Google Analytics 4: A Beginner’s Guide

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest generation of Google’s powerful analytics platform. Compared with previous versions, it offers deeper insights into both website and app traffic to help you reach your marketing goals. 

The changes are extensive, which means that learning to use and navigate it can be challenging. This guide provides a high-level overview of Google Analytics for beginners, including the major differences from its predecessor, Universal Analytics (UA).

Whether you’re completely new to the tool or transitioning from the previous version, this guide will provide the foundation you need to get started.

Key Takeaways

• GA4 expands on previous versions of Google Analytics by providing a more holistic and comprehensive view of user interactions across websites and apps.
• Instead of sessions, GA4 monitors user actions via events, which can include page views, clicks, and video views. 
• Key metrics include sources of visitor traffic, what pages users visit (and for how long), and conversion rates.  
• GA4 can also tell you what users are searching for on your site, pinpoint where users abandon their shopping carts, and help more effectively segment audiences.
• Predictive analytics forecast the likelihood of a purchase, churn probability, and revenue, helping marketers tweak strategies for better performance. 

Table of Contents

• Key Takeaways
• What Is Google Analytics (GA4)?
• Why Should I Use GA4?
• What Metrics Does GA4 Track?
• What Else Can I Do With GA4?
  • 1. Learn What People Are Searching for on Your Site
  • 2. Identify Pages That Are Not Performing
  • 3. Find Where People Abandon Their Shopping Carts
  • 4. See Your Most Important Analytics First
  • 6. Event-Based Data Collection
  • 7. Enhanced Audience Segmentation
  • 8. Cross-Platform Analysis
  • 9. Predictive Metrics
  • 10. Improved User Experience (UX)
• FAQs
• Conclusion

What Is Google Analytics (GA4)?

Google Analytics is a free tool to track user behavior on your website. With a range of metrics to explore, it gives you a picture of how people use your website and what changes you can make to increase performance

Unlike UA, which focused on sessions and pageviews, GA4 uses a framework of event-based tracking. This shift enables you to track users more accurately and get deeper insights into their behavior. That way, you see more clearly where you can optimize the user experience to drive more conversions.  

Why Should I Use GA4?

GA4 is your sole option for tracking many website metrics in Google.

GA4 metrics show you how many visitors you’re getting, where they’re coming from, what content is most popular and effective, and more. You can use this data-driven information to refine your marketing strategy and efficiently allocate resources.  

While I provide a brief overview of Google Analytics for beginners in this post, there’s so much more to learn. For starters, you may need more specific instructions on setting up GA4 and diving in. Check out this in-depth GA4 guide to learn how to get the most out of the platform

Other resources on my blog include these articles:

• Expert’s Guide to Migrating to GA4
• Setting Up Conversion Tracking in GA4
• SEO Expert’s Guide to a GA4 Landing Page Report

What Metrics Does GA4 Track?

GA4 can track many metrics. Based on your marketing goals, you may want to focus more on certain metrics, such as a minimum conversion rate.

Let’s look at some of the most popular metrics:

• Visitors: GA4 automatically tracks key events like pageviews, scrolls, outbound clicks, and more.
• Traffic sources: You can use a combination of default and custom parameters for a comprehensive view of where users are coming from. 
• Page performance: See what pages users are visiting, how long they stay, how they interact, and which pages drive the most conversions.
• Conversions: GA4 lets you define a conversion by specific events (such as a purchase or a newsletter sign-up). You can then analyze the conversion rate by looking at reports under the Conversions section.
• Application performance: GA4 can track events specific to the mobile app or site.

What Else Can I Do With GA4?

GA4 includes lots of new features that can help you meet your marketing goals. By configuring metrics, tools, and reports to your needs, you get a much more detailed analysis and insights into user behavior. You’ll also get a better view of journeys across your content than was possible with UA. 

Let’s dive into a few examples.

1. Learn What People Are Searching for on Your Site

If you have a lot of content on your website, you may have a search function available to users. 

Knowing what people type into that search function can help you understand why visitors are on your site, allowing you to plan for and create more relevant content. Google Analytics can guide you toward helpful insights.

As of now, GA4 does not automatically provide Search Term Reports. It takes a few extra steps to get started.

First, make sure Site Search tracking is enabled in your settings.

• Click Explore and create a new exploration

• Click the + sign next to Dimensions, choose “search term,” then import.

Source: Google

• Click the + sign next to Metrics, choose “active users,” then click import.

• Move “Search Terms” to the Rows area.

• Drag “Active users” and “Event count” into the Values area.

You can then use those terms to optimize your site for SEO or create a Google Ad campaign. 

2. Identify Pages That Are Not Performing

Is there content on your website that’s just not performing? Then, you may benefit from optimizing those pages for SEO, deleting unnecessary content, or creating entirely new content. This is another critical aspect of GA4 for beginners.

To learn which pages are not performing, go to Reports, then select Pages and screens under Engagement. 

This will show you a breakdown of your website and screen pages on your app. You can specify the time period in the top right corner.

For a deeper analysis, you can customize the report by modifying the metrics or applying filters.  

You can use this information to improve or create new content for pages that aren’t performing well. Understanding what kind of content people respond to can help you make the most of your efforts.

You could even consider testing different types of content for those pages over time to see which ones perform better.

3. Find Where People Abandon Their Shopping Carts

People abandoning shopping carts while shopping is a typical e-commerce problem. If you can pinpoint where visitors are dropping off your website, you can make improvements to help convert them. This is one area where Google Analytics 4 can make a big difference.

Similar to previous versions of GA, you can set up a funnel with each step of your checkout process, such as “add to cart,” “begin checkout,” and “add shipping info.” Go to Explore, then Create a New Exploration, and select Funnel Exploration to get started.

You’ll then be able to see where visitors tend to abandon their carts and take action to prevent it or to bring them back. This could include creating an email trigger to remind visitors to check out or offering a discount code as an enticement.

With insights into user behavior during the checkout process, you can spot patterns regarding when users abandon their carts. From there, you can make updates accordingly.

4. See Your Most Important Analytics First

One important part of GA4 for beginners is setting up custom reports that automatically show you the datathat is most important to you. This can save you the time and frustration of having to click through different screens and tabs over and over again. 

• Go to the Explore section. Click on Create a new exploration.

• You can choose a template that has already been built or create your own from scratch.

• Drag and drop dimensions and metrics to customize the report and apply filters to focus on specific data. You can add filters or remove those that aren’t critical to you.

• You can also opt to use visualizations like charts and graphs to present data.

• Be sure to save the exploration for future use.

You can also share these reports with other team members.

GA4 offers new and improved ways to track users across your content, whether it’s your site or your apps or whether they’re using a phone or a desktop. This gives you a much more complete and comprehensive view of their behavior and the factors that can influence it.

Some functionalities you can use to track the user journey include:

• Event tracking. You can set up custom events like video plays or clicks.

• Path exploration. Choose a starting point, like users arriving on a specific page or from a specific source. The analysis will show how they navigate through your site or app from that point. You can also set an endpoint, like a request for more information or another conversion metric, to see the path users take to get there.

• As mentioned previously, you can set up a Funnel Exploration to see how users move through key stages in a specific journey.

6. Event-Based Data Collection

If there’s one thing you should take away from this Google Analytics 4 guide, it’s this: Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 focuses on event-based data. This means that every interaction is recorded as an event: pageviews, scrolls, button clicks, and so on.

This not only supports more detailed tracking of specific user actions but also provides more context for things like user intent.  

Plus, this structure allows for more accurate and consistent tracking by offering comprehensive insights throughout their journey, no matter what device or platform they use.

7. Enhanced Audience Segmentation

GA4 has advanced audience segmentation capabilities that can support more accurate targeting and increased personalization in your marketing campaigns and messaging.

In GA4, you can use pre-existing suggestions for segments, modify the parameters to customize segments, or create completely custom segments with new parameters.

You can segment audiences by different metrics, dimensions, or events. For example, you could segment audiences by those who’ve visited a certain page on your site, already made a purchase, or live in a specific region and are within a certain age range. 

Segmenting audiences for insights can be one of the more fun aspects of GA4 for beginners.

8. Cross-Platform Analysis

One of the most exciting things about Google Analytics 4 is that it analyzes user data across your website and mobile apps, providing a unified view of their entire journey across different digital touchpoints.

This gives you a far-reaching view of how and when users engage on your platforms. These deeper insights into interactions and performance can potentially help bring in more traffic and increase conversions. 

9. Predictive Metrics

Another new feature I’m excited to share in this Google Analytics 4 guide is the predictive metrics function. It uses signals like past user behavior, number of visits, and the frequency of interactions to measure things like:

• The probability the user will make a purchase 
• The probability the user will disengage (known as churn)
• The estimated revenue from a specific user or group of users

This is pretty powerful stuff you can use to modify your marketing strategy and inform other decisions.

10. Improved User Experience (UX)

One of the most important aspects of your digital presence, especially for SEO, is the user experience. By analyzing key metrics in more depth than with previous versions, you can identify which areas of your site encourage interaction and conversion and which could use some help.

In addition to reports on engagement and acquisition, you can use the funnel analysis and path exploration tools to identify exactly where on their path users drop out or convert. This provides insights into where you can streamline or modify the journey to reflect best practices or encourage specific actions like filling out a form. Google Analytics can guide you toward what you need to do.

FAQs

What are the benefits of using Google Analytics?

Google Analytics offers marketers data-driven, in-depth insights into traffic and user behavior on their websites and apps. That’s information you can use to optimize campaigns, improve website and app performance, attract more visitors, and ultimately encourage more sales.

What is the difference between UA and GA4?

While UA focuses on session-based tracking using cookies, GA4 uses an events-based model. This supports greater customization of metrics and reports, deeper insights, and user tracking across multiple platforms.

Conclusion

Google Analytics 4 goes much further than Universal Analytics by providing a much more holistic view of the entire user journey across digital touchpoints. It offers advanced methods of digging even deeper into behaviors and actions. 

This guide provides information and insights you can use to create finely tuned marketing strategies that draw more visitors—and ultimately create more revenue. 

GA4 may seem complex at first, so take your time and learn the basics before trying to master this powerful platform. As you grow more comfortable, you can explore advanced features and start getting the most out of GA4.

And don’t be afraid to experiment with different reports and metrics—the more you engage with GA4, the more valuable insights you’ll uncover.