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What is Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics is a free tool from Google where every website owner can track traffic behaviour on websites and mobile applications.
The most recent update to Google Analytics is Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which was developed to better focus on collecting the data we need but still follow the privacy laws.
The big switchover date is currently the 1st of July 2023. So, why is it important to update to GA4 now, you might ask? No data from the older version, which is called “Universal Analytics”, will be brought forward – so the sooner you make the update the more data you will have stored after the switchover date. You can still use Universal Analytics alongside GA4 if you prefer until the switch takes place.
Some of the key features of GA4:
- Cookieless tracking – with the move to Google and the Internet becoming cookieless, Google Signals (a technology from Google that can track users who are logged into a Google account) is your answer which can be activated in your GA4 account (see how to here)
- Cross-device tracking – will be able to track user journeys across different devices
- Using AI – to give more insights and to predict outcomes
- Goals will become events – no more need to set up complex goals, it’s all about the “events”, which will give you detailed information such as page views, completing a lead form, video views, and more.
Why should you track your social media traffic?
Google Analytics can be an amazing source of information for your social media as it gives you valuable insights and helps you understand what is working and what is not. We suggest that you use GA to:
- Understand where the traffic on your website is coming from
- Which social media channel is driving the most traffic to your site?
- Understand if your audience is visiting your site using a mobile device or a desktop – as this can have an impact on the type of content you will share on the chosen platform.
- See number of engaged sessions and average engagement time per session to not only understand how many are visiting your site but also how many are actually spending time there. The more engaged the more likely that it is a high-quality lead.
- Engaged sessions per user will tell you how many times a user will return to the site over a period of time. If they are engaged, they will return to your site multiple times.
- Events per session & event counts are important to keep an eye on as if they are visiting your site but not taking the desired action it means that the right audience is not coming through from social media or that your funnel is not working.
- Total number of conversions. How many people are coming from social and are actually taking an action such as signing up to your email list or filling in your contact form?
If your team needs help with tracking and measuring the impact of your social media campaigns, get in touch to discuss how Marketing Lab can help you.
