What is Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics is one of the most popular digital analytics software tools that allows you to analyse website behaviour and marketing efficiency. Google Analytics 4 is an update designed to help businesses with an online presence, learn more about their customers. It is able to address some of the most prominent trends affecting Search Engine Optimisation, such as shifting policies regarding user privacy and the widespread use of smartphone applications. This version of Google Analytics combines data from both apps and websites.

How can Google Analytics 4 support your business?

Understanding your customers across touchpoints

You are able to get a complete view of the customer lifecycle with an event-based measurement model that isn’t fragmented by platform or organized into independent sessions.

Improve ROI with data-driven attribution

Use data-driven attribution to analyse the full impact of your marketing across the customer journey. It assigns attribution credit to more than just the last click using your Analytics data, and it can help you understand how your marketing activities collectively influence your conversions.

Get greater value from your data

Machine learning generates sophisticated predictive insights about user behaviour and conversions. It creates new audiences of users that are likely to purchase and automatically surfaces critical insights to improve your marketing.

What new features can we find in Google Analytics 4?

One of the new features that GA4 offers is new and improved reports. You are able to create trended funnels, which allow you to track each step of your funnel on a graph to see how it changes over time and how different elements affect the trajectory. It also allowed you to create open or closed funnels. An open funnel allows entrance at any step of the process, whereas a closed funnel only allows entrance at step one of the process.

Another new feature available in Google Analytics 4 are new real-time reports. The current real time reports available are dated and can be difficult to use. With the new reports, you will have access to much more data than before.

Other features available on GA4:

  • Cross-platform tracking
  • Deeper Google Ads integration
  • Smarter AI-powered predictions and insights
  • Event-based model
  • Predictive analytics
  • Create custom reports
  • Customize automated tables
  • Easily create audience segments

What happens next?

Until July 1st, 2023, you will be able to continue using and collecting new data in your Universal Analytics properties. All standard Universal Analytics will stop processing new hits on July 1st, 2023. After that, you will be able to access your previously processed data in Universal Analytics for six months. It is strongly recommended that you export your historical reports during this time.