What You Need to Know About the Google Analytics 4 Rollout

In the latest article from The Smart Lab, Emmanuel Raheb outlines the website changes jewelers can expect with this new software.

Emmanuel Raheb eraheb@smartagesolutions.com

Emmanuel Raheb is the CEO of Smart Age Solutions, a digital ad agency and coveted Premier Google Partner. Contact him at eraheb@smartagesolutions.com.

Google Analytics is the most widely used analytics platform in the world.

Even if you don’t handle your company’s website yourself, chances are your IT team or webmaster already uses Google Analytics to monitor marketing channels, and to track site activity and conversion rates.

With the new version of the software (dubbed Google Analytics 4), there are changes coming that will immediately impact your jewelry website.

Google Analytics 4 brings new features and better data modeling with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to help fill in the gaps where previous versions of the software have been blocked by cookie consent rules, JavaScript, and increasing privacy issues.

Additionally, Google Analytics 4 also brings a cleaner user-interface and new experience.

Here are the most important things you need to know about Google Analytics 4 and how it will affect your jewelry business.

1. It’s built on a strong foundation.
Google Analytics 4 is the platform Google will be using for all future properties, so you’ll want to set it up as soon as possible on your jewelry website.

The software is completely new and not just a repackaging of the old version of the company’s analytics. It’s been built from scratch to address the needs of digital marketers both today and in the future.

When you make the switch, one of the first things you’ll notice is increased flexibility under Google Analytics 4, with basic events such as pageviews, user sessions, and scroll data ready to track right from the start.

You can also apply up to 25 different report parameters and create and edit events directly in the platform, without IT support.

You won’t need additional coding to take advantage of these features, which means you’ll get the most out of the software as soon as you begin.

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2. It has more accurate tracking.
Tracking site visitors and user behavior is tricky.

There are increasing regulations both in Europe and the United States, with new restrictions, privacy rules, site blockers and more, which make pulling accurate data extremely difficult.

You may have noticed your current Google Analytics reports don’t always match the raw data you see within your website server logs, or sales made through your shopping cart system.

Over time, Google Analytics has become less and less reliable as the best source of data to use in making decisions. Google Analytics 4 will solve this issue and promises a more accurate view of your jewelry business.

One of the biggest benefits of this new version is that Google now focuses on the entire customer journey, instead of relying on single individual metrics. Your site conversions are tracked from first click all the way through to a customer’s order on your website.

Google Analytics 4 can track user behavior across both website and mobile apps, giving you a fuller picture across multiple data streams. Data is also consolidated from multiple site properties and controlled at the property level for better cross-platform analysis.

In summary, you’ll get a full and complete view of your jewelry customer.

3. You’ll gain access to new tools and better reporting.
With this new version of analytics, Google promises increased functionality such as the ability to more accurately predict user flow, order churn, customer buying habits and other features that will help increase the overall ROI on your website.

New lifecycle reports will give you more insight into exactly where your customer is within their jewelry purchase journey, helping you to make better business decisions.

Google Analytics 4 also includes machine learning and advanced AI, which will supplement and predict gaps missing in data as privacy rules have tightened. This will help you to more easily find answers to questions without having to apply multiple filters or build complex reports.

In the coming months, you can expect a much faster and more streamlined report-building process.

This will allow everyone in your jewelry company to access and understand complex data, even without technical knowledge.

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4. It’s best to start with a clean slate.
Before transitioning to Google Analytics 4, it’s best to back up and download all of your old data then start with a clean slate, setting up a new Google property and reinstalling it on your site.

The main reason for this is because the previous tracking done by Google through cookies and tags is coming to an end.

Google announced that in late 2023 they will completely block third-party cookies, which will no longer be available as a tracking option. Eventually, the data will stop flowing and will be shut off.

It’s critical that you start today and have your jewelry website fully transitioned over to Google Analytics 4 before the deadline. Without it, you won’t have the important data or marketing reports you need to grow your jewelry business.

Here at Smart Age Solutions, our team of technical specialists are ready to help implement Google Analytics 4 on your website.

Don’t hesitate to contact us, as we can ensure your site is optimized and ready to take full advantage of the new features and power Google has to offer. We’re here to help!