Why Google Analytics 4 is more beneficial than Google Analytics

With the growing market of mobile applications, tracking users’ activity on both the website and the mobile application for SEO campaigns has never been as important as now. As a marketer or business owner you should turn your attention to the new tool Google Analytics 4 which has been developed specially for that purpose.

What is Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics 4 is an advanced version of Google Analytics used for both website and mobile apps analytics. The tool is improved by flow and interactions data between the website and the mobile app. Analysing both website and mobile app activities allows to get a full understanding of customers’ experience and purchasing behavior, which wasn’t possible with the standard Google Analytics tool as the analytics dedicated to mobile app activities is missing.

Analysing users’ flow and interactions between the website and the mobile app is critical to fully understand their buying behavior which is now possible with the new tool Google Analytics 4 allowing to track results from multiple channels.

Google Analytics 4 works to collect data from linked websites and mobile apps in one unified view. All the data gathered is presented in a standard way which makes it easier to analyse users’ decision path and buying behavior.

Whilst Google Analytics uses sessions to monitor activity, GA 4 focuses on events allowing to monitor data easily on both websites and mobile apps.

What are the benefits of Google Analytics 4?

GA 4 encompasses a vast number of benefits against Google Analytics, some of which include:

• A full understanding of the user journey on different levels and from multiple sources thanks to its data collecting all in one view in a single metrics package from both websites and mobile applications.
• Enhanced Measurement package based on user events which ensures an extensive event tracking from multiple channels in a single view. It allows you to track automatic events – opening of the app, shopping through the app, etc.) – as well as specific events with appropriate metrics.
• GA4 allows you to customize every single stage of the buying journey on the app and on the site in a common panel. Thanks to that you can easily compare the different channels performance and identify the most converting one. Besides, the option of analysing activity both in the mobile app and on the website makes it possible to determine the number of users who have first interacted in the mobile app but have finished purchasing on the website and the other way around.
• GA4 generates more customised reports recognizing the behaviors and numbers of unique users across websites and mobile applications – which helps in analysing contact points and improving customer interactions with your brand. Besides, reporting is much more precise covering more dimensions. Now you’re able to:

1. 1. 1. Create reports based on user behavior analysis at a specific stage of the sales funnel.
      2. Analyse paths for a full understanding of the buyer journey.
      3. Analyse the relationship between different segments of users and any potential segment overlaps.

How to implement Google Analytics 4?

It’s not possible to export data from Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4 because the data collected via Universal Analytics is presented in a different way than that collected with GA4. You’re probably wondering how to start tracking results in GA4 without losing data? Well, the answer is dual tagging! Dual tagging can be defined as the synchronic configuration of Google Analytics 4, settings development, discovery of new analytics meanders, and maintenance of the reporting method via Universal Analytics.

This dual action is a way to learn GA4 new features and data monitoring method while the data is still stored in Universal Analytics allowing us to compare the data from both Google Analytics and GA4.

Conclusion

Although GA4 is not replacing Google Analytics yet, it still offers many options such as the advanced reporting, mobile app development and integrations. The sooner you implement Google Analytics 4 and dual tagging the better you’ll get a full understanding of your customers’ purchasing behaviors to improve the customer experience!