomalies in your data.

#3 Custom Events

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) introduces a new and improved way of tracking events on your website or app through custom events. Custom events provide much more flexibility and granularity in measuring user behaviour and engagement.

In Universal Analytics, events were limited to predefined categories and actions, which would curtail tracking options for users. With GA4 custom events, you can create your own event names and parameters to track the specific actions and behaviours that matter to you!

Another advantage of custom events in GA4 is that they allow for more contextual data to be captured. For example, let’s say that we wanted to track enquiries for a Masters degree programme. We could create a custom event called “programme_enquiry”, and then pass event parameters to track contextual information such as programme name, faculty, start term, fees, entry requirements and mode of delivery.

A note on compatibility and migration

Finally, it's worth noting that GA4 is not backward compatible with Universal Analytics, meaning that data collected in Universal Analytics cannot be transferred to GA4.

The differences in the data models of Universal Analytics and GA4 also means that key metrics like users, sessions and views are calculated differently, so themselves are not directly comparable between the two systems.

To sum up, GA4 offers several significant improvements and enhancements over Universal Analytics.

The event-based data model, advanced reporting capabilities, integration with other Google services, and new tracking features make GA4 an attractive option for businesses and website owners who want to gain deeper insights into their website traffic and user behaviour.

However, migrating from Universal Analytics to GA4 can be a complex process, and it's essential to plan and prepare carefully to ensure a smooth transition!