7 Top Tips To Become A GA4 Pro (Even If You’re A Beginner)

Ginny Marvin shares new time-saving and advanced-level features In Case You Missed It: 7 Top Tips To Become A GA4 Pro (Even If You’re A Beginner) by Contributor, Ginny Marvin Discover new time-saving and advanced-level features GA4 offers that UA didn’t, key resources you may have missed and more to fast-track your GA4 learning curve. We just had to share this one with you again! But, we couldn't get the entire article in here (it's an 11 min read). To experience the whole article, including links to even more resources, check it out [here](. - SEJ Editorial The July 1 migration deadline for [Google Analytics 4 (GA4)]( has passed, and perhaps you’re still feeling unsteady working in the platform, still have some setup to do, or are in the Jumpstart queue. If you’re a reluctant GA4 user or haven’t had the time to get comfortable with it, stick with me as I distill some of the [key differences between Universal Analytics (UA) and GA4]( highlight what’s new and improved, and share bookmark-worthy resources to amp up your expertise. Whether you’re at an SMB, enterprise, or agency, here are seven tips to help you work faster and get more out of GA4. 1. Know Why GA4 Is So Different From Universal Analytics This may not seem like a tip, but understanding why GA4 came to be and why it’s a departure from UA is key to learning to work with it successfully. GA4 accounts for these two key shifts: - Browsing behavior that now happens across devices and platforms. - Privacy changes which mean less user data is observable via cookies, and more data is aggregated to protect user anonymity. Universal Analytics was built for a time before these shifts, and its methodology was fast becoming outdated and obsolete. GA4 is designed to measure across the web and apps via data streams. While UA reported on individual user sessions, GA4 uses an event-based model that enables unified measurement across user journeys. This is why dimensions and metrics naming conventions often differ and why comparing GA4 and UA reporting can be difficult. Even if you don’t have both a website and an app, you’ll benefit from GA4 because it doesn’t rely on third-party cookies for measurement. 2. Set Up For Success If you’ve been Jumpstarted or migrated yourself but aren’t sure you’ve completed all the steps to customize your property, consider the following. For advertisers, be sure to confirm your Google Ads links imported, validate that your goals and conversions migrated, and that you’re bidding to the right conversions and audiences in Google Ads. You can also quickly bring your UA events into GA4 by selecting the “Collect Universal Analytics events” in your GA4 tag settings. This will create a single GA4 event type that records Category/Action/Label as parameters. You can confirm this works by looking at the Events section under Configure. The GA4 [Setup Assistant]( can help you set up your property. This tool will continue to evolve into a more personalized and comprehensive setup flow in GA4 for all users. And be sure to check out the [Setup Guide]( which walks through the key steps and concepts for setting up a robust GA4 property for your business, including critical steps for advertisers. It's getting a little long, so we're going to wrap it up. Get all the tips and helpful tactics Ginny Marvin shares [here](. And, did we mention links to even more resources? Here are the other tips, so we don't just leave you in suspense... 3. Get Your Bearings Before You Dive In 4. Master The Features GA4 Offers That UA Didn’t 5. Customize Without Code 6. Take Full Advantage Of Ads Integrations 7. Understand Reporting Identity And Data Thresholding [Read the Full Article]( Author Spotlight As Google’s Ads Product Liaison, Ginny Marvin helps connect marketers and Google’s ads teams. She engages with the advertiser and agency community to answer questions about how ads products and policies work and brings marketers’ insights and perspectives back into Google. Prior to joining Google, Ginny was Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land and covered paid media news and trends. She has held in-house and agency management positions and worked with companies in many sectors, advising on commerce and lead generation strategies. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at @AdsLiaison. You are receiving this as part of our SEJ Today Newsletter subscription: [Search Engine Journal](. Want to receive more relevant info? [Update your preferences](. Know someone who would want to read this article? [Send them this email](. © 2023 Search Engine Journal 160 W Camino Real Unit #606 · Boca Raton, FL 33432 You can also [u]( from this list.