What our dealers need to understand about Google Analytics 4
No matter how far removed you are from marketing operations or how much time you spend thinking about social media, content, and SEO (like we do), you can’t have avoided hearing rumors about Google Analytics 4 as it has approached over the past three years. Yes, it was revealed during a pandemic!
Google Analytics 4 is currently not so much approaching as it is practically here as we speed toward July 1st! This significant change in website statistics can be intimidating for both marketers and business owners, but have no fear—we’ve got you covered.
For our dealers, SimpSocial has been learning about GA4. This has required a smooth migration, capturing as much information as we can before the switch, and maintaining the ability to effectively analyze website numbers on July 1.
Google Analytics 4: What is it?
The Universal Analytics framework, which Google currently uses (but won’t for long), allows you to count visits and gauge user engagement on your website and any connected apps.
The most recent version of Google Analytics, known as Google Analytics 4, is a brand-new service that is “a new property designed for the future of measurement.” Property refers to the information and statistics you can learn about your website and apps.
The key goal of this bigger and better platform from Google was to streamline the process for users while increasing visibility over site performance and the user journey. The interface itself differs significantly from the Universal Analytics you may be accustomed to.
What are some of the key distinctions between GA4 and Universal Analytics?
Visually and in terms of how you move around it, Google Analytics 4 is a completely new environment. Here are a few of the major variations between UA and the glitzy new GA4:
You can now view data from both the website and the app together; they are no longer kept separate.
GA4-based statistics on ‘events’ rather than sessions Any interaction will be recorded as an event, therefore, measures like session time’ are no longer relevant.
Organization, Analytics Account, and Analytics Property are now in a hierarchical order in GA4. For instance, consumers and products are gathered into what is referred to as an “organization,” which is really just another word for your business.
Predictive intelligence, the newest buzzword in technology, is employed throughout GA4 to forecast users’ future behavior on your website or app.
What happens to the data that Universal Analytics has gathered?
The fact that there is no way to retrieve the old data from UA after the switchover has taken place is one of the reasons why this switch has caused so much disruption. In actuality, none of the UA data will be moved. That is a significant event!
Fortunately, the ability to migrate to GA4 was made available more than a year ago, so it was critical to set up GA4 for your company quickly if you wanted to have year-over-year data to compare it to when July 1, 2023, rolled around.
What does GA4 represent for dealers of SimpSocial?
As we all know, data comparison enables you to identify areas where improvements to your company, website, and marketing initiatives could improve the user experience and increase conversions. As soon as we were able to start using GA4 (even while they were still making adjustments to it), we realized this and started moving all of our numerous dealers over to the new platform.
We’re pleased to say that we were proactive in obtaining as much year-over-year data as we could before it was lost. The most crucial thing for each and every SimpSocial customer to understand is that, while it is necessary to be aware that your analytics are changing, you don’t need to take any action because we have already taken care of it for you.
Where can I find additional information on Google Analytics 4?
There is a lot about Google Analytics 4 to learn, and this helpful post presents our study on GA4 so you can have a good understanding of this brand-new area of analytics.
We’ve spent time exploring Google Analytics over the past year and have found that it gives us a great view of the performance of our websites. This is the best method, in our experience, to learn about the platform.
Can I get assistance with my website’s analytics as a SimpSocial dealer?
Yes, of course! We spend a lot of time analyzing lead generation and overall website performance for car, truck, RV, and motorcycle dealers with SimpSocial websites who seek our assistance with their marketing initiatives, but we can also assist any of our customers with these issues. In the future, we will be able to provide you with a report of the data from your website each month so you can see how it is doing. What a cool thing!
You can contact us here, as usual, to discuss everything related to car web design and marketing, from a brand-new site to GA4!
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