Google Analytics

• Important Objectives
• Possibilities
• (not set) and (not provided) in GA reports
• Google Analytics 4
• Google Analytics Premium
• Enhanced Commerce Module
• Conclusion

Many SEOs utilize Google Analytics (GA), a Google tool, to examine user behavior on a website. The service has both free and paid features. GA’s free edition examines 5 million pages each month; paid access is necessary for a more comprehensive analysis. Universal Analytics (outdated) and Google Analytics 4 (new) are the two most used GA versions. The data is divided into three levels in the Universal Analytics version: account (multi-site administration), resource (data collecting device), and view (web analytics settings and reporting), but the GA 4 version does not include a view level.

Important Objectives

The following are the main goals of Google Analytics: 

• determining the target audience’s (TA) preferences; 
• identifying traffic sources; 
• identifying content that appeals to visitors; 
• obtaining data about users’ locations; 
• conversion tracking; 
• control of the advertising campaign; 
• conducting traffic analysis; 
• identifying popular web pages.

Possibilities

The following are the major aspects of GA:

• Webmasters commonly use GA to predict traffic. It’s ideal for single-page sites as well as massive corporate portals with a lot of traffic (such as Youtube).
• Small and large enterprises alike will benefit from the service. 

Google Analytics may be used to evaluate visitors to any online resource.

• It can illustrate the sequence of conversion to a goal, such as completing an order, filling out a subscription form, and so on. Different priorities can be assigned to reports. This will speed up the study greatly and allow you to focus on the most important variables.
• The cross segmentation approach enables for the collection of a wide range of data, such as the popularity of key searches for a distinct search system.
• The service allows you to transform data from reports into a document of the required format (for example, PDF).

(not set) and (not provided) in GA reports

As a result of Google’s efforts to keep your personal information private, (not set) and (not given) placeholders appear.

The (not set) value denotes the absence of data for a given indicator. Ad blockers, JS deactivating, and cookie deletion are some of the most common causes. In certain circumstances, the webmaster is to blame (wrong UTM-tagging). This is where you can track referral and direct traffic. During redirect settings from the landing page, (not set) is displayed in the advertising reports.

The (not provided) value is encrypted information about a user’s privacy. This tagging makes it difficult to evaluate the efficiency of search engine optimization. A complete calculation of branded traffic can be used to remedy the problem.

Google Analytics 4

In March 2022, Google announced that it will no longer support Universal Analytics. The organization will switch to a new version – Google Analytics 4 (GA4) – by July 1, 2023. This is an extended system that allows gathering information about site visitors in order to improve an ad campaign or a search engine optimization strategy.

GA4’s key features include: 

• Configuring data gathering around “Events,” which are user interactions with the site, such as page visits and screen scrolling.
• All user attributes, both general and technical, are considered, and marketers may utilize this information to design an advertising strategy.
• Users are given permanent IDs, allowing you to trace a visitor’s behavior across many devices.
• Users are classified into two groups: those who have made a purchase and those who have not, allowing you to use your advertising money more effectively.
• The data is kept for a maximum of 14 months, however it may be exported straight to BigQuery.
• There was a division on standard and extended e-commerce in the previous edition, but there isn’t one in the current version.

Google Analytics 4 includes a number of advantages, including extensive data collecting, in-depth analysis, and the ability to forecast future transactions. You have two options for switching to GA4: establish a new resource or link your current Universal Analytics resource to GA4 (for admins). Switching to a new system as soon as feasible is recommended. If you require a comprehensive analysis of your audience’s activity, the new analytics solution is extremely useful. The new data collection model and the new parameters are the most difficult aspects of the transition to the new system.

Google Analytics Premium

In 2011, Google Analytics Premium, a commercial version of Google Analytics, was released. The Premium edition enables you to swiftly resolve issues and save time for your clients. Large companies and data-intensive websites utilize it.

The following are the primary features of the paid version:

1. The limitation threshold has been raised. The user’s ability to communicate and process data has substantially expanded. The limitation threshold goes up many hundreds of times. This is a significant increase, covering the needs of most sites.
2.  A diverse set of capabilities. The premium edition adds a slew of new features, including the opportunity to customize data collection, a four-hour data computation delay (compared to 24 hours in the free version), complete product support, and the signing of a full-fledged contract with the client.
3. The price is really high. Although the paid version can calculate a large quantity of data, the service cost is also rather substantial. Some capabilities may be superfluous for most sites, however using Premium Analytics while working with large sites is sensible. Before opting for the premium version, there are a number of variables to consider.

Google Analytics 360 Suite, a new subscription service that incorporates a large number of extra features and enables extensive analysis of user behavior, was introduced on March 16. In fact, it’s a Google Analytics Premium upgrade. Organizations with varied degrees of enquiries may benefit from the development of the new analytics system. The capabilities in the GA 360 Suite are commonly utilized in marketing to boost visitor connection.

Enhanced Commerce Module

The e-commerce module in Google Analytics is used to collect data on purchases and transactions. It allows you to keep track of goods in catalogs, browse product information, and check out, among other things. Installing this module necessitates an understanding of JS and HTML. The e-commerce module evaluates product listings, internal banner advertisements, and the overall picture of the purchasing experience.

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a valuable tool for determining how effective websites and mobile apps are. It may be utilized to find out about traffic sources, user locations, bounce rates, session lengths, and other information. The service’s basic functions are entirely free. When compared to the free version, the premium version offers more features and has less limitations. It is ideally suited for executives from large corporations. The service is challenging to grasp due to a great number of functions and features. To utilize GA effectively, you must first grasp the fundamental ideas that underpin the service.