SEO Survival Guide to GA4 — Kathy Brown // Previsible
- Part 1 SEO Survival Guide to GA4 — Kathy Brown // Previsible
Show Notes
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02:43GA4 rollout timeline and transitionThe urgency to transition arose when Google announced the discontinuation of Universal Analytics (GA3) data collection by July 1, 2023. The transition posed challenges, especially for those not using the 360 version, which is set to stop collecting data in the summer of 2024.
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04:40The differences between GA3 and GA4GA4 has a new UI and employs event-centered modeling instead of session-based. While some commonalities exist between both models, GA4 essentially requires that users learn how to use a new system from scratch.
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06:25Analytics and reporting in GA4In GA4, everything is an event, requiring users to focus on desired events for effective reporting. GA4 demands a mindset shift from UA and an understanding of the distinction between the user and session scopes for meaningful insights.
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09:44Challenges in achieving data parity between GA3 and GA4 reportsGA4 and UA sessions are tracked differently, complicating year-over-year comparisons. Unlike UA, GA4 sessions are longer living, unaffected by midnight restarts, device, or channel switches, resulting in fewer sessions compared to UA.
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13:45Positive aspects of transitioning to GA4GA4 offers positives such as easier custom report creation and sharing, with analyst privileges, and the explorations feature for building free-form reports. In addition, the learning curve for GA4 contributes to a deeper understanding of analytics and improved skills.
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18:28GA4s UI limitations and integrationsMany organizations leverage Looker Studio for GA4 reporting, finding a smooth transition from UA. Whereas GA4's UI only shows the first traffic source for a session, BigQuery provides more granular data on all traffic sources.
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25:08GA4 implementation and SEO alignmentSEOs should prioritize understanding business goals to align SEO efforts with revenue goals. GA4 is an opportunity for SEO to understand whats important to the business, how that is reflected in the GA4 setup, and align SEO work with business goals.
Quotes
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"It's a lot easier to create custom reports in GA4 and share them than it was in Universal Analytics." - Kathy Brown
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"Take GA4 as an opportunity to be involved and understand what is important to the business and how that reflects in how GA4 is set up. It will make you a better SEO and more aligned with your business." - Kathy Brown
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"Turning on GA4 is easy. But, defining which events are important to your organization is an exercise that everybody should go through. It would also be good for SEOs in the organization to have a seat at the table." - Kathy Brown
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"We often talk about how important it is for SEOs to understand the business goals and align their efforts with revenue goals and bottom-line metrics. We should have that perspective and lens when it comes to GA4." - Kathy Brown
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"If you can tie your SEO work to the overall business goals, you just tend to have a better time getting funding and resources." - Kathy Brown
Up Next:
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Part 1SEO Survival Guide to GA4 — Kathy Brown // Previsible
Kathy Alice Brown, Owner and SEO Consultant at Webenso Digital, delves into GA4. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) brings a fresh UI and modeling system, presenting a blend of advantages and challenges for enterprises and SEOs. While GA4 shares some similarities with Universal Analytics (UA), it also requires adaptation to navigate the intricacies of a new Google Analytics landscape. Today, Kathy discusses SEO’s survival guide to GA4.
