This is what you need to know about the Google Analytics update GA4
Google Analytics is the tool to measure the results of your website or webshop. We use Google Analytics when we optimize your garden centre website, but you can also find a lot of relevant information yourself once you’ve found your way around the system.
A while ago, Google announced that a new update is on its way: GA4. This update will change quite a lot in Google Analytics. We will fill you in on the most important changes so that you know what to expect.
The new Google Analytics event-driven data model
The new concept of Google Analytics is to become event-driven. That is a big change in the way the whole programme works, because previously data per session was connected to one specific visitor.
For many websites this older technique is highly valuable, but with the rise of mobile apps and single page sites, a lot of information that could be relevant is lacking. Measuring bounce rates, time spent on page, and pages per session is not as relevant for one page sites. Besides that, there is a big difference between visitors that only pay a visit once and active visitors. These are the visitors that post comments of reviews, purchase products, or return regularly.
What does an event-driven data model mean?
By measuring data in a new way, sessions and pageviews are not connected to each other anymore, but the information is measured in a series of events.
Every event gives extra information to Google Analytics, by means of parameters. That means that it’s not only about the visitors that open a website, but also about valuable visits and interactions. This makes it easier to distinguish between visitors and to target specific audiences: the ones that are most involved or do the most purchases. By having more information about the visitors that are valuable, for example by a measure of involvement, it’s easier to distinguish between groups of visitors and play into them.
The benefits of GA4
Even though it might take a while to get used to the new version of Google Analytics, there are a lot of benefits to this new method of data collection and presentation:
- It’s easier to segment audiences, based on the information that Google Analytics collects which makes it easier to create targeted ads.
- The bounce rate is replaced with ‘Engaged sessions’ which means that you can get even more insight in the engagement on your website. Based on specific conditions like whether a visitor is ‘engaged’ which brings new statistics as well such as ‘engagement rate’, ‘engaged sessions per user’ and ‘engagement time’.
- It’s possible from now on to measure campaigns on different channels simultaneously, for example if you have both a website and an app. The presentations of your campaign results will be measured more accurately this way.
Do you have questions about the new Google Analytics update?
Our online marketers will continue measuring your website just like they did before. The new possibilities offer a lot of chances to connect to your target audience.
We can imagine that the information about GA4 leaves you with some questions, feel free to contact us for more information about this update!
