oogle Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics, designed to provide a more flexible and comprehensive understanding of user behaviour across websites and apps. It focuses on event-driven tracking, cross-platform insights, user-centric measurement, enhanced privacy features, and utilizes machine learning for advanced analytics. GA4 offers improved e-commerce tracking, integrates with BigQuery for more in-depth analysis, and includes real-time reporting. Here is an overview of what GA4 provides:
Event-Driven Tracking: GA4 is built on an event-driven model, allowing for more flexibility in tracking user interactions on websites and apps. Events are user interactions with content, such as clicks, downloads, video views, and more.
Cross-Platform Tracking: GA4 is designed to provide a more comprehensive view of user interactions across different platforms, including websites, mobile apps, and other digital platforms.
User-Centric Measurement: GA4 places a stronger emphasis on user-centric measurement. This means a focus on understanding individual user journeys across multiple sessions.
Enhanced User Privacy: GA4 has been designed with privacy in mind. It includes features like enhanced consent mode, which allows websites to adapt to different privacy regulations and user preferences regarding data collection.
Machine Learning and Insights: GA4 integrates machine learning to provide more advanced insights and predictions. The platform uses AI to identify trends, anomalies, and opportunities for optimization.
Integration with BigQuery: GA4 integrates with Google BigQuery, Google's cloud-based data warehouse, allowing users to export raw event-level data for more in-depth analysis and reporting.
Audiences and Reporting: GA4 introduces a more flexible and powerful audience-building system. It also offers updated reporting capabilities, including a focus on analysis hubs, exploration reports, and more customizable dashboards.
E-commerce Tracking: E-commerce tracking in GA4 has been enhanced, providing more detailed information about user interactions throughout the entire customer journey, from product views to purchases.
Realtime Reporting: GA4 includes improved real-time reporting, allowing users to monitor user activity as it happens.
How to get started:
Firstly, if you do not have a Google Analytics account, you will have to go to https://analytics.google.com to set this up.
When setting up the account, it will ask what preferences you would like with reports and events and how you would like to style your page. Once complete, you will be brought your Stream Details. Your Steam Details will be used to attach to your Connect Page. To add this to your Connect Site, select your Measurement ID and copy it here. This can be found in Settings > Setup > Connect under (GA4).
Bear in mind, this may take time before it starts to collect data from your web page, as GA4 does state that it may take up to 48 hours to start tracking this reliably.
Once you have set up GA4, you can then integrate this system with your Google Tag Manager (GTM), this is what will be used to create these events to show on your GA4. For more information, click here.