In 2023, the old will officially be out the window. That means that even if you’re hesitant to make the switch to Google Analytics 4, you’ll have to, sooner rather than later. But what’s in it for you?
There are several benefits of Google Analytics 4. Keep reading and find out all about the 6 reasons why you should make the switch.
Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4
Before getting into all the reasons to switch, let’s get into the differences between UA and GA4.
The biggest, and most glaring difference is that they use different data models. UA or GA3 uses a data model based on pageviews and sessions. On the other hand, GA4’s data models are based on parameters and events.
What makes it confusing, however, is that previous versions of GA, including UA, had an event as a hit type.
GA4 aims to make it easier to understand the data it’s recording. So, instead of having an entire category for hit type, every hit type is an event. These events can contain certain parameters, though.
Events are grouped into four categories:
- Automatically collected events
- Enhanced Measurement events
- Recommended events
- Customs events
Not only is the data easier to understand thanks to the tracking of events, but their grouping also makes it more beneficial to marketers. It’s also highly beneficial to you.
This change to event-based tracking allows businesses to examine the customer’s entire journey. This journey starts from how and when they land on your website, to where they go within your website.
Below are the six main reasons to switch to GA4.
1. Customisable Interface and Control over Custom Reporting
Perhaps one of the best aspects of GA4, is that the tool’s interface is customisable. That’s right, Google listened, and delivered.
Having a customisable interface allows you to see exactly what you want to see, not what Google deems the most important. This gives you easy access to your data. You don’t have to click several things across the interface to see what you need to see.
A key new feature of this customisable interface is that you can adjust the time range of your data reports, giving you an overall better and more insightful experience with GA4.
Following on from this is the more control you have over custom reporting in GA4.
Together, this gives you complete control over the data you want to view, record, and analyse.
In GA4, you can now create several different kinds of reports. You can now create table sets, layer several segments for a better understanding of your users and even funnel visualisations.
2. More Focus on Engagement
A big benefit to GA4 is its focus on engagement.
Yes, you had engagement metrics on UA. But with GA4, your metric data is far more in-depth, and tells a better “story.” For example, with the engagement rate metric, you’ll be able to see how long a user stays on your website, whether they adventured to other pages, and if their visit triggered a conversion event.
There are also several other engagement metrics, such as engagement time, engaged sessions, and engaged sessions per user.
All this together gives you and your marketing team a clear image of any user’s journey on your website.
And if you’re used to the Bounce Rate, don’t fret. Google has just added it to GA4.
3. Automatic Tracking
Automatic Tracking, or Enhanced Measurement, is now available in GA4. You won’t have to venture into Google Tag to change your tracking code or implementation to record the data you need ever again.
Some of the things Enhanced Measurement tracks include most actions people take on your page, such as clicking on embedded videos. It also automatically tracks when people click outbound links and even when visitors scroll through pages.
4. Prediction of Sales
Of all the Google Analytics 4 features, the ability to help you predict sales is perhaps the best. This feature is all thanks to machine learning (ML).
As you collect more data when using GA4, the ML aspect of the programme will learn from it. From there, it can give you a predicted outlook on sales and any future target market.
Thanks to this, you can build several different types of audiences, all of which you can use in any future ad campaigns.
There are three predictive metrics in GA4:
- Purchase Probability
- Churn Probability
- Revenue Prediction
5. Better Privacy
With GA4, privacy and tracking features have been enhanced. In a world where privacy is always a concern, GA4 gives you, and your users, more control over what personal data is recorded.
Because more and more people are pushing back on app and website tracking, GA4 now accommodates them. Google is prepared for a cookieless future, and GA4 is one of the first steps towards that.
While there might be some “missing” information that marketers may miss, GA4’s machine learning will fill in most of those gaps. Your Audience Overview reports may also look slightly different because of this, but it’s all worth it. Your customers will feel safer and more comfortable with your marketing.
6. GA4 Is The Future
Of course, with any upgrade comes better, newer, and more efficient features. Even better, though, is the fact that GA4 is designed to be flexible and adaptable. As previously mentioned, GA4 is set up to adapt to a cookieless future. That’s not all though.
As the internet is becoming more inundated with different kinds of websites and apps, marketers will need data that isn’t linear. The data that GA4 records now is multifaceted and contains several microelements that give a better and more in-depth picture of your website’s or app’s engagement data.
While you still have quite some time to make the transition, the sooner the better. Namely, because GA4 is the future in all aspects – it will soon be the only property option, and its features are future-proof too
Make The Switch to GA4 Today
There are so many more reasons why making the switch to GA4 is the right thing to do. The bottom line though is that you should use Google Analytics 4. Luckily, mastering Google Analytics 4 is simple and easy.
Make the switch today. And if you’re looking for help to grow your business, then you’ve come to the right place. Get in touch with us today, so we can reach for the stars, together.
