Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has been dubbed as the next generation of Google Analytics by Google. The biggest difference between GA4 and its predecessor Universal Analytics (UA) is that GA4 supports cross-domain measurement of data. This means that you can use it to analyse your website and app together, while UA was solely used for websites only. If you are already comfortable with UA, changes in GA4  will take some getting used to.

First of all, changes in GA4 should not be seen as an ‘upgraded’ version of UA. In fact, with the cross-domain feature, it is actually a completely new analytics platform. 

As of now, you can still have both GA4 and UA set up. While Google has not yet phased out UA, we foresee this change happening. According to Google’s announcement, the changes in GA4 is to provide “a more complete understanding of how customers interact with your business” This is crucial as the customer journey is more complex than ever now. This is also why it’s important to familiarise yourself with the changes in GA4 interface. 

 

So what are the biggest changes in GA4?

1. Different data collection structure, affecting user behaviour analysis

UA works on a hierarchical data structure. This means that each user session can be further broken down into other metrics. For example, when a user lands on a website, a session is immediately generated. Within this session, other metrics you can analyse are page views, downloads, bounce rate, video plays, etc. In essence, each user will have at least 1 session tagged to them, even if it is just one page view. 

GA4, however, does not focus on sessions. It focuses on the actions (or events) that users take on a site. In GA4, page view is seen as an event because a user has taken an “action” to get to the page. 

 

2. How users are tagged / tracked

UA utilises the standard pageview tag which simply tracks users who have visited your site. This means that you will need to create individual tags for each action that your users take on your website. You may need to enlist the help of your developer to get this done. 

GA4, however, simplifies this process for you. It auto-tracks key events for you such as:

  • Page views
  • Scrolls
  • Site search
  • File downloads
  • Video engagement
  • Outbound clicks

This reduces the tagging required, helping your site to improve its page load speed.You may still add additional site tags if required, but the key tags are sufficient to analyse your web performance. 

 

What should be my next step?

GA4 will take some time to get used to. If you are still in UA, hold on to it. Do not be so quick to change to GA4. However, we do recommend installing GA4, and working on understanding it while still keeping tabs on your data in UA. This is because:

  • Data in GA4 is not retroactive. This means that you will not be able to generate any data on your website before the installation date. Thus, you will not be able to access any historical data or even see a comparison of data from period to period. 
  • With the new interface, many of the traditional reports that you are familiar with have also changed. Sometimes, it’s just a naming change, sometimes a total readjustment has occurred. It will take a while to transition into the GA4 style of reporting. Thus, keep your UA available to you until you have learnt how to work with GA4. 
  • UA terminology may no longer exist. For example, GA4 does not measure goals. Rather, they measure conversions. Data collection in GA4 is massively different from UA, and your analysis work will have to change accordingly as well. 

 

Conclusion

GA4 is quite a jarrIng change from UA. Be prepared to spend a lot of time understanding it and changing your reporting to leverage on the changes. Ultimately, while the change is hard, we are all in this together. This is a great opportunity to create a more structured data set that cuts across multiple domains, helping us understand our customers better.