Google Analytics 4 – Everything You Need To Know via @sejournal, @lorenbaker

Google is moving all Google Analytics to GA 4 in July 2023 and wants companies to run on GA 4 by July 2022 to have year-over-year data once the 2023 switchover begins.

Charles Farina of AdSwerve joined me on the SEJ show to discuss Google Analytics 4 and the implementations and customizations which can be used with this newer analytics solution from Google.

You’ll gain insight into what you can expect from GA4, how the two differ, and what you need to do to start setting up for the move.

There are two critical deadlines. For most of you, it will be July 1, when the accessible version of universal processing deprecates, so you can still access your data. Still, you can’t send new data to it. For 360 or the paid customers, it’s going to be, I believe, October 1 of next year, which is when that version deprecates. –Charles Farina, 3:23

If you’re not using GA4 currently, it will be a big potential challenge for you in the future because when you switch over, you won’t be able to do a year-over-year analysis in it. –Charles Farina, 5:42

The thing with Google Analytics was it would seem it should never be used as the record source. You shouldn’t use it to report to your boss how many purchases your business had because that should come from your purchase database like Shopify or wherever that source is. –Charles Farina, 31:11

[00:00] – A background on Charles & why he loves analytics.
[04:58] – Will data be lost if you don’t transition in time?
[06:14] – Will you lose the data you track before July 1?
[09:09] – Is there an easy way to migrate the GA Universal Analytics to GA4?
[11:15] – Recommendation for migrating in mass?
[14:02] – Pros and cons of GA4 as compared to Universal Analytics.
[18:39] – Will bounce rate be eliminated?
[22:50] – Differences in what’s seen on Google Console vs. Analytics?
[27:02] – Will there be more explanation on direct traffic?
[31:04] – What is directionality?
[33:07] – Ways to integrate Google My Business into GA4.
[35:17] – Is dual tagging recommended?
[39:01] – Three concepts of attribution in GA4.
[42:05] – Will Data Studio be recalibrated?
[43:21] – State of UTMs.

Resources mentioned:
Measure Slack – https://www.measure.chat/

It’s a crucial time that we’re having this conversation now because to your question, GA4 uses an entirely new data model, requiring a new implementation to get data into that product. So, in short, it doesn’t carry forward any of the data you’ve collected in the past on the old version.–Charles Farina, 5:06

The best practice has been until now is that you should try and run both versions side by side so that you can have 13 months of data in the new platform and eventually make it very easy to switch over now.–Charles Farina, 5:29

Take a little time out of your day just to learn a little bit more and a little bit more about how to utilize reporting and everything else. –Loren Baker, 8:00

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Connect with Charles Farina:

Charles is an innovative consultant with extensive experience in helping clients, analysts and marketers unlock the full potential of their business on Google’s marketing platform & Cloud.

With more than a decade of experience, he has helped organizations worldwide understand their online presence through Google Analytics. He’s done this by implementing hundreds of training sessions for enterprises, including GoPro, Starbucks & Glassdoor, among others!

His contributions to the Google Analytics partner community earned him an excellence award. In addition to being a leading contributor on Measure Slack and Twitter, Charles can also be found at an ice rink playing hockey.

Connect with Charles on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesfarina/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/charlesfarina

Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:

Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker