18 May 2023
So, by now you will have seen the big red warning banner on Google Analytics telling you ‘This property will stop processing data starting 1 July 2023’. I.e. GA4 IS COMING!
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest and greatest version of Google's analytics platform, and it's packed with incredible features to help you understand your website or app's performance. So, let's dive in and discover some tips to make the most out of GA4!
Embrace Events
GA4 puts a strong emphasis on events, which are actions that users take on your website or app. Instead of focusing solely on page views, events allow you to track specific interactions like button clicks, form submissions, or video plays. By leveraging events effectively, you gain deeper insights into user behaviour and engagement.
Referral Exclusion
Identifying unwanted referrals on your website is important to ensure the sources responsible for driving valuable actions on your website are attributed correctly. Popular exclusions would be payment gateways are PayPal, SagePay, Stripe, Klarna etc.
Data Retention Settings
By default, GA4 retains certain data (age, gender, and user interests) it has recorded for 2 months, this means by month 3 website owners are already losing valuable data that can be used to help them make decisions. We recommend changing this to the maximum (14 months) whilst ensuring this complies with your cookie and privacy policy.
Filter Out Internal Traffic
To keep your GA4 data clean and accurate, it is recommended to exclude your team from being tracked in GA4 whilst on your website. You can do this by excluding your teams IP addresses. This will allow your team to test different events without impacting the accuracy of your reports.
Stay Updated
GA4 is an evolving platform, and Google regularly introduces new features and updates. Make sure you stay up to date with the latest releases and improvements through our blogs where we share the big changes to keep you ahead of the curve.
In summary...
These are just a few GA4 best practices to get you started on your data journey. Remember, GA4 is all about understanding your users better, optimising your marketing efforts, and making data-driven decisions. So, dive in, and enjoy exploring all GA4 has to offer. Alternatively, speak to our experts who can help simplify the whole process and explain the mystery of GA4.
