‘GA4’ is the new version of Google Analytics.
As of July 2023, all Google Analytics accounts were transferred to the new GA4 account. If you haven’t checked your Google Analytics account in a while we recommend that you log in and check.
Google reports that GA4 focuses on machine learning and data visualisation.
How to Use GA4
GA4 can be navigated using the side menu.
There are two main report collections – ‘Life Cycle’ and ‘User’.
If you used Google Analytics previously you can now find each section in a slightly difference place…
- ‘Audience’ is now under ‘User’ > ‘Demographics’
- ‘Acquisition’ is now under ‘Life Cycle’ > ‘Acquisition’
- ‘Behaviour’ is now under ‘Life Cycle’ > ‘Engagement’
- ‘Conversions’ is now under ‘Life Cycle’ > ‘Monetisation’, but can also be found under the ‘Engagement’ section (depending on what you are looking for)
Some have simply been renamed, they include…
- ‘Bounce rate’ is now called ‘Engagement rate’* – can be found under ‘Acquisition’
- ‘Avg. Session Duration’ is now called ‘Avg. Engagement Time per Session’ - can be found under ‘Acquisition’
- ‘Pages per Visit’ is now called ‘Events per Session’ / ‘Engaged Sessions per User’ - can be found under ‘Engagement’
- ‘Page View’ is now called ‘Views’ referring to ‘Pageviews and Screenviews’ - can be found under ‘Engagement’
- ‘Pages per Session’ is now called ‘Views per User’ - can be found under ‘Engagement’
*It is worth noting that the metric referred to as the ‘Bounce Rate’ in GA4 is the reverse of the ‘Engagement Rate’ noted.
Important to Remember
The data in the old Google Analytics isn’t the same within GA4, the tracking is ever so slightly different. When comparing older data that you may have downloaded to the new GA4 data, a pinch of salt is needed.
As the recording is slightly different the historical data you have can be skewed.
Published: 7th Feb 2024