How to Use Google Analytics 4 to Improve Your Website’s Performance

Google Analytics 4 is a powerful tool that can help you understand your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions to improve it.

According to this article, Standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing data on July 1, 2023, so you must brush up on all the different GA4 and SEO analytics hacks.

With Google Analytics 4, you can track your website traffic, analyse user behaviour, and measure conversions. In this blog post, I’ll show you how to use Google Analytics 4 to improve your website’s performance and achieve your business goals. I’ll cover an overview of everything from setting up your Google Analytics account to analysing your website’s data and using the data to help you make informed decisions about your website’s future.

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Explanation of Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It provides valuable insights into your visitors, where they come from, and what they do on your website, e.g. did they watch a video, what type of mobile device or version of the browser they used and the period of time they used on your site. With Google Analytics, you can track your website traffic, analyse user behaviour, and measure conversions.

Google Analytics uses a tracking code that you add to your website’s HTML code to collect visitor data. This data is then sent to Google’s servers, where the data is processed and analysed. You can access this data through the Google Analytics dashboard, which provides a range of reports and metrics that help you understand your website’s performance.

Some of the key features of Google Analytics 4 and the type of reports you can create include:

1. Audience Reports: These reports provide insights into who your visitors are, including their age, gender, location, what devices they use and their interests.
2. Acquisition reports: These reports show how visitors find your website, including which channels (such as organic search, Google Ads or social media) drive the most traffic.
3. Behaviour Reports: These reports provide insights into how visitors and customers interact with your website, including which pages they visit and how long they spend on each page.
4. Conversion Reports: These reports show how many visitors are converting on your website (e.g., purchasing something or filling out a form) and which marketing channels drive the most conversion rates.

Overall, Google Analytics 4 is an essential tool for any business with a website. Using data from Google Analytics to inform your decisions, you can make more informed choices about improving your website and achieving your business goals.

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Importance of Google Analytics 4

Below are some of the importance and benefits of using data from Google Analytics to improve a website:

1. Get to know your visitors: Google Analytics provides valuable insights into who they are, where they come from, and what they do on your website. This information can help you understand your audience better and tailor your content and marketing efforts to their needs.
2. Improve user experience: By analysing user behaviour on your website, you can identify areas that need improvement and make data-driven decisions to enhance user experience.
3. Optimise for search engines: Google Analytics can help you track your website’s performance on search engines and identify opportunities for improvement.
4. Track Conversions: With Google Analytics, you can track conversions on your website and measure the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.
5. Identify Top-performing Content: By analysing which pages on your website get the most traffic and engagement, you can identify top-performing content and focus on creating more.
6. Make Data-driven Decisions: By using data from Google Analytics to inform your decisions, you can make more informed choices about improving your website and achieving your business goals.

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Setting up Google Analytics 4

A. Creating an Account

Here are the steps to set up Google Analytics 4:

• Step 1: Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
• Step 2: Click on the Admin button.
• Step 3: Select the Account and Property to which you want to add GA4.
• Step 4: If you don’t have an account or property, you can create one by clicking the Create Account or Create Property button.
• Step 5: Click the GA4 Setup Assistant button and select the Get Started option.
• Step 6: Follow the Google Analytics 4 Setup Assistant instructions to complete your setup.

That’s it! Once you’ve completed these steps, you can access your website’s data through the Google Analytics dashboard.

B. Installing Google Analytics 4 on Your Website

• Step 1: Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
• Step 2: Click on the Admin button.
• Step 3: Select the Account and Property you want to add GA4 to.
• Step 4: If you don’t have an account or property, you can create one by clicking the Create Account or Create Property button.
• Step 5: Click the GA4 Setup Assistant button and select the Get Started option.
• Step 6: Follow the Google Analytics 4 Setup Assistant instructions to complete your setup.

Once you have completed your setup, add a tracking code to your website’s HTML code.

To do this, go to your GA4 property and click on Data Streams.

• Step 7: Click on Web Stream and follow the instructions from Google Analytics 4 Setup Assistant to complete your setup.

That’s it! Once you’ve completed these steps, you can track your website’s traffic and analyse user behaviour through the Google Analytics dashboard.
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Using Google Analytics 4 to Improve Your Website’s Performance

A. Understanding Your Audience

1. Demographics

Demographics refer to the characteristics of your audience, such as age, gender, location, and interests. By analysing these characteristics in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into who your visitors are and tailor your content and marketing efforts to their needs.

For example, if most of your visitors are women between 18 and 34, you might consider creating content that appeals specifically to that demographic. Or, if you find that most of your visitors are located in a particular region or country, you might consider targeting your marketing efforts in that area.

Demographics are important to understanding your audience and tailoring your website and marketing efforts to their needs.

2. Interests

Interests refer to the topics and categories that your audience is interested in. By analysing these interests in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into what your visitors are looking for and tailor your content and marketing efforts to their needs.

For example, find that many of your visitors are interested in cooking and food-related topics. You might consider creating more content around those topics or partnering with food-related brands for sponsored content.

Overall, Interest is important to understanding your audience and tailoring your website and marketing efforts to their needs.

3. Behaviour

Behaviour refers to how your audience interacts with your website, such as which pages they visit, how long they stay on each page, and what actions they take (such as form submission or making a purchase). By analysing this behaviour and engagement metric in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into what’s working on your website and what needs improvement.

3. Behaviour

Behaviour refers to how your audience interacts with your website, such as which pages they visit, how long they stay on each page, and what actions they take (such as filling out a form or making a purchase). By analysing this behaviour in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into what’s working on your website and what needs improvement.

Google Analytics 4 is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. Click To Tweet

For example, if you find many visitors leave your website after visiting only one page. You might consider improving the design or content of that page to encourage visitors to stay longer. Or, if you find that visitors are abandoning their shopping carts before completing a purchase, you might consider simplifying the checkout process or offering incentives to complete the purchase.

Overall, Behaviour is important to understanding your audience and improving your website’s performance.

B. Analysing Your Website Traffic

1. Traffic Sources

Traffic sources refer to how visitors find your websites, e.g., through search engines, social media, or other websites. By analysing these sources in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into where your traffic comes from and how effective your marketing efforts are.

For example, if you find that most of your traffic is coming from social media, you might consider increasing your social media marketing efforts or partnering with social media influencers to reach a wider audience. Or if you find that most of your traffic comes from search engines, you might consider optimising your website for search engines or investing in paid search advertising.

Overall, Traffic Sources are important to understanding your website’s performance and improving your marketing efforts.

2. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate means the percentage of people who exit your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that visitors are not finding what they’re looking for on your website or that there are issues with the design or content.

By analysing bounce rates in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into what’s working on your website and what needs improvement. For example, if you find that many visitors are leaving after viewing only one page, you might consider improving the design or content of that page to encourage visitors to stay longer.

Overall, Bounce Rate is important to understanding your website’s performance and improving user engagement.

In this blog post, I'll show you how to use Google Analytics 4 to improve your website's performance and achieve your business goals. Click To Tweet

3. Exit Pages

Exit pages refer to the pages on your website where visitors leave your site. By analysing exit pages in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into what’s causing visitors to leave and what needs improvement.

For example, if you find that many visitors are leaving after viewing a particular page, you might consider improving the design or content of that page to encourage visitors to stay longer. Or, if you find that many visitors are leaving after completing a purchase, you might consider offering incentives for repeat purchases or improving the checkout process.

Overall, Exit pages are important to understanding your website’s performance and improving user engagement.

C. Tracking Conversions

1. Goals and conversions

Goals and conversions refer to specific actions you want visitors to take on your website, such as purchasing or filling out a form. By tracking these goals and conversions in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into your website’s effectiveness at driving these actions.

For example, if you find that many visitors are abandoning their shopping carts before completing a purchase, you might consider simplifying the checkout process or offering incentives to complete the purchase. Or if you find that many visitors are not filling out a contact form, you might consider improving the design or content of the form.

Overall, Goals and Conversions are important to understanding your website’s performance and improving user engagement.

2. E-commerce Tracking

E-commerce tracking refers to tracking specific actions related to online sales, such as product views, add-to-cart events, and completed purchases. By tracking these actions with e-commerce tracking in Google Analytics, you can gain valuable insights into your online store’s effectiveness at driving sales.

For example, if you find many visitors viewing products but not making purchases, you might consider improving the product descriptions or offering incentives for completing a purchase. Or, if you find that many visitors are abandoning their shopping carts before completing a purchase, you might consider simplifying the checkout process or offering incentives to complete the purchase.

Overall, e-commerce tracking is important to understanding your online store’s performance and improving user engagement.

Following these steps and best practices, you can use Google Analytics to improve your website's performance today. Click To Tweet

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

– What Are Some Common Mistakes People Make When Using Google Analytics 4?

Here are some common mistakes people make when using Google Analytics 4:

• Google Tag capitalisation mistakes.
• Improper tagging within your website.
• Self-referrals.
• Incorrect channel groupings.

– How Do I Track Conversions Using Google Analytics 4?

Here are the steps to track conversions using Google Analytics 4:

• Set up conversion tracking.
• Create a conversion event.
• Add the event code to your website.
• Verify that the event is tracking properly.
• View your conversion data in Google Analytics.

Here’s a more detailed guide on how to set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics 4.

– What Are Some Alternatives to Google Analytics 4?

Here are some alternatives to Google Analytics 4:

• Fathom Analytics.
• Matomo.
• Adobe Analytics.
• MixPanel.
• Plausible Analytics.
• Woopra.

Here’s a more detailed guide on some of these alternatives.

Google Analytics 4 is a free web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Click To Tweet

– What Are Some Common Metrics to Track in Google Analytics 4?

Here are some common metrics to track in Google Analytics 4:

• Users: In Google Analytics, the “users” metric counts the number of people visiting your site. It is one of the most common metrics in a GA report. The “users” metric is calculated in two basic ways: as overview totals, where the metric is displayed as a summary statistic for your entire site, such as bounce rate or total. In Google Analytics 4, there are three User metrics: Total Users, Active Users, and New Users. The Users and Active Users metrics show how many users viewed or interacted with your site/app.
• Sessions: a “session” is defined as a group of events recorded for a user in a given time period. A session could contain multiple events, including page views, event completions or eCommerce transactions. Session and User metrics are calculated through an estimation. You can view sessions in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:
  – User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetization
  – Retention
• Average Session Duration: “Average Session Duration” is the total duration of all Google Analytics sessions (in seconds) in a particular time period / Total number of Google Analytics sessions in the same time period. You can view Average Session Duration in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:
  – User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetization
  – Retention
• Percentage of New Sessions: The percentage of New Sessions refers to the percentage of sessions that are from first-time users. You can view the Percentage of New Sessions in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:- User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetization
  – Retention
• Session by Default Channel Grouping: refers to the number of sessions that are grouped by default channel grouping. You can view Session by Default Channel Grouping in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:- User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetisation
  – Retention
• Pages per Session: refers to the average number of pages viewed per session measured in Google Analytics over a specific period of time. According to Google Analytics, a strong Pages per Session metric is between 2-3 pages. You can view Pages per Session in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:- User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetisation
  – Retention
• Conversions: refers to the number of times users completed a desired action on your website measured in Google Analytics over a specific period of time. You can view Conversions in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:
  – User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetisation
  – Retention
• Total Views: refers to the total number of app screens and/or web pages your users saw. (The Views metric in the reporting interface combines pageviews and screen views.) Repeated views of a single screen or page are counted.
• Views by Page: this refers to the number of times a page was viewed measured in Google Analytics over a specific period of time. You can view Views by Page in the following reports available in Google Analytics 4:
  – User Acquisition
  – Engagement
  – Monetisation
  – Retention
• Lifetime Value (LTV): refers to the total revenue a customer generates for your business over time measured in Google Analytics over a specific period of time. You can view LTV data for your users and audiences using the Lifetime Value report available under the Monetisation Reports section of your GA4 property.
• Lead Generation Cost (Cost per Visit): Lead Generation Cost (Cost per Visit) refers to the amount of money spent on generating leads divided by the number of visits to your website measured in Google Analytics over a specific period of time. You can view Lead Generation Cost data for your users and audiences using the Acquisition report available under the User Acquisition Reports section of your GA4 property.

Here’s a more detailed guide on some of these metrics.

– How do I use Google Analytics 4 to improve my website’s SEO?

Here are some ways you can use Google Analytics 4 to improve your website’s SEO:

• Track organic traffic.
• Monitor bounce rates.
• Analyse user behaviour.
• Monitor page load times.
• Track user engagement.
• Monitor mobile traffic.
• Analyse user demographics.
• Monitor site speed.
• Analyse user acquisition channels.
• Monitor site errors.

Here’s a more detailed guide on how to use Google Analytics 4 for SEO:

– What Is the Difference Between Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console?

Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console are two different tools that serve different purposes.

Google Analytics 4 provides insights and custom reports into user behaviour and helps you understand user interactions with your site.

Google Search Console, on the other hand, is a free tool that helps you monitor and maintain your website’s presence in Google search results. It provides data on how your website appears in search results and helps you identify issues that may affect your website’s ranking.

While both tools are useful for improving your website’s performance, they serve different purposes and provide different types of data.

– What Are Some Other Characteristics I Can Track in Google Analytics 4?

Here are some other characteristics you can track in Google Analytics 4:

• User Behaviour: refers to how users interact with your website or app. Google Analytics 4 removes the session’s importance and focuses on the user and the user’s events. The advantage will be more direct answers to questions commonly asked by user experience researchers and stakeholders. The shift to moving away from “per session” in the pattern is where things get different. You can use the Behavior Flow report to see how users navigate your site or app.
• Site Speed: refers to how fast your website or app loads for users. It is an important metric because it can affect user experience and engagement. You can use the Site Speed report to see how fast your site or app loads for users. The report shows you how long it takes for your site or app to load on different devices and networks.
• Mobile Traffic: refers to the number of users who visit your website or app using a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet. You can use the Mobile Overview report to see how many users are visiting your site or app using a mobile device. The report also shows you how many sessions and pageviews are generated by mobile users.
• Site Errors: refers to the errors that occur when users try to access your website or app. These errors can include broken links, server errors, and other issues that prevent users from accessing your site or app. You can use the Site Errors report to see how many errors are occurring on your site or app and what pages are affected.
• User Acquisition Channels: refers to how users find your website or app. You can use the Acquisition Overview report to see how many users are coming to your site or app from different channels such as organic search, direct traffic, and referral traffic.
• Landing Pages: refer to the pages on your website or app where users first land when they visit. You can use the Landing Pages report to see which pages drive the most traffic to your site or app and how users interact with those pages.
• Events: refers to specific actions that users take on your website or app such as clicking a button or watching a video. You can use the Events report to see how many events are occurring on your site or app and what pages are driving those events.
• Custom Dimensions and Metrics: allow you to create custom data points that are specific to your business needs. You can use Custom Dimensions to track additional information about your users such as their age or gender, while Custom Metrics allow you to track additional metrics such as revenue or profit.

Here’s a more detailed guide on how to use Google Analytics 4:

– How Do I Analyse User Behaviour in Google Analytics 4?

Here’s how you can analyse user behaviour in Google Analytics 4:

• Go to your Google Analytics account and select your website.
• Click on the “Behaviour” tab on your screen.
• Select “Behaviour Flow” to see how users navigate through your website.
• Use the “Site Content” tab to see the most popular pages.
• Use the “Events” tab to see users’ actions on your website.
• Use the “User Explorer” tab to see how individual users interact with your website.
• Use the “Cohort Analysis” tab to see how user behaviour changes.
• Use the “User Acquisition” tab to see where your users are coming from.

Here’s a more detailed guide on analysing user behaviour in Google Analytics 4.

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Conclusion

By using Google Analytics 4 to track your website’s performance, you can gain valuable insights into your audience, traffic sources, and user behaviour. This information lets you make data-driven decisions to improve your website’s design, content, and user experience.

In this post, I’ve covered the basics of using Google Analytics, from creating an account to tracking goals and conversions. Following these steps and best practices, you can use Google Analytics to improve your website’s performance today.

Remember that improving your website’s performance is an ongoing process and should not be restricted to any particular period of time. Regularly monitoring your website’s analytics and making data-driven decisions can improve your website’s user experience and drive more conversions.

Thanks for reading! I hope this post has been helpful in improving your website’s performance. If so, please share it with your friends and colleagues.

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