A Complete Tutorial on Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

As Universal Analytics phases out, it’s an ideal moment to explore Google Analytics 4 (GA4). GA4 offers more precise data collection than Universal Analytics (UA) and empowers you to track user interactions across websites and apps.

Moreover, GA4 introduces new reports and enhances some Universal Analytics features. While GA4 doesn’t completely depart from its predecessor, it may take a bit of time to become accustomed to these novel features.

This comprehensive guide will provide you with insights into GA4, including the migration process from UA and navigating the new platform.

What is Google Analytics 4?

In simple terms, Google Analytics 4 is a versatile analytics tool designed to monitor visitor activities and essential user behavior metrics, extending beyond mere traffic tracking. This tool offers a more comprehensive view of how users engage with your website.

It’s cross-platform, allowing you to measure user interactions across both your website and app—a first for Google Analytics.

Originally launched in 2004, Google Analytics has evolved over the years. The latest version, GA4, takes analytics to new heights.

One notable feature is the Funnel Exploration, which enables you to trace the user journey, highlighting the steps they take before completing a conversion. This valuable insight provides a deeper understanding of the conversion process.

In addition to being more informative, GA4 adheres to a privacy-first model. By default, it anonymizes data, no longer storing the IP addresses of site visitors, a departure from Universal Analytics. This not only benefits users but also helps you comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

GA4 also embraces AI technology, utilizing machine learning algorithms to predict future purchase behavior, churn, and revenue trends. This enables you to stay ahead of emerging user trends and enhances the accuracy of your retargeting campaigns. Retargeting campaigns focus on users who have previously engaged with your site or purchased your products.

Machine learning aids in targeting only those most likely to convert, optimizing your marketing efforts. Identifying potential future conversions allows for more effective campaign planning to secure them.

Google Analytics 4 vs. Universal Analytics

A comprehensive way to grasp the essence of Google Analytics 4 is by drawing a direct comparison with Universal Analytics. Let’s explore how GA4 has evolved and where it maintains consistency, along with highlighting the exclusive features introduced in GA4.

Machine Learning

Google Analytics 4 stands out as the first version of GA to incorporate machine learning and AI. This significant enhancement equips GA4 to provide intricate insights into user behavior.

Notably, GA4 doesn’t rely on cookies for operation. Instead, it harnesses the power of machine learning to fill data gaps, especially those left by users who opt out of cookie usage. This innovation ensures the delivery of reliable insights into user history without the necessity of cookies.

Through AI capabilities, GA4 leverages past data, conducts analysis, and offers predictions about future user behavior. This predictive analysis is presented through AI metrics, which include:

• Churn Probability: Predicting the likelihood of a user active in the last 7 days not being active in the next 7 days.
• Purchase Probability: Estimating the chances of an active user in the last 28 days making a conversion in the next 7 days.
• Revenue Prediction: Forecasting the revenue expected over the next 28 days from a user active in the last 28 days.

Armed with this data, you can construct sophisticated target audiences for upcoming social media and Google Ads campaigns. For instance, these AI metrics can help you identify an audience composed of site visitors likely to return and spend $50 in your e-commerce store or those likely to make a purchase within the next 7 days. The intricacies of manual probability determinations make this AI-driven feature of GA4 incredibly valuable

Dashboard

Google Analytics 4 introduces a new dashboard, distinct from Universal Analytics. But don’t be alarmed; it’s a positive change. The dashboard has undergone substantial improvements, presenting essential metrics and data in a more user-friendly and streamlined layout.

The universal analytics dashboard somewhat looked like this:

The default Google Analytics 4 dashboard now appears as follows, offering flexibility for personalization and organization according to your specific requirements.

Indeed, the left section of the page continues to emphasize the “Users” metric as the primary focus. However, instead of the previous metrics like “Sessions,” “Bounce Rate,” and “Session Duration,” the Google Analytics 4 dashboard now provides:

• “Event Count”: This metric offers a real-time report of how many events have been completed within the last 7 days. It’s important to note that “Events” encompass various actions; it’s not limited to purchase conversions. Activities such as a user playing a video on your site or a site visitor signing up for your mailing list are considered events.

• “Conversions”: This category pertains to any completed event that holds substantial value for your website. For instance, if a site visitor purchases one of your products or subscribes to your service or newsletter, it qualifies as a conversion.

• “Sessions”: This metric reflects the number of times a user has landed on your domain, regardless of whether they completed an event or not.

These metrics offer a more dynamic and encompassing perspective of user interactions and engagement on your website, facilitating a deeper understanding of your audience’s behavior and the actions they take. 

This new approach enhances the relevance of the data you can gather from Google Analytics 4. Additionally, it’s worth noting that you have the flexibility to reorganize and customize these metrics to suit your specific analytical needs

These can be shown here:

By default, these metrics in the Google Analytics 4 dashboard are configured to display data for the last 7 days. 

If you wish to modify this time frame and examine data for a different period, you can do so by accessing the options located at the bottom left-hand side of the graph. 

This feature provides the flexibility to adjust the time window to match your specific reporting needs, allowing you to analyze data over custom time frames as necessary.

On the far right of the dashboard, you can readily observe the number of site visitors your website has received within the last 30 minutes. 

This functionality is akin to Universal Analytics’ “Active users in the last 5 minutes” feature. 

However, a notable distinction lies in the fact that with Google Analytics 4, you also have the option to review the countries of origin for a significant portion of this recent traffic. 

This valuable feature provides insights into the geographic sources of your recent website visitors, offering a more detailed view of your audience’s geographical distribution and real-time engagement.

In a manner similar to Universal Analytics, each bar on the chart within Google Analytics 4 corresponds to a specific minute within the last half hour. This time-based breakdown allows you to track visitor activity in real-time with precision.

A particularly useful feature is that if you hover your mouse cursor over any of these bars, you can access detailed information, such as the exact number of visitors your website had at a specific point in time. 

For instance, hovering over a bar could reveal the number of visitors on your site precisely 12 minutes ago, providing you with immediate insights into the ebb and flow of your site’s traffic. 

This capability enables you to monitor your site’s performance on a minute-by-minute basis, facilitating a deeper understanding of visitor behavior over short time intervals.

If you’re not satisfied with the default dashboard layout in Google Analytics 4, there’s no need to worry. You have the freedom to fully customize your dashboard, similar to what you could do in Universal Analytics. 

This means you can tailor your dashboard to display only the reports that are most relevant to your needs. This way, when you log into Google Analytics 4, you’ll encounter the precise data and insights that matter to you.

Furthermore, you can take customization a step further by creating custom visualizations for your GA4 dashboard using Google Data Studio. 

To achieve this, you’ll need to integrate GA4 as a “data source” in your Google Data Studio account. This allows you to design personalized visualizations and reports that align perfectly with your specific analytics goals.

In Google Analytics 4, the “Reports” section is structured differently. You can access the reports section by navigating to “Home” on the main menu. 

This new layout provides a user-friendly arrangement for easy access to your reports and facilitates a seamless experience when exploring and analyzing your website’s performance data.

Clicking on this option will take you to your “Reports snapshot,” where you can conveniently access a summary of your reports and key performance metrics.

The “New Users” metric, which has been retained from Universal Analytics, serves as an invaluable indicator of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. This metric is now prominently featured on the main reports dashboard in Google Analytics 4. 

It offers essential insights into the number of new visitors to your website, providing you with a clear gauge of your marketing performance and the success of your efforts to attract and engage new users. 

This prominent placement on the main dashboard emphasizes the significance of tracking and optimizing your new user acquisition strategies.

This metric, “New Users,” helps you see how good your marketing is and how many new people are discovering your website. It’s like a measure of fresh interest in your site.

If you tap on “Realtime Reports” in the left menu:

You can gather even more useful information. You can see which device your visitors are using, like a phone, tablet, or computer.

You can also find out where in the world these visitors are located by using the big world map.

If you scroll down the page, you’ll quickly see:

Here’s what you can quickly see as you scroll down the page:

• Users by First user source: This reveals where users were before they landed on your site. They might have visited your site by directly typing in your site’s URL, through search engine results (SERPs), or by clicking on a link from an external website. This helps you figure out which source is currently bringing you the most traffic.

• Users by Audience: In this section, you examine how your users fit into different categories. With GA4, you can create custom audiences that allow you to break down and analyze your data. The screenshot above shows no predefined user categories because I haven’t set up any specific audiences to track yet. I’ll show you how to create custom audiences later in this article.

• Views by Page title and screen name: This straightforward section displays the web pages that your current and recent site visitors are looking at. This information helps you identify which of your web pages are attracting the most interest.

The “Life Cycle” reports section has also undergone a complete transformation. As you can see under the main “Life Cycle” heading:

Acquisition

User acquisition focuses on finding out where new customers come from. It could be from organic search, direct visits, referrals, organic social media, or organic video sources.

Meanwhile, traffic acquisition examines both new visitors and those who return to your site.

So, instead of focusing solely on the default channel group for new site visitors, traffic acquisition takes into account the channel group of all your site visitors.

Engagement

This section delves into the actions that users take once they’re on your site. Engagement reports encompass conversions, events, pages and screens, and landing pages. All of this provides a quick glimpse into how users interact with your site.

Of particular importance, you can utilize this section to analyze which landing pages your site visitors most frequently arrive at. This analysis is exceptionally straightforward in GA4. You can access the “Landing pages” data under the “Engagement” section, making it easy to determine the pages where the majority of your site visitors first land.

By doing this, you can assess which pages are attracting the most users and gain insight into the average amount of time users spend on each landing page.

Monetization

In this section, you’ll discover reports that shed light on how user engagement translates into revenue generation. You’ll not only find data on e-commerce transactions but also gain insights into the entire user journey leading to a purchase. 

Additionally, you can examine how publisher ads and promotions have contributed to securing these conversions.

Retention

This segment enables you to assess your ability to keep customers coming back. The graphs and charts include data on retention by cohort, user engagement, and lifetime value.

Among these, the user retention by cohort graph holds exceptional value as it allows you to analyze how many of your returning customers share common characteristics. 

This can be a pivotal tool for understanding and improving customer loyalty.

In the example above, the graph illustrates customer retention based on their first-day visit compared to 7 days later.

Event-Based Data Model

The new event-based data model in Google Analytics 4 allows you to monitor every action users take on your website. This functionality is crucial for understanding how customers progress through the purchasing process.

While event tracking has been a feature in Google Analytics since 2004, Google Analytics 4 redefines its significance. 

Unlike in Universal Analytics, where event tracking was limited to specific actions on specific pages, GA4 considers all page actions as “events.” These include clicks, downloads, video plays, form submissions, and more.

Using “events” as the fundamental unit of measurement for user engagement implies that an action has been completed on your site. To avoid confusion, you can assign unique names, known as event parameters, to specific user actions. 

For instance, if you want to measure email list subscriptions, you can create an event named “mailing_list_sign_up.” Each time this action occurs on your site, an “event” is recorded, akin to “Goal Completions” in Universal Analytics. 

Later in this article, I’ll provide more details on GA4’s event-based model, including how to find and create events.

Cross-Platform Analysis

Google Analytics 4 supports cross-platform analysis, allowing you to track user journeys across both websites and apps. Unlike Universal Analytics, which primarily focused on web-based data, GA4 combines data from both platforms.

When you connect your iOS or Android app to Google Analytics 4, unique user IDs track your customers. The data collected from apps is similar to web data, encompassing events such as video views, clicks, conversion tracking, screen views, and more. 

This comprehensive information enables a better understanding of how users interact with both your website and app features simultaneously.

In GA4, a single data source, whether from a website or an app, is referred to as a “data stream.” This stream represents the flow of data from a user and a specific platform to your GA4 account.

Data Limits

Google Analytics 4 has data limits similar to Universal Analytics. In both versions, you can have up to 2,000 properties. Here are the individual property data limits:

• Data retention: 14 months
• Number of audience: 100
• Custom insights: 50
• Conversions: 30
• Ads links: 400
• Session Calculations

Google Analytics 4 calculates user sessions differently from Universal Analytics. In Universal Analytics, “new sessions” were recorded when a user’s timezone crossed midnight, which could lead to two-minute visits being counted as two separate sessions. This made session counts less reliable.

In Google Analytics 4, each user is assigned a session ID that remains valid as long as they’re active on your site. If a user is still on your website after midnight, only one session is counted. However, both Universal Analytics and GA4 follow the 30-minute rule, where a session ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Bounce Rate vs. Engagement Rate

While Universal Analytics used the bounce rate metric, Google Analytics 4 uses the more positive “engagement rate” metric. The engagement rate indicates how many site visits are considered “engaged.”

An engaged session in GA4 is defined as a session that lasts longer than 10 seconds and includes either a conversion event or at least two page views. On the other hand, non-engaged sessions are those that last less than 10 seconds or don’t lead to a conversion event (i.e., bounces).

In GA4, the bounce rate is calculated differently. It doesn’t directly measure bounces but focuses on non-engaged sessions. 

You can calculate your non-engaged session level by subtracting your engaged session count from your total session count. Alternatively, you can manually add “bounce rate” to your GA4 reports.

Attribution Modeling

Attribution modeling is the process of assigning credit to different touchpoints in the sales path. Google Analytics 4 offers three attribution models:

• Data-driven: This model uses 50 touchpoints to assign credit and considers factors like time and device used.

• Ads Preferred: It gives full credit to the last Google ad the user interacted with, or it falls back to cross-channel last click if there are no Google ads.

• Cross-channel rule-based: This model offers five rules, including linear, position-based, time decay, first click, and last click. Each rule assigns credit differently among touchpoints.

This is an improvement over Universal Analytics, which primarily used a last-non-direct click attribution model and had only four touchpoints

Create Custom Segments

Google Analytics 4 allows you to create custom segments based on trigger events on your website, offering more granular targeting options than location or age. 

For example, you can create a segment for site visitors who added items to their shopping cart but didn’t complete a purchase, or for events completed on a specific operating system or in a particular location.

In Google Analytics 4, you can create user, session, and event segments, offering greater flexibility compared to Universal Analytics. Custom segments can be created in the “Explore” section of GA4.

Search Bar

Both Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 share a helpful search bar feature. You can use this feature to quickly access data and insights or find assistance if you’re facing any issues.

For instance, if you were to inquire, “How many new users did we get last week on mobile,” GA4 would promptly provide you with an answer and recommend relevant reports for further exploration. This search functionality streamlines the process of retrieving specific information and accessing relevant resources.

If you require assistance in setting up a feature in GA4, you can simply type your query, such as “how do I set up events,” into the search bar. GA4 will then generate a list of links to pertinent help pages, offering you guidance and resources to support your configuration needs. 

This search functionality is a valuable tool for accessing the information and instructions necessary to maximize your use of Google Analytics 4.

Google Analytics 4 places a strong emphasis on purchase funnels, allowing it to generate precise suggested audiences to help you broaden your outreach efforts.

GA4 collects data on site visitors who abandon purchases, as well as those who interact with tutorial videos and take other actions, and then creates “suggested audiences” based on this data.

Once these suggested audiences are identified, you can initiate Google Ads and social media campaigns specifically aimed at targeting these audience segments. To review these suggestions, navigate to the “Admin” section, select “Audiences,” and then click on “New audience.” 

This feature provides a powerful means of optimizing your marketing campaigns by focusing on users who have already shown interest in your products or content.

You’ll find the suggested audiences listed under the “Use a reference” section when you access the “New audience” feature in Google Analytics 4. 

These suggested audiences provide valuable insights for your marketing campaigns, enabling you to target users who have demonstrated specific interests or behaviors on your site.

Suggested audiences in Google Analytics 4 encompass a variety of categories, including:

• Recently active users
• Purchasers
• 7-day inactive purchasers
• Non-purchasers
• 7-day inactive users

These audience suggestions are tailored to how visitors interact with your website. GA4 may also generate suggested audiences based on other interactions, such as:

• Achievers
• Billable users
• Item searchers
• Item viewers
• Leads
• Registered users
• Searchers
• Streamers
• Top scorers
• Top players
• Tutorial abandoners
• Video completions
• Video starts
• Wishlist users

DebugView in Google Analytics 4 is a valuable tool that enables you to monitor your website’s performance and troubleshoot issues in real time.

DebugView provides real-time insights into how users navigate your website, including their interactions and event completions. It also highlights any errors or warnings encountered by site visitors. This feature helps you identify which parts of your site are functioning correctly and which require attention.

While DebugView could be used with Universal Analytics, it required a browser extension. Google Analytics 4 simplifies the process by allowing you to access DebugView directly on the platform, without the need for additional plugins.

To enable DebugView and monitor events on a specific webpage, you can add the parameter ‘debug_mode’:true to your Google Tag configuration, as shown here:

gtag(‘config’, ‘G-12345ABCDE’, { ‘debug_mode’: true });

Alternatively, you can set debug_mode to “true” in Google Tag Manager. Once enabled, you can access DebugView through the Admin section. This feature is a powerful resource for analyzing the real-time performance of your website and addressing any issues as they arise.

Connection to Big Query

Connecting Universal Analytics to BigQuery used to require a Google Analytics 360 account, but with Google Analytics 4, all users can enjoy a free connection to this cloud-based data warehouse service. All that’s needed is a Google Cloud account and BigQuery owner permissions.

BigQuery is especially valuable for websites with high traffic volumes. Google Analytics may have limitations in storing all your data, so utilizing BigQuery’s data warehousing services can be a smart choice. 

This platform allows you to aggregate and consolidate data from various sources for further analysis.

To establish a connection between your Google Analytics 4 account and BigQuery, navigate to the “Admin” section and click on “BigQuery Links” under “Product Links.” This feature provides an efficient means of handling large volumes of data and enhancing your analytical capabilities.

Then click on “Link”.

On the following page, you’ll need to select “Choose a BigQuery Project.”

In the subsequent window, you should see your BigQuery account listed. If it’s not listed, it could indicate that your BigQuery account isn’t properly linked to your Google Cloud account.

You’ll then need to configure the following settings:

• Data Location: Choose the location for your data.

• Select Data Streams: Decide which data streams you want to export to BigQuery.

• Data Export Frequency: Choose how often you want data to be exported to BigQuery, with options for daily or continuous exports.

It’s important to note that there might be a delay before data from Google Analytics 4 is successfully exported to BigQuery. However, after about 24 hours, you should begin to see GA4 data within your BigQuery account, making it available for in-depth analysis and insights.

Getting Started with Google Analytics 4: A Step-by-Step Guide

Let’s dive into the process of using Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It all begins with signing in.

If you’ve used any version of Google Analytics in the past, you likely already have a Google Analytics account. However, if you’re new to Google Analytics, you’ll need to start from scratch. In either case, you’ll need to set up GA4.

Step 1: Create an Account

As previously mentioned, there are two approaches:

If you’ve never had a Google Analytics account, visit the Google Analytics homepage and click the “Start measuring” button.

Step 2: Add an Account Name and Adjust Settings

Next, you’ll need to enter a name in the “Account name” field. If you intend to analyze a single domain, you can use your domain name as the account name. This step helps you create an easily identifiable account for your analytics data.

Step 3: Property Setup

In the “Property name” field, enter the name of your URL or website. Additionally, select the appropriate “Reporting time zone” and “Currency” settings. These choices ensure that your analytics data is organized according to your website’s location and your preferred currency.

After clicking “Next,” you’ll be presented with a series of questions about your business. Answer these questions in a way that best describes your business accurately. These details will help tailor your Google Analytics 4 setup to suit your specific business needs.

Step 4: Configure a Data Stream

Google Analytics 4 offers a significant difference from Universal Analytics: the ability to integrate both web and app data within the property settings.

Here, you can decide whether to connect an iOS or Android app or solely concentrate on web data based on your specific needs. This flexibility allows you to track user interactions across multiple platforms efficiently.

How to Add GA4 to an Existing Property?

If you’ve been using Universal Analytics (UA), transitioning to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a straightforward process thanks to the Google Analytics 4 Property Setup Assistant. This tool streamlines the migration process, saving you from re-entering website information.

Here are the steps to add GA4 to an existing property:

• Go to your Google Analytics account and click on “Admin.”
• Under the “Property” column, ensure that the appropriate Universal Analytics account is selected.
• Click on “GA4 Setup Assistant.” This will initiate the setup process for Google Analytics 4.

You’ll then encounter the “Create a new Google Analytics 4 property” screen. It may display one of the following options: “Create and continue” & “Create property.”

If it says “Create and continue,” you’ll need to set up your Google Tag manually. You have several options for doing this:

Install manually

• Install with a CMS or website builder
• Create a new Google tag
• To install the Google tag manually, choose “install manually” and copy the provided JavaScript code. You should paste this code after the “<head> element” on every page of your website that you want to track. This step establishes a connection between your website and Google Analytics, enabling GA4 to begin collecting data.
• Alternatively, if you see “Create property,” you can migrate your Universal Analytics tags to Google Analytics 4. After successfully connecting your tags, select “done.”

This action will return you to the main setup page, where you should see the message “You have successfully connected your properties.”

Conclusion

Hence, the transition to Google Analytics 4 offers enhanced insights and capabilities, making it a valuable tool for understanding user behavior in the digital landscape. 

Whether you’re new to analytics or an existing user, the setup process is user-friendly, allowing customization to meet your specific needs.

For advanced analytics and improved online performance, consider making the switch to Google Analytics 4. Stay ahead in the digital realm and drive growth. Visit Hazehunt to learn more about optimizing your online presence.