Google Analytics dominates the field of website traffic reporting and analysis. Each website we design and host includes code used by Google Analytics to measure and report the volume and characteristics of website visits and visitors.
Since its introduction in 2012, Google’s analytics platform has been known as Universal Analytics, or UA for short. There is a watershed transition coming this summer, however. That’s when UA is set to be decommissioned and replaced by a new, more powerful analytics platform called Google Analytics 4, GA4 for short.
IlluminAge’s web team has been preparing for this transition over the past year. We have added GA4 code to both new and existing client websites. We have also kept UA reporting active on older sites during the current transition time, so they have had analytics support in both UA and GA4. Beginning July 1, UA will no longer gather and report web traffic data.
To help you better understand this transition and how your site will be affected, here is a short update in Q & A format:
Why is Google making this big change?
Answer: Google sees GA4 as a much-needed upgrade to online data collection and analysis in many ways. For example:
- Today’s analysis of online activity needs to account for more than just website traffic in the sense of pages of content opened and calls to action clicked on. It must also account for app traffic measured by screens of content viewed, as distinguished from pages opened on a website. GA4 measures all forms of online interest and activity, not just website traffic.
- Today’s online activity is becoming more and more about user engagement as measured by specific actions such as online purchases, forms filled out and submitted, videos opened and viewed, etc. GA4 is events and conversions driven, although some interactions may require additional setup for tracking. The idea is to give the website owner as much detail as possible about the who, what, when, and how of each and every event taking place as a user visits the site.
Does this change the fundamentals of website analytics?
Answer: No, the introduction of GA4 and the sunsetting of UA do not change the fundamental purpose of web traffic analysis. That purpose is to measure in useful, actionable ways a site’s performance and the relative performance of its various content elements and engagement functions, in order to inform and guide a process of continuous site improvement. The premise isn’t changing: The more you understand about why visitors are coming to your site and what they like and do when they get there, the more you can tailor your site to meet their needs more fully and serve a wider audience.
What will this change mean for our organization’s website?
Answer: GA4 provides greater opportunity for gathering and analyzing detailed data on visitor characteristics and preferences. This is especially true for larger e-commerce sites. But even for small and mid-sized sites, new possibilities are opening up for creating and then measuring online “events” and user “conversions.” With better tracking tools there is more incentive than ever to include interactive forms to fill out and submit, videos to open and watch, member and consumer information to download, and so on. Engagement with website visitors has always been a goal for successful sites. What GA4 does is greatly expand the tools at hand to measure the relative success of engagement strategies by letting us drill down in scores of new ways on user actions and characteristics.
Will my access to our site’s traffic data change?
Answer: No, all IlluminAge clients will continue to have Google Analytics access. The transition to GA4 just means the scope and complexity of the data available to you has expanded. In broad terms your client access includes:
- You have – or if you don’t have, you may always request – direct log-in access to your site’s Google Analytics account. The same log-in you use for UA will also work for GA4. For access, you must have a Google account.
- In addition, we provide periodic, unscheduled website performance reports to our web clients.
- You may always email or call to request a special or off-cycle report if you ever need one for a meeting or presentation.
Who should we contact if we have questions?
Answer: Questions are always welcome. If you would like to discuss the transition to GA4 and what it will mean for your website, please call or email: Mary Donahue – mary@illuminAge.com – (206) 347-1855 OR Dennis Kenny – dennis@illuminAge.com – (206) 347-1868.