Unlocking the Power of Google Analytics 4: Unleashing Data-Driven Insights for Business Success

Google Analytics is a free web analytics tool from Google company that allows digital marketing experts and web page owners to measure and analyze their site’s performance and traffic to make better decisions. The latest version of this platform that Google has brought to light is Google Analytics 4 and in this article, we are going to tell you step-by-step how to start working with it.

Table of Contents

What is Google Analytics 4?

also known as GA4so Latest Generation of Google Analytics, a platform that can provide you with valuable information about your website, such as how many people visit your site, what pages they visit, where they visit them, how much time they spend on them, Etcetera. You can also use this tool to track your digital marketing campaigns and see how they are performing.

Finally, if your website is a key point of sale and/or a fundamental channel in your marketing strategy, it is essential to know how to use this tool and that you or your team stay up to date on its latest developments.

Changes introduced by Google Analytics 4 compared to the previous version

Google Analytics 4 is a great development from its previous version GA3. These are the main innovations you can find:

dashboard or control panel is new: Many of the reports you may previously find in this section have been moved or are no longer available. This has made the panel more streamlined.
The analysis is more personal and detailed: This is because the tracking system is no longer page based, but event-based.
machine learning: Thanks to this, Google Analytics 4 can automatically issue predictions and recommendations to help you make better decisions.
A more global vision: The user’s vision is more complete. GA4 takes into account not only web traffic but social networks as well, across all devices.
Integration with Google Tag Manager: This native integration makes it easy to update and implement tag and tracking code.

Pros de Google Analytics 4 vs Google Analytics 3

provides a more global view and in real-time How the public interacts with the brand through various channels and devices.
can brand Optimize better for preferences and needs With their marketing strategies of consumers, making them more efficient.
Companies can make better decisions based on reliable data.
you can follow marketing campaign performance on different channels.
It is possible to learn how users behave on different devices and in different time zones.
Thanks to Machine Learning, Brands Can Have personalized predictions and recommendations,
It is possible to find usability problems Identify opportunities to improve purchase processes as well as navigation in the app or on the website and, in addition,

In addition to all these advantages, if you use Universal Analytics (UA) to analyze your website, application or landing page, you will need to migrate to Google Analytics 4, because from July 1, 2023 UA will stop collecting data. And although you will still have access to data history for six months after that date, after this time all data will be gone.

Google Analytics Operations 4

As we have already said, unlike GA3, GA4 is based on event tracking, This means that it is based on specific actions that users perform in an application or website, such as clicking on a tab or playing a video. Every time this happens, ie every time an event occurs, GA4 receives a notice containing information about the event, such as the device from which it was displayed, the type of event, the page where it happened, and many other details.

GA4 allows these events to be classified and organized into categories or via tags, Which facilitates its analysis and allows digital marketing specialists or website owners to know what are the most common events or actions among users and thus learn more deeply what can be done best to improve their conversion process. what is good

Finally, GA4 provides a large number of pre-defined metrics to its public Which analyze the performance of an application or website, such as the number of events per user, time spent on a web page or bounce rate, etc. In addition, you can also add custom metrics that examine aspects specific to your company.

How to start using it step by step?

The first step is to create an account on the tool.
Next, you need to assign a property to each website or app you want to analyze.
Next, create a Tracking ID for each property.
Now is the time to integrate the identifier into the website or application. You can do this manually, but we recommend using the Google Tag Manager tool to make this step easier.
Once that’s done, it’s time to indicate what are the events you want to analyze and determine both their labels and their categories. If you need to, this is also the time to set custom metrics and goals.

After completing these 5 steps, Google Analytics 4 will already start collecting information in real-time And you’ll be able to access graphs and reports on your results.

Common Google Analytics 4 Report Types

Once you are inside the platform with your user, you will have access to various reports:

Lifecycle Report: These types of reports give you data on how users behave on the web, such as how they enter and interact at each stage of the sales funnel. In short, these reports will help you analyze the performance of each stage of the funnel and identify which parts need improvement. With Lifecycle Reports, your teams’ decision-making process will be more successful because it can be based on reliable and accurate data that will allow you to boost conversion rates and user experience.
Analysis report (from the browser): They also allow you to analyze user behavior on a website or application but from different perspectives. It is also possible to create custom segments.
Reports in real-time: In this case, you can see data from the last 30 minutes of user activity. This allows you to view your website or application in real-time. These reports are very useful and interesting for companies who have launched a campaign and want to analyze their performance minute by minute and make immediate changes to improve their results or fix errors.

elements of the analysis center

The Analysis Center is the place to find information and reports that really add value to your company and help you make decisions. This is where you can create your own personalized reports and ignore unnecessary information provided by the platform that may confuse you or harm your analysis.

When you first enter the Analysis Center, you may be overwhelmed by so many sections and metrics, but with this guide that we leave you below, you will be able to easily understand what each element appears on the screen. What does it represent and you soon get used to speeding through it. This pane.

Columna variables: By clicking here you can choose the data you want to see including the time period. This is the first place you should start when you enter the Analysis Center.
Tab Settings Section: In this section, you need to specify the analysis technique and add the different dimensions, segments, and metrics you want to look at.
Section: If you want to compare, in this section you can drag and drop the segments to choose the ones you want to see.
Dimensions: Those are the elements you want to analyze. You also have to drag and drop them
Metrics: You can add them to the Values field in the Tab Settings section. They are the ones who will provide you with the numbers of your information.
Visualization: What do you want the report to look like? You can decide here. You can choose between line charts, pie charts, tables, etc.
Value: You’ll need to enter the metrics here that you want to appear as columns in your reports.
Eyelids: Teach your visualizations. An analysis can integrate up to 10 tabs. To add more, all you have to do is select the plus icon.
Visualization: If you want to interact with the data, you must right-click on a data point in this visualization.