Prime 4 Issues 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 speak about it when purchasers 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 this time at MozCon 2022 to carry 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 honest. I additionally didn’t need to study analytics.

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

So I feel the most important factor in regards to the transfer from Common Analytics to GA4 is that individuals are like they log in and all the things appears to be like totally different. “I do not prefer it.” After which they depart. And I agree the person interface in GA4 leaves quite a bit to be desired. I do not suppose there’s essentially been lots of good training, particularly for these of us who aren’t analysts on a day-to-day foundation.

We’re not all knowledge scientists. I am not a knowledge 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 fundamental kind of stage, so that you’ve got a greater vocabulary to speak about it when individuals are horrified by the transfer to GA4, which is inevitable. It will occur. You have to get it in your web site beginning principally instantly, when 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 totally different

So the very first thing it is totally different, which I do know is apparent. Sure, after all, Dana it is totally different. However it’s totally 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 individuals talked about. So, for instance, in Common Analytics, you may have a pageview, or you may have a transaction, or you may have an occasion.

And people have been all several types of hits. In GA4, all the things is an occasion. There’s a pageview occasion. There’s a transaction occasion. There’s, properly, an occasion occasion. I imply, you identify the occasions no matter you need. And due to that, it is really quite a bit higher solution to report in your knowledge.

So, for instance, one of many issues that I do know folks at all times wished 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 stage, which implies it was similar 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 except you probably did some fancy mixing stuff in Knowledge Studio. And who’s bought time for that? So now in GA4, as a result of all the things is an occasion, you could have much more freedom with how one can slice and cube and interpret your knowledge and work out what pages do folks interact with earlier than they really transformed, or what was that path, not simply the touchdown web page, however the whole person journey on their path to conversion. In order that half is absolutely 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 lately announce it. I am irritated at it, so we’ll speak about 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 individuals reported on on a regular basis, though they should not have. I hate bounce price a lot. Simply image like a dumpster hearth GIF proper now throughout your display screen. I hate bounce price. And why I hate bounce price is it is so simply faked. As an instance, for instance, your boss says to you, “Hey, you recognize what, the bounce price on our web site is simply too excessive. May you repair it?”

You are like, “Oh, yeah, boss. Completely.” After which what you do is every time anyone comes in your web site, you ship what’s referred to as an interactive occasion off to Google Analytics on the identical time. And now you could have a 0% bounce price. Congratulations. You bought a increase 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, however 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 when you spent an hour and a half on the web page studying it carefully. In case you did not interact in an occasion that was an interactive occasion, that meant that you just have been nonetheless counted as a bounce once you left that web page.

Whereas in GA4, an interact 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 brief. 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 knowledge stream. So when you go to Admin and then you definately click on in your knowledge stream and also you go to extra tagging settings and then you definately go to session timeouts, you may change it in there. And I’d advocate 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 really 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 knowledge won’t match

All proper. So subsequent factor, your knowledge will not be going to match. And that is annoying since you’ve been reporting on UA knowledge for years, and now abruptly it is not going to match and other people might be like, “However you mentioned there have been 101 customers, and at this time you are saying there have been really 102. What’s the issue?”

So, I imply, you probably have that type of dialogue along with your management, you actually need to have a dialog in regards to the concept of accuracy in analytics, as in it is not, and error and all the things else. However I imply, actually the info goes to be totally different, and generally it is quite a bit totally different. It is not just a bit bit totally different. And it is as a result of GA4 measures stuff in a different way than UA did. There’s a web page on Google Analytics Assist, which works into it in depth. However listed below are a number of the highlights that I feel you must actually know kind of off the highest of your head once you’re speaking to folks about this. 

Pageviews and distinctive pageviews

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

To this point so good. Then we had distinctive pageviews in Common Analytics, which was solely single views per session. So if I appeared on the homepage after which I went to a companies web page and I went again to the homepage, I’d have two pageviews of the homepage for pageview. I’d have one pageview of the homepage in distinctive pageviews. That metric doesn’t exist in GA4. So that’s one thing to essentially look ahead to is that when you have been used to reporting on distinctive pageviews, that’s gone.

So I like to recommend now altering your stories to kind of like stroll folks by this consolation stage of getting them used to the actual fact they are not going to get distinctive pageviews anymore. Or you may implement one thing that I speak about in one other one in every of my Whiteboard Fridays about with the ability to measure the share of people who find themselves reloading tabs and tab hoarders. You can work that into this slightly bit.

Customers

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

The actual solely method you may actually measure if somebody is a person throughout a number of classes is you probably have a login in your web site, which not all people does. Quite a lot of B2B websites haven’t got logins. Quite a lot of small enterprise websites haven’t got logins. So customers is already type of a sketchy metric. And so sadly it is one that individuals used to report on quite a bit 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 totally different. You by no means ought to have been reporting on new versus returning customers anyway, except you had a login in your web site as a result of it was such a sketchy, unhealthy metric, however I do not suppose lots of people knew how unhealthy it was.

It is okay. Simply begin altering your stories now in order that when you need to begin utilizing GA4, on July 1, 2023, for actual UA is completed, then not less than it is not a lot of a shock once you do make that transition. 

Classes

So one different factor to consider as properly with the adjustments is classes. So in Common Analytics, a session was the energetic use of a web site, so that you’re clicking on stuff.

It had a 30-minute timeout. And you could have heard by no means to make use of UTM tags on inside hyperlinks in your web site. And the rationale 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’ll have what’s referred to as session breaking, the place abruptly you’ll have a session that principally began in the course 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, all the things is an occasion now. There’s an occasion that known as session begin. And in order that information when, properly, the session begins. After which there’s additionally a 30-minute timeout, however there isn’t any 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 suppose it is an amazing concept, however 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 web site by wanting on the session begin occasion. I do not know if it is essentially 100% dependable. We have seen conditions the place when you’re utilizing consent administration instruments, for instance, like a cookie compliance software, you may have points with classes beginning and whatnot.

So simply maintain that in thoughts is that it is not essentially completely foolproof, however it’s a actually attention-grabbing solution to see the place folks began on the positioning in a method that you may 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 explanation why you must use it’s: (a) the stories in GA4 are usually not nice, the default stories, they type of suck; (b) even the explorations are a bit questionable, like you may’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 kind of helpful reporting functions. It is extra like an advert hoc reporting. However even then, I’d nonetheless flip to BigQuery for many of my reporting wants.

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

After which I appeared on the knowledge in BigQuery and it mentioned 12. That quantity may very well be lacking from the stories in GA4, however you may see it in BigQuery, and that is due to the thresholding that is utilized. So I at all times advocate utilizing the BigQuery knowledge as a substitute of the GA4 knowledge. And in Google Knowledge Studio, if that is what you utilize on your reporting software, the identical situation applies once you use GA4 as a knowledge supply.

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

I do not even realize it that properly but. However it’s not one thing you need to know with the intention to report properly 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 crew 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 in regards to the new sorts 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 have been tremendous tied to in Common Analytics. We will document a lot extra attention-grabbing knowledge now on each occasion. So I am enthusiastic about that. The precise transition itself is perhaps type of painful, however then a 12 months from now, we’ll all look again and chuckle, proper? Thanks very a lot.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com