GA4 vs Universal Analytics:
Google Analytics 4 is the new generation of Google’s famous analytics platform. It is designed to track your website and apps in the same property. Offering a more in-depth view of your customer’s journey across multiple channels and devices, whilst also offers better data privacy for users.
Universal Analytics (UA) is the previous version of Google Analytics, introduced in 2012 and the version many websites use today for tracking their website traffic.
Universal Analytics will sunset (phase out) on July 1, 2023. This means that it will no longer track your visitors after the sunset date, and Google will not support or introduce new features for it.
That’s why it is important that you switch to Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible, to protect your data and have historical records to compare to when UA shuts down.
Listed below are some of the significant differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics:
A Changed Reporting Interface
New Data Measurement Model in GA4
No Bounce Rate and New Reporting Metrics
Google Analytics 4 Doesn’t Track Form Conversions
Universal Analytics Goals Are Replaced with Events
Perform Advanced Analysis in Google Analytics 4
A Changed Reporting Interface
The first difference you’ll notice between Google Analytics 4 vs Universal Analytics is the new reporting interface.
In GA4, most of the reports have been replaced or renamed. One of the reasons for this is that the latest analytics version uses a different measurement model compared to Universal Analytics.
For example, you’ll see new reports such as Engagement, Monetization, and Retention in GA4 under 5 main categories.
Realtime
Audience
Acquisition
Behavior
Conversions.
You can find each of these in the left-hand menu on your main GA4 dashboard.
That said, it can be overwhelming for beginners to understand these reports and uncover insights about their website traffic.
New Data Measurement Model in GA4
Another major difference between GA4 vs Universal Analytics is how they work when collecting and processing your website data. Universal Analytics uses a measurement model based on sessions and pageviews. Whereas, GA4 uses an event-based model to track your data.
Sessions can link data to a single individual and track them specifically as they interact with your site. Event data is anonymous, and the importance is placed on specific actions taken instead of specific users taking those actions.
This allows you to track complex buyer journeys across multiple devices accurately.
No Bounce Rate and New Reporting Metrics
With Google Analytics 4, you get new metrics along with new reports. Right off the bat, you’ll notice that there is no bounce rate metric in Google Analytics 4. Bounce rate tells you the number of users that left your website without interacting, like clicking a link, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product.
Instead, GA4 shows a new metric called ‘Engaged sessions per user.’ It shows how many people interacted with your content. This includes a session where a user stays on a page for 10 seconds or more, triggers 1 or more events, or a user views 2 or more pages.
Besides that, GA4 also offers more new metrics in the Engagement report. For instance, there is an average engagement time metric, which used to be the average session duration in Universal Analytics.
Another new metric you’ll find in Google Analytics 4 is the Pages and screens. It shows the pages and app screens that get the most traffic on your website.
Google Analytics 4 Doesn’t Track Form Conversions
The next difference you’ll notice when comparing GA4 vs Universal Analytics is that of form conversions.
Forms are really useful for any business. They allow users to get in touch with you, provide feedback, and resolve their queries. Tracking Google Analytics helps you see which form performs better.
However, setting up form conversion tracking in Google Analytics 4 requires adding custom code. This can be very tricky if you’re not a developer. The slightest mistake can mess up your tracking and break your website.
Universal Analytics Goals Are Replaced with Events
In Universal Analytics, you can record different user interactions using goals. You get 4 types of goals in UA, which include:
Destination – You can set a destination goal to track when a user arrives on a specific page, like a thank you page or a product landing page.
Duration – This goal helps you see how long people stay on your website before exiting.
Pages per Visit – Using the pages per visit goals allows you to uncover the number of pages a visitor views before leaving your site.
Event – With the help of events, you can track user interactions on your site that Universal Analytics doesn’t track by default.
However, Google Analytics 4 replaces these goals with events. For example, if you have an online store, then you can enable events to track interactions and how many people enter payment details and shipment information.
Perform Advanced Analysis in Google Analytics 4
Another difference between both analytics platforms is the level of advanced analysis you can perform in Google Analytics 4.
In Universal Analytics, you can create custom reports and use secondary dimensions to uncover insights. However, GA4 takes it a step further with its Exploration reports.
You get prebuilt templates for different analyses you’d like to perform or if you’d like to set up a custom report.
For example, you can use the ‘Funnel’ exploration template to see your customers’ journey before purchasing.
Besides that, GA4 exploration reports also offer multiple options to add different segments, dimensions, and metrics to your custom reports.
If you would like support updating your Google Analytics or setting it up, get in touch with our team!
