Updated: Sep 29, 2023
What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?
Google Analytics, a free service provided by Google, enables tracking and analysis of website and app traffic and engagement. With the introduction of GA4, a new property within Google Analytics, brings significant advancements and replaces the previous Universal Analytics. GA4 has been specifically designed to prioritise customer privacy, aligning with the growing importance of privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
GA4 sets itself apart as the most advanced property available, offering a comprehensive suite of features to address the ever-growing concerns surrounding privacy. Privacy-first tracking is at the forefront of GA4, ensuring that user data is collected and managed with the utmost care, adhering to stringent privacy regulations. One of the standout advancements in GA4 is its AI-driven predictive analytics capabilities. Powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, GA4 provides businesses with valuable insights into user behaviour and engagement patterns. Through the application of sophisticated algorithms, GA4 empowers businesses to predict future outcomes, enabling them to make informed decisions, optimise marketing strategies, and deliver personalised user experiences.
What’s New with Google Analytics 4?
GA4 introduces several new features that make it a cutting-edge property for future measurement needs. One of the significant advancements is its ability to collect and analyse data from both websites and apps, providing a comprehensive view of the customer journey across multiple platforms. Unlike the session-based approach of its predecessor, GA4 utilises an event-based data model, enabling more granular tracking and analysis of user interactions. Privacy controls are also a key focus in GA4, with features like cookieless measurement and behavioural and conversion modelling to ensure compliance and protect user privacy. Additionally, GA4 offers predictive capabilities that provide valuable guidance without the need for complex models. Moreover, GA4 integrates directly with various media platforms, facilitating seamless actions and optimisations within your website or app. These features collectively position GA4 as a powerful and forward-looking tool for data-driven decision-making in the digital landscape.
Why is it Important to Switch to Google Analytics 4?
Until the 1st of July 2023, businesses can continue to use and collect new data from Universal Analytics as normal, however, some properties may find that they can process data for a short period after this date as the shutdown of Universal Analytics occurs. It is recommended to make the switch to GA4 as soon as possible to make sure you don’t lose any data or business continuity. After July 1st, you will only be able to access your historic data within your Universal Analytics property; you can view this data for at least 6 months, but Google is yet to confirm when the Universal Analytics properties will no longer be available. During this 6-month period, it is recommended that you export your previously processed data to ensure you can keep hold of your company’s data. Finally, when Google announces this final date after the 6-month period, you will no longer be able to see any reports or data held in Universal Analytics.
Is Your Analytics Property Affected?
Some users might already be using Google Analytics 4 without realising it. If you created your Google Analytics property after the 14th of October 2020, it is likely that your account is already set up with Google Analytics 4 and you won’t have to make any changes. However, if you have been using Google Analytics since before October 14th, 2020, your Google Analytics property is most likely to be set up on Universal Analytics and you will have to make the switch to GA4. If you are unsure of what type of Google Analytics property you are using, you can check by viewing your property’s ID. By entering your Google Analytics account and viewing ‘properties and apps’, you can see the name of your property with a code beneath it, if this code looks like UA-XXXXXXXXX-1, then it is a Universal Analytics account and if it looks like just numbers, XXXXXXXXX, it is a GA4 property.
How to Migrate Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4
Everyone who is migrating their account to GA4 will need to create a new property and then import their data from their Universal Analytics property. To do this, you will have to go into your account and click ‘Admin’, then select ‘Create Property’ and choose GA4. Google Analytics will then give you prompts on how to finish creating the new property. After this, you have to install the global site tag into your website to connect GA4 to your site. To find that Global Site Tag (gtag.js), go to Admin > Property > Tracking Info > Global Site Tag, you will then copy and paste this code into your website. To verify your tag is working, you can use Google Tag Assistant, a free Chrome extension made by Google, which will automatically detect any Google tags on your page and inform you if they are working correctly.
To maintain a complete historical record of your data, you can migrate your existing data from Universal Analytics to GA4. If you want to migrate your data to keep continuity, log into your account and go to Admin > Property > Data Migration, you can now select what data you wish to transfer to GA4 and when you want the migration to occur.
How SEO Flatrate can Help Your transition to Google Analytics 4
By making the switch to GA4, you can unleash the future of measurement for your business and gain access to the most advanced reporting and measuring tools. Google will be phasing out Universal Analytics promptly, so you want to make the switch before it is too late.
At SEO Flatrate, we are Google Partners and experts when it comes to Google Analytics properties, if you need help migrating your account, then contact us on +44 (0)1202 911141 or email support@seoflatrate.co.uk.
Google is the most popular search engine in the world with a over two trillion searches per day. People visit the Google directory everyday looking for information, business and for entertainment. If your website is already indexed on the Google search engine maintaining a good ranking will not only provide you with website traffic, but it can also translate in to actual sales. This makes it paramount for you to maintain a properly optimised website in order to benefit from Google’s search traffic. A good website backed up with great content and optimisation is key to achieving this status, however you may want to consider carrying out a free website audit first to analyse your website and provide you with a clear idea of your actual on-page score as well as gaining some optimisation tips.
Search engine optimisation or SEO is the practice of improving the organic traffic from search engines. A lot of factors come into play in order for you to be ranked at the top of the Google search results. This includes but is not limited to domain age, keyword density, information relevance, click through rate from past searches and social media signals. Organic traffic from Google has been proven to be one of the cheapest ways for a business to acquire customers. With good SEO your website can receive quality traffic helping you to grow and sell your products and services anywhere in the world.
Google regularly applies updates to its algorithm that determines how it ranks websites on its search results pages. Google implements these changes to improve the accuracy and quality of information that its users are provided with. Such changes can and will affect your online business positively or negatively, depending on what changes have been made to the algorithm. Back in April 2012 for example, Google made changes to it's algorithm that specifically targeted keyword spamming. This update came to be known as the Penguin update. It affected a lot of websites that thought they had good SEO in place at the time, as they were possibly using spam content or keyword stuffing at the time. This update resulted in such websites losing their search engine rank position (SERP), in turn this affected traffic to their websites and as a direct consequence their bottom line. However websites such as news sites and websites promoting original content actually benefited from the update boosting their rankings and sending them higher in the search results as a result.
Losing your rank position due to such an algorithm update is akin to being penalised and it may affect your search engine visibility, website traffic and subsequently your business. If you notice a drastic change in your website ranking it may be because of such an update. The best way to find out if your rank has been affected is to monitor it with specialised software, these products can keep track of your websites performance on all the major search engines, but it is always wise to run an audit on your website first so that you can investigate and identify any possible on-page errors up front and rectify them beforehand. There are many factors that can affect website performance that may have nothing to do with a Google update, so it is always worth getting your website checked over by a qualified online marketing agency first, who would be able to identify other potential areas of concern that could be affecting your rank.
Things to look out for are structural changes in the design that may slow your site down or interfere with the usability of the site. Ensuring that your website is mobile friendly and confirming it is connected correctly to your social media accounts will help improve your social signals. Other things to consider would be the correct use of headings, page titles and ALT Tags.
To give yourself the best chances of ranking well on Google make sure you are always creating new and unique content for your website and try to ensure your website remains user friendly at all times. With these basic but essential practices and by keeping an eye on the Google updates you will have the best chance of maintaining a sustainable high rank on the search engines.#GoogleUpdate2019
An interesting study carried out by the columnist Joy Hawkins highlighted how Google's Possum could affect your (SERP) Search Engine Results Page. We share some of Joy's data and insights below from a study she carried with BrightLocal, which compared local results before and after the update.
In the local SEO community, Google’s recent Possum update was certainly an eye opener if not a game changer. Here is what Joy had to say.
"To those of us who regularly track the search results for local businesses, it was obvious there were massive changes on September 1. The SEO community as a whole has been relatively quiet about this huge update, and I believe this is because this update primarily impacted the Local/Maps search results and not organic..
SERP trackers like MozCast and Algoroo do a fabulous job of tracking changes in the search results, but this algorithm update didn’t seem to make any massive impact in the charts. I believe that is because local queries that trigger a 3-pack are only a fraction of what these programs track. In all likelihood, the majority of the SERPs they track would not contain a 3-pack — and therefore, big changes in the 3-pack wouldn’t necessarily show on the radar.I wanted to know exactly how much of a shake-up this algorithm was when it came to just Local/Map results, so I reached out to Bright Local to track ranking for our clients. They track both organic ranking and ranking in the Local Finder (the list of local results you get when you click “more places” under the 3-pack). And our ranking reports scan daily, so it would be able to pick up any major changes, regardless of the day when it happened
I wanted to know exactly how much of a shake-up this algorithm was when it came to just Local/Map results, so I reached out to Bright Local to track ranking for our clients. They track both organic ranking and ranking in the Local Finder (the list of local results you get when you click “more places” under the 3-pack). And our ranking reports scan daily, so it would be able to pick up any major changes, regardless of the day when it happened..
What they ended up finding was that, across all the reports:
9% of the keywords had the business pop into the Local Finder when they weren’t there previously.
11% of the keywords showed the business had increased in position by three or more positions.
15% of the keywords showed the business had increased in position by one to two positions.
35% of the keywords showed no change in position for the business.
15% of the keywords showed the business had decreased by one to two positions.
14% of the keywords showed the business had decreased by more than three positions
In other words, 64% of keywords saw some type of change.
As we know, SERPs can change daily without an algorithm update, but the important thing to note here is the vastness of the change. For example, 34 percent of the keywords saw some type of significant change, with a “significant change” being defined as a business shifting three or more positions or a business appearing in results when previously they weren’t even listed in the top three pages (60 positions) in the Local Finder."
Although the above was collated in the US, the Possum algorithm will give hope to those businesses with listings further on down the SERP chain. We will continue monitoring the updates for you and keep you in the loop.
If you would like to hear more about our services and find out how to increase your SERP please contact the SEO Flatrate team you call or email the office we are here Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
SEO Flatrate
e. support@seoflatrate.co.uk
t. 01202 911141
www.seoflatrate.co.uk
