Google Analytics (GA) has been an essential tool for website owners and digital marketers for years. It enables users to monitor website traffic, user behaviour, and conversion rates, among other metrics. Google recently launched a new version of Google Analytics, called Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which is different from the previous Universal Analytics (UA) version. GA4 has a new approach to user behaviour and data collection. In this article, we'll provide a beginner's guide to GA4, covering everything you need to know to get started.
Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. It's a free service provided by Google that can be used to monitor user behaviour, traffic sources, conversions, and other metrics. GA tracks user data through a tracking code that's placed on your website.
To use GA, you need to have a Google Analytics account. If you don't have one already, you can sign up for free by visiting the Google Analytics website. Once you have an account, you can create a new property for each website or app that you want to track.
Universal Analytics (UA) is the previous version of Google Analytics. UA tracks user data using cookies, which are small text files that are stored on a user's device. UA tracks user data through sessions, which are defined as a series of interactions that a user has with a website within a specific time frame.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the new version of Google Analytics. GA4 has a new approach to user behaviour and data collection. It uses an event-based model to track user behaviour, which means that it tracks specific actions that users take on your website, such as clicking a button or watching a video.
User behaviour is the way that users interact with your website. Understanding user behaviour is essential for optimising your website for conversions. With GA4, you can track specific user behaviours by setting up events. Events are specific actions that users take on your website, such as clicking a button, watching a video, or filling out a form.
Active users are users who have interacted with your website within a specific time frame. GA4 allows you to track active users in real-time, so you can see how many people are on your website at any given moment.
A data stream is a collection of user data that's sent to Google Analytics. With GA4, you can set up multiple data streams to track user behaviour across different devices and platforms.
Event count is the number of events that are tracked on your website. With GA4, you can track an unlimited number of events, so you can get a complete picture of user behaviour on your website.
GA4 allows you to track how many users have interacted with your website. You can see how many users have visited your website, how many have interacted with specific pages, and how many have completed specific actions.
Google Tag Manager is a tool that allows you to manage your website's tracking tags. With Google Tag Manager, you can add and manage tracking tags without having to edit your website's code.
Event tracking is the process of tracking specific user actions on your website. With GA4, you can track an unlimited number of events, so you can get a complete picture of user behaviour on your website.
GA4 has a set of automatically tracked events that are tracked by default. These events include pageviews, scrolling, outbound clicks, site searches, and more.
Once you've created your Google Analytics 4 property, you'll need to add the tracking code to your website or app. This is what enables Google Analytics to collect data and send it to your property.
If you're using Google Tag Manager, you can add the tracking code by creating a new tag and selecting "Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration" as the tag type. You'll then need to enter your Measurement ID (found in your GA4 property) and set any other configuration options you need.
If you're not using Google Tag Manager, you can add the tracking code directly to your website or app. You'll need to add the code to every page or screen where you want to collect data.
Once the tracking code is in place, you can start tracking events. Events are actions that users take on your website or app, such as clicking a button or submitting a form.
Google Analytics 4 automatically tracks some events, such as pageviews and scrolling. You can also track custom events, such as button clicks or form submissions, by adding event code to your website or app.
To track events, you'll need to use the gtag() function in your tracking code. The function takes several parameters, including the event name and any relevant event properties.
For example, to track a button click, you might use the following code:
gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category': 'button','event_label': 'buy now'});
This code sends an event with the name "click" and the category "button" and label "buy now" to your GA4 property.
One of the benefits of Google Analytics 4 is that it can track user behaviour across multiple devices. This means you can see how users interact with your website or app on different devices, such as desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
To track user behaviour across multiple devices, you'll need to set up data streams. A data stream is a source of data that you want to track, such as a website or mobile app.
You can set up multiple data streams for the same property, allowing you to track data from different sources. For example, you might set up one data stream for your website and another for your mobile app.
Google Analytics 4 includes several enhanced measurement events that can help you track user behaviour without adding custom event code. These events are automatically collected by Google Analytics 4 and provide insights into user engagement and behaviour.
Some of the enhanced measurement events included in Google Analytics 4 include:
You can enable these enhanced measurement events in your GA4 property settings. Once enabled, Google Analytics 4 will automatically track these events without any additional configuration.
Google Analytics 4 provides a variety of reports to help you understand user behaviour on your website or app. These reports can be accessed from the reporting interface in your GA4 property.
Some of the reports available in Google Analytics 4 include:
Google Analytics 4 offers a powerful suite of tools for tracking user behaviour and measuring the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. By setting up a GA4 account, creating data streams, tracking events and conversions, and analysing your data, you can gain valuable insights into your audience and make data-driven decisions to improve your business.
Whether you're a beginner just starting out with GA4 or an experienced user looking to take your analytics to the next level, there's always more to learn and explore. By staying up-to-date with the latest features and best practices, you can unlock the full potential of GA4 and use it to grow your business in new and exciting ways.
