Google Analytics 4: a new way to measure

We are facing a significant change with many implications for measuring marketing actions and especially SEO, since we do not have many more reliable tools regarding the volume of organic traffic.

For some reason, it seems that it is not being given the relevance it really has. But the truth is that there is no going back, and not changing it has serious implications on the web analytics of your eCommerce or web project of any kind.

The name leaves no room for doubt: this is the fourth version of Google's analytics platform. It is now much more advanced and intelligent compared to Universal Analytics, its predecessor, which has less and less time left.

In fact, Google Analytics 4 is not 100% new, as it is the evolution of a type of property that existed before: the so-called web+app.

This combination of multi-channel and multi-platform measurement is precisely the basis of the new philosophy that Google has adopted.  They are the first to realize that users browse indistinctly by app or web, but also complementary, with both helping each other to achieve conversion.

Thanks to GA4, the focus is on users rather than sessions and visits. Although this obviously represents an improvement in the quality of the analysis, in a way it also means redefining the KPIs to adapt to the new reality and reimplement them.

Normally, when we talk about executing a migration, we all think of something complex and with technical implications. Indeed, this is true in this case.

Although it is technically simple because it only involves adding one code, you must be prepared for what will happen to the data afterwards. Google Analytics and Universal Analytics are very different from each other in the basics: they do not collect data in the same way. We now move to an event-driven data model that does not distinguish between hit types.

I could give you several reasons (and I will), but the most important one is that it is not an option. From now on, all properties created will always be under this version and, in the near future, there will be no choice: all Google Analytics accounts will move to version 4.

I am sure you are wondering right now how to migrate data as well. Bad news: you cannot. For this reason alone it makes sense to move now and start creating history before there is no other choice.

Objectively this is a problem, I agree, but you have to focus on the good side, which is also there. With Analytics 4 you will get important advantages, such as: