Introduction to Google Analytics GA4

LAURA LEE DOOLEY
INTRO TO GA4
9 March 2023

UNIVERSAL GOOGLE ANALYTICS
WILL SUNSET ON
JULY 1, 2023
Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) will stop collecting data on July 1st, 2023. For six months
after that date, we’ll still have access to historical data in UA. Then, that data will be gone,
too. After that, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) will be the default platform.
Photo: Jordan Steranka/Unsplash

UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS VS. GA4
Universal Analytics (OLD) GA4 (NEW)
Based on Pages and Sessions Based on Events
Hosts data from start of collection Hosts data for 2 or 14 months
Connects with Looker Studio Connects with Looker Studio but Quota
Limits
Collects both website and app data to
better understand the customer journey
Includes privacy controls such as cookie-
less measurement, and behavioral and
conversion modeling

WEBSITE, TAG MANAGER, GA4, LOOKER
WEBSITE
GTM Container
GOOGLE TAG
MANAGER
GA4 Configuration
Custom Tags
GA4 GOOGLE
ANALYTICS
Enhanced Measurement
Custom Events
Search Console
Google Ads
Machine Learning Insights
WRI DIGITAL
DASHBOARDS
GA4, Social & Email
Automatic Updates
Configure for
Archiving Data

https://lookerstudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/bf601096-900b-45a8-9547-
80acca9ecd48/page/J0dxC

Dimensions
(Descriptions)
Metrics
(Numbers)
Hostname
Page title
Page path
Link URL
Country
City
Campaign
Source
Medium
Active users
New users
Total users
Views
Sessions
Engaged sessions
Engagement rate
User engagement
Event count

support.google.com/analytics/answer/9322688
NEW: EVENT COUNT
Events measure a specific interaction or occurrence
on your website or app. For example, you can use an
event to measure when someone loads a page, clicks a
link, or to measure system behavior, such as when an app
crashes or an impression is served.
Replaces UA Total Events.

EVENT PARAMETERS (DIMENSIONS)
• language
• page_location
• page_referrer
• page_title
• screen_resolution

GA4 ENHANCED MEASUREMENT
Event Metrics and Dimensions Parameters
Page Views page_view page_location (Page URL), page_referrer
(Previous Page URL)
Scroll (90%) scroll
Outbound
Links
click link_classes, link_domain, link_id, link_url,
outbound (boolean: true/false)
Site search view_search_results search_term
Video
engagement
video_start, video_progress,
video_complete
video_current_time, video_duration,
video_percent, video_provider, video_title,
video_url, visible (boolean: true/false)
File downloads file_download
Form
interactions
form_start, form_submit form_id, form_name, form_destination,
form_submit_text

NEW: ENGAGED SESSIONS
An engaged session is a session that:
• lasts longer than 10 seconds,
• has a conversion event, or
• has at least 2 pageviews or screenviews
Replaces UA Avg.Sesson Duration and Pages/Session

NEW: ACTIVE USERS
Primary user metric in GA4: Number of distinct users
who visited your website or application. A website user is
defined as active if: they have an engaged session or
when GA4 collects the first_visit event or the
engagement_time_msec event.
Tracks via “Identity spaces"
1. Logged-in User ID
2. Google Signals
3. Device ID
Replaces UA Users.

NEW: ENGAGEMENT RATE
Engagement rate is the percentage of sessions that were
engaged sessions.
Replaces UA Bounce rate. Bounce rate is the percentage
of sessions that were not engaged sessions. Bounce rate
is the inverse of Engagement rate.

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11109416
NEW: USER ENGAGEMENT
User engagement is the amount of time someone spends
with your web page in focus or app screen in the
foreground, which allows you to measure when users
actively use your site or app
Replaces UA Average Time on Page
Note: User_engagement is provided as SUM on Looker
Studio. Configure a new field “Average User Engagement”
for User Engagement/Active Users.

https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/11109416
DIFFERENT: VIEWS
Total number of app screens and/or web pages your users
saw. (The Views metric found in the reporting interface is
the combination of pageviews and screenviews.)
Repeated views of a single screen or page are counted.
Replaces UA Pageviews. GA4 has NO Unique Pageviews
Hostname Page Path and Screen Class
www.wri.org /insights/ukraine-war-one-year-resilient-
food-systems-cant-wait-any-longer

HOWTO: Add Google Campaign UTM Tracking Code - http://bit.ly/11hnBer
SAME: LINK CODING
UTM parameters are still used in GA4.
• utm_campaign - The individual campaign name,
slogan, promo code, etc. for a product.
• utm_source - Identify the advertiser, site, publication,
etc. that is sending traffic to your property, for example:
google, newsletter4, billboard.
• utm_medium -The advertising or marketing medium,
for example: cpc, banner, email newsletter.
GA4 Events: user_campaign, user_source,
user_medium, etc.

GA4 DATA AND KPIs
Project
goals
Website
goals
Target
audiences
Marketing
goals
Engagement
goals

CUSTOM TAGS, DIMENSIONS, METRICS
• When Enhanced Measurement doesn’t capture what
you need to report on
• Based on specific goals and structure of the site
• Configure in GTM and GA4

DATA “FRESHNESS”
REALTIME DATA
Data Arrives in less than 1 minute
Data Remains for 30 minutes (per minute)
DAILY DATA
Data Arrives in 12 hours
Data Remains 2-14 months

The Home page surfaces information that's relevant to you based on
your behavior in Analytics.
You can use the page to monitor traffic, navigate around Analytics, and
get insights about your websites and mobile apps.
The Home page provides more personalized content as you continue to
use Analytics.
GA4 Home

support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303476
Google Analytics collects data from your websites and apps to create
Reports that provide insights into your organization. Use standard
reports to monitor traffic, investigate data, and understand your users
and their activity.
Reporting sections:
• Snapshot
• Realtime
• Life Cycle
• User
GA4 Reports

The Reports Snapshot is the overview report displayed when anyone
clicks Reports in the left navigation.
Any overview report can be set as the Reports snapshot. To build an
overview report, you assemble summary cards that are defined in detail
reports.
GA4 Editors can customize reports through the Customize report
icon link or the Library.
GA4 Reports: Snapshot

With Realtime, you can immediately and continuously monitor the
effects that new campaigns and site changes have on your traffic:
• See whether a one-day promotion is driving traffic to your site or app
• Monitor the immediate effects on traffic from a blog/social network
post or tweet
• Monitor whether new and changed content on your site is affecting
traffic
• Verify that the tracking code is working on your site or app
GA4 Reports: Realtime

GA4 Reports: Life Cycle
The Life Cycle collection helps you understand each stage in the
customer journey — from acquisition to retention.
The collection allows you to understand how people use your website
or app, rather than information about your users, which you can find
in the Users collection.

GA4 Reports: Life Cycle
Section Report
Acquisition Acquisition overview
User acquisition – Explore how new users find your website or app
Traffic acquisition – Discover where new sessions came from, regardless of whether the
user is new or returning
Engagement Engagement overview
Events - See the number of users who trigger each event.
Conversions - Understand the events you flag that contribute to the success of your
organization/project.
Pages and screens – Learn which Pages on your website and screens on your mobile
app users visit and engage with.
Landing pages - Examine the effectiveness of the first pages users land on when they
visit your website
Monetization N/A for most WRI properties
Overview Retention overview – A report made up of individual cards that summarize user retention
data on your website or app.

GA4 Reports: User
Section Report
Demographics Demographics overview
Demographics details – Learn how new users find your website or app
Tech Tech overview
Tech details - Understand the technology people use to access your website or
app
User reports help you understand the people who use your websites
and apps, such as their ages, interests, devices, and app versions.

GA4 Reports: Library
Use the Library in Reports to add, customize, and publish (or
unpublish) reports and report collections.

The Explore workspace allows you to set up custom reports to gain
deeper insights about your users and their journeys.
Explorations gives you access to data and analytical techniques that
aren't available in reports. Use Explorations to explore your data in
depth and answer complex questions about it.
GA4 Explore

Use the Advertising workspace to help you better understand the ROI
of your media spend across all channels, make informed decisions
about budget allocation, and evaluate attribution models. Make sure
your Google Analytics 4 property is linked to your Google Ads
account(s).
GA4 Advertising

QUESTIONS
Photo: Ana Municio/Unsplash

Introduction to Google Analytics GA4

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