Imagine your car dashboard immediately stopped working. No speed indicator. No fuel level. That’s basically what happened to many companies this past week: Their analytics just went kaput and that’s because Google has launched a new analytics platform. Out with the old and in with the new.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics. It is a significant upgrade from the previous version, Universal Analytics (UA), and it offers a number of new features and benefits.
One of the key benefits of upgrading to GA4 is that it is event-based, rather than session-based. This means that GA4 tracks individual events that occur on your website or app, rather than tracking entire sessions. This makes GA4 more flexible and scalable, and it allows you to track a wider range of user behavior.
Another key benefit of upgrading to GA4 is that it is privacy-focused. It uses a different data model that is designed to protect user privacy. This means that you can continue to track your users without having to worry about violating their privacy.
Google Analytics 4
If you are currently using UA, you should start planning your migration to GA4. You can’t migrate your old UA data to GA4, so you need to start collecting new data in GA4 as soon as possible.
There are a number of resources available to help you migrate to GA4. Google has a comprehensive migration guide: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9744165?hl=en that covers all of the steps involved. There are also a number of third-party tools that can help you with the migration process.
The sooner you start migrating to GA4, the better. This will give you time to get familiar with the new platform and start collecting data. Once you have migrated to GA4, you will be able to take advantage of all of the new features and benefits that it offers.
Here are some of the key benefits of upgrading to Google Analytics 4:
- Event-based tracking: GA4 tracks individual events that occur on your website or app, rather than tracking entire sessions. This makes GA4 more flexible and scalable, and it allows you to track a wider range of user behavior.
- Privacy-focused: GA4 uses a different data model that is designed to protect user privacy. This means that you can continue to track your users without having to worry about violating their privacy.
- New features and benefits: GA4 offers a number of new features and benefits, such as predictive analytics, cross-platform tracking, and machine learning.
GA4 is going to feel different than Universal Analytics. If you’re new to Google Analytics this won’t impact you. For those of us who have relied on UA all these years it feels as if Google has moved all the furniture around in the house: Nothing is where you remember it being and familiar terms have been changed or now mean something different. It will take some getting used to. Plus, Google is adding to the GA4 code constantly. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say, “This cake isn’t fully baked.” But, when is software ever truly finished?
Upgrading and migrating to GA4 should be a priority
It is important to note that you will still be able to access your UA data until July 1, 2023. However, after that date, you will only be able to access your UA data in read-only mode and only for six months. Some organizations may find in necessary to preserve their website metrics.
If you are not already using Google Analytics 4, I recommend that you start planning your migration as soon as possible. GA4 is the future of Google Analytics, and it offers a number of significant advantages over the previous version.
Let GB Digital help you with your Google Analytics upgrade/migration.
Call us at 918-527-3908 or email Gerald@GeraldB.com today.