Top 4 Things to Know About GA4 — Whiteboard Friday

On this week’s Whiteboard Friday, Dana brings you some particulars on the thrilling new world of Google Analytics 4. Watch and discover ways to discuss it when shoppers and coworkers are intimidated by the transfer.

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Video Transcription

Hello, my identify is Dana DiTomaso. I am President at Kick Level. And I’m right here at present at MozCon 2022 to deliver you some particulars on the thrilling world of Google Analytics 4, which I do know all of you might be like, “Ugh, I do not need to study analytics,” which is completely truthful. I additionally didn’t need to study analytics.

After which I type of realized about it whether or not I favored it or not. And you must, too, sadly. 

So I feel the most important factor concerning the transfer from Common Analytics to GA4 is that persons are like they log in and every thing appears to be like completely different. “I do not prefer it.” After which they depart. And I agree the person interface in GA4 leaves so much to be desired. I do not assume there’s essentially been lots of good schooling, particularly for these of us who aren’t analysts on a day-to-day foundation.

We’re not all information scientists. I am not an information scientist. I do advertising. So what I am hoping is I can let you know the issues you must find out about GA4 on only a primary type of degree, so that you’ve got a greater vocabulary to speak about it when persons are horrified by the transfer to GA4, which is inevitable. It will occur. You have to get it in your website beginning mainly instantly, in case you do not have already got it. So I began out with three issues, after which I noticed there was a fourth factor. So that you get a bonus, thrilling bonus, however we’ll begin with the primary three issues. 

1. It is completely different

So the very first thing it is completely different, which I do know is apparent. Sure, in fact, Dana it is completely different. Nevertheless it’s completely different. Okay, so in Common Analytics, there have been several types of hits that would go into analytics, which is the place hits got here from initially as a metric that folks talked about. So, for instance, in Common Analytics, you might have a pageview, or you might have a transaction, or you might have an occasion.

And people had been all several types of hits. In GA4, every thing is an occasion. There’s a pageview occasion. There’s a transaction occasion. There may be, effectively, an occasion occasion. I imply, you identify the occasions no matter you need. And due to that, it is truly so much higher technique to report in your information.

So, for instance, one of many issues that I do know folks all the time needed to have the ability to report on in Common Analytics is what pages did folks see and the way did that relate to conversion price. And that was actually difficult as a result of a pageview was one thing that was on the hit scope degree, which suggests it was identical to the person factor that occurred, whereas conversion price is a session scoped factor.

So that you could not mash collectively successful scope factor with pageview with conversion price, which is session scoped. They only did not mix collectively until you probably did some fancy mixing stuff in Information Studio. And who’s obtained time for that? So now in GA4, as a result of every thing is an occasion, you might have much more freedom with how one can slice and cube and interpret your information and determine what pages do folks have interaction with earlier than they really transformed, or what was that path, not simply the touchdown web page, however your entire person journey on their path to conversion. In order that half is admittedly thrilling. 

2. Engagement price will not be reverse bounce price

Second factor, engagement price is a brand new metric in GA4. They do have bounce price. They did not too long ago announce it. I am aggravated at it, so we’ll discuss this slightly bit. Engagement price will not be reverse bounce price. However it’s in GA4.

So in Common Analytics, bounce price was a metric that folks reported on on a regular basis, although they should not have. I hate bounce price a lot. Simply image like a dumpster hearth GIF proper now throughout your display. I hate bounce price. And why I hate bounce price is it is so simply faked. For instance, for instance, your boss says to you, “Hey, you realize what, the bounce price on our website is simply too excessive. Might you repair it?”

You are like, “Oh, yeah, boss. Completely.” After which what you do is each time someone comes in your web site, you ship what’s known as an interactive occasion off to Google Analytics on the identical time. And now you might have a 0% bounce price. Congratulations. You bought a elevate since you made it up. Bounce price may completely be faked, no query. And so after we moved over to GA4, initially there was no bounce price.

There was engagement price. Engagement price has its personal points, nevertheless it’s not measuring something much like what bounce price was. Bounce price in UA was an occasion did not occur. It did not matter in case you spent an hour and a half on the web page studying it carefully. Should you did not have interaction in an occasion that was an interactive occasion, that meant that you just had been nonetheless counted as a bounce whenever you left that web page.

Whereas in GA4, an have interaction session is by default somebody spending 10 seconds with that tab, that web site open, so energetic of their browser, or they visited two pages, or they’d a conversion. Now this 10-second rule I feel is fairly quick. Ten seconds will not be essentially lots of time for somebody to be engaged with the web site.

So that you would possibly need to change that. It is underneath the tagging settings in your information stream. So in case you go to Admin and you then click on in your information stream and also you go to extra tagging settings and you then go to session timeouts, you possibly can change it in there. And I might suggest taking part in round with that and seeing what feels proper to you. Now GA4 actually simply as I am filming this has introduced bounce price, which truly it’s reverse engagement price. Please do not use it.

As a substitute, take into consideration engagement price, which I feel is a way more usable metric than bounce price was in UA. And I am type of excited that bounce price in UA goes away as a result of it was [vocalization]. 

3. Your information is not going to match

All proper. So subsequent factor, your information will not be going to match. And that is irritating since you’ve been reporting on UA information for years, and now hastily it is not going to match and other people shall be like, “However you stated there have been 101 customers, and at present you are saying there have been truly 102. What’s the issue?”

So, I imply, when you have that type of dialogue along with your management, you actually need to have a dialog concerning the thought of accuracy in analytics, as in it is not, and error and every thing else. However I imply, actually the information goes to be completely different, and generally it is so much completely different. It isn’t just a bit bit completely different. And it is as a result of GA4 measures stuff otherwise than UA did. There’s a web page on Google Analytics Assist, which fits into it in depth. However listed here are among the highlights that I feel you must actually know type of off the highest of your head whenever you’re speaking to folks about this. 

Pageviews and distinctive pageviews

So very first thing, a pageview metric, which we’re all acquainted with, in Common Analytics, this was all pageviews, together with repeats. In GA4, identical, pageview is pageview. Nice.

Up to now so good. Then we had distinctive pageviews in Common Analytics, which was solely single views per session. So if I seemed on the homepage after which I went to a providers web page and I went again to the homepage, I might have two pageviews of the homepage for pageview. I might have one pageview of the homepage in distinctive pageviews. That metric doesn’t exist in GA4. So that’s one thing to actually look ahead to is that in case you had been used to reporting on distinctive pageviews, that’s gone.

So I like to recommend now altering your stories to type of like stroll folks by this consolation degree of getting them used to the very fact they are not going to get distinctive pageviews anymore. Or you possibly can implement one thing that I discuss in one other one among my Whiteboard Fridays about having the ability to measure the proportion of people who find themselves reloading tabs and tab hoarders. You could possibly work that into this slightly bit.

Customers

Okay. Subsequent factor is customers. Customers is admittedly I feel a troublesome subject for lots of people to get their heads round as a result of they assume, oh, person, that signifies that if I am on my laptop computer after which I am going to my cellular machine, clearly I’m one person. You are normally not, sadly. You do not essentially get related throughout a number of units. Or in case you’re utilizing say a privacy- targeted browser, like Safari, chances are you’ll not even be related in the identical machine, which type of sucks.

The true solely method you possibly can really measure if somebody is a person throughout a number of periods is when you have a login in your web site, which not everyone does. A number of B2B websites haven’t got logins. A number of small enterprise websites haven’t got logins. So customers is already type of a sketchy metric. And so sadly it is one that folks used to report on so much in Common Analytics.

So in Common Analytics, customers was whole customers, new versus returning. In GA4, it is now energetic customers. What’s an energetic person? The documentation is slightly unclear on how Google considers an energetic person. So I like to recommend studying that in depth. Simply know that that is going to be completely different. You by no means ought to have been reporting on new versus returning customers anyway, until you had a login in your website as a result of it was such a sketchy, dangerous metric, however I do not assume lots of people knew how dangerous it was.

It is okay. Simply begin altering your stories now in order that when you must begin utilizing GA4, on July 1, 2023, for actual UA is finished, then a minimum of it is not a lot of a shock whenever you do make that transition. 

Periods

So one different factor to consider as effectively with the modifications is periods. So in Common Analytics, a session was the energetic use of a website, so that you’re clicking on stuff.

It had a 30-minute timeout. And you will have heard by no means to make use of UTM tags on inside hyperlinks in your web site. And the explanation why is as a result of if somebody clicked on an inside hyperlink in your web site that had UTMs on it, your session would reset. And so you’d have what’s known as session breaking, the place hastily you’d have a session that mainly began in the midst of your web site with a brand-new marketing campaign and supply and medium and fully indifferent from the session that they simply had.

They’d be a returning person although. That is nice. You should not have been reporting that anyway. Whereas in GA4 as a substitute, now there’s an occasion as a result of, bear in mind, every thing is an occasion now. There may be an occasion that is known as session begin. And in order that information when, effectively, the session begins. After which there’s additionally a 30-minute timeout, however there isn’t a UTM reset.

Now that does not imply that you must go on the market and begin utilizing UTMs on inside hyperlinks. I nonetheless do not assume it is a fantastic thought, nevertheless it’s not essentially going to interrupt issues the way in which that it used to. So now you can see the place did somebody begin on my website by trying on the session begin occasion. I do not know if it is essentially 100% dependable. We have seen conditions the place in case you’re utilizing consent administration instruments, for instance, like a cookie compliance device, you possibly can have points with periods beginning and whatnot.

So simply preserve that in thoughts is that it is not essentially completely foolproof, however it’s a actually attention-grabbing technique to see the place folks began on the location in a method that you might not do that earlier than. 

4. Use BigQuery

So bonus, bonus earlier than we go. All proper, the fourth factor that I feel you must find out about GA4, use BigQuery. There is a built-in BigQuery export underneath the settings for GA4. Use it.

The rationale why you must use it’s: (a) the stories in GA4 should not nice, the default stories, they type of suck; (b) even the explorations are a bit questionable, like you possibly can’t actually format them to look good in any respect. So what I am saying to folks is do not actually use the stories inside GA4 for any type of helpful reporting functions. It is extra like an advert hoc reporting. However even then, I might nonetheless flip to BigQuery for many of my reporting wants.

And the explanation why is as a result of GA4 has some thresholding utilized. So you do not essentially get all the information out of GA4 whenever you’re truly stories in it. And this occurred to me truly simply this morning earlier than I recorded this Whiteboard Friday. I used to be trying to see how many individuals engaged with the shape on our web site, and since it was a comparatively low quantity, it stated zero.

After which I seemed on the information in BigQuery and it stated 12. That quantity may very well be lacking from the stories in GA4, however you possibly can see it in BigQuery, and that is due to the thresholding that is utilized. So I all the time suggest utilizing the BigQuery information as a substitute of the GA4 information. And in Google Information Studio, if that is what you employ on your reporting device, the identical challenge applies whenever you use GA4 as an information supply.

You’ve got the identical thresholding issues. So actually simply use BigQuery. And also you need not know BigQuery. All that you must do is get the information going into BigQuery after which open up Google Information Studio and use that BigQuery desk as your information supply. That is actually all that you must know. No SQL required. If you wish to be taught it, that is neat.

I do not even comprehend it that effectively but. However it’s not one thing you must know with a view to report effectively on GA4. So I hope that you just discovered this beneficial and you’ll have slightly bit extra of a greater dialogue along with your group and your management about GA4. I do know it appears rushed. It is rushed. Let’s all admit it is rushed, however I feel it will be a extremely good transfer. I am actually excited concerning the new varieties of knowledge and the quantities of knowledge that we are able to seize now in GA4.

It actually frees us from just like the class motion label stuff that we had been tremendous tied to in Common Analytics. We are able to report a lot extra attention-grabbing information now on each occasion. So I am enthusiastic about that. The precise transition itself may be type of painful, however then a yr from now, we’ll all look again and chuckle, proper? Thanks very a lot.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com