Google has announced shutting down Universal Analytics from 30th June 2023. The announcement has drawn mixed reactions among website owners and digital marketers. Many people are familiar with Universal Analytics, and switching to Google Analytics 4 can be a little difficult for them initially. So, it is the right time to get some useful insights on Google Analytics (GA) 4.
Beginners will find that the GA4 is loaded with multiple features. Nevertheless, you will find multiple customizable options with the latest version of Google Analytics. So, how does GA4 differ from Universal Analytics? Find a detailed guide in this regard in the following section of this article.
What Is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 is the new generation of web analytics that will allow marketers to analyze customer metrics closely. Besides tracking traffic to your website, the tool helps you to find insights on visitors’ behaviors through various metrics.
GA4 also focuses on customer privacy, which is aligned with the latest privacy laws such as CCPA and GDPR. Some notable features of Google Analytics 4 include cross-channel data measurement, privacy-first tracking, and AI-driven predictive analysis.
The Differences between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 is better than Universal Analytics in many ways. The following section provides a guide on the most significant differences between the two web analytics platforms.
1. A New Dashboard
Google Analytics 4 has an entirely new dashboard that looks more user-friendly and streamlined. You will find a navigation bar on the right-hand side, which includes buttons for reports, home, advertising, configure, library, and more.
At the bottom, you will find option named insights. Under insights, you will find predictive analysis powered by Google AI. Being AI-driven, the tool makes fetching data and developing reports hassle-free.
2. Understand the Events
In Google Analytics 4, all measurements will be events. Instead of viewing generalized data, you can better understand how visitors interact with your website or application. As a result, it will help you to develop strategies and make changes to website to transform it into a more engaging platform.
Users can still view the session-level reporting on Google Analytics 4. However, the platform renders a more in-depth analysis of the visitor data. Google Analytics 4 comes with an array of metrics such as engagement rate, engagement time, engagement sessions, etc.
3. Predictive Analysis
Predictive analysis is crucial for a seamless decision-making process. The overall decision-making will be robust with a flawless and powerful predictive analysis. However, the problem is manual predictive analysis may go wrong often. As a result, companies later regret a wrong decision.
The predictive metrics available on the GA4 are churn probability, purchase possibility, and revenue prediction. You can adopt various business strategies depending on these metrics. With the new AI-integrated predictive analysis, small enterprises will find more convenience in the decision-making process.
4. More Control over the Marketers
Google Analytics 4 comes with an advanced dashboard customization feature, enabling users to check reports crucial for businesses. You can integrate the tool with Google Data Studio to create custom visualization data.
Depending on the trigger events, you can create custom segments, which are the subsets of the events that happened on your website. As a result, it brings you more accuracy in the customer tracking process.
5. Cross-Platform Tracking
Universal Analytics cannot track your data if you are active on more than one platform. But, Google Analytics 4 can precisely track web and application data. Cross-platform tracking helps the users to understand the scopes for better engagement, monetization, acquisition, and retention.
Final Words
Reading the detailed analysis between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics above must have helped you understand the crucial aspects of GA4. Switching to Google Analytics 4 is mandatory since Google Universal Analytics is shutting down. However, switching to the GA4 will eventually prove beneficial for your business. The benefits are AI-integrated predictive analysis, cross-platform compatibility, more analytics metrics, etc.
