Short course description
On July 1, Google will turn off Universal Analytics,
its current Google Analytics product, which
means website owners will need to start using
the company’s latest product, Google Analytics 4,
if they want to access their website analytics
data through Google. In this course, readers will
learn why the company is making this change
and what efforts website owners will need to
make so they can continue to track and analyze
their data. We’ll also examine a few likely scenarios
dentists might find themselves in regarding
the update, and review some of the data migration
pearls and pitfalls.
Abstract
Google’s Universal Analytics tracking software
(UA) has long been the gold standard for gathering
website data so owners can make better marketing
decisions. UA has been around for more
than a decade, and little has changed with the
software other than incremental improvements
to data collection and availability of reporting
capabilities.
Because of increased concerns about privacy—
plus the fact that many users disable or block the
traditional code marketers use to track people’s
behavior across the web—Google needed a new
analytics solution. As a result, the company is
introducing Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a new
model for gathering website analytics data. About the only thing that Universal Analytics
and Google Analytics 4 share is the word analytics
in their product names, so users will need to
“migrate” their data to the new platform—and
it’s not as easy as copy/paste.
Educational objectives
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand why Google is requiring website owners to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
- Understand the different data collectionmethods used by Universal Analytics and GA4.
- Be familiar with the general migration process, and what you can and cannot expect from a migration.
- Know the difference between a GA4 event and a GA4 conversion.
- Describe Google Signals and why it is important for Google Ads users.
- Find key data in the new GA4 interface.
Additional resources
- Google Support article: "Introducing the next generation of Analytics, Google Analytics 4" (link)
- Google Support article: "Link Google Ads and Analytics" (link)
- Article: "Top 10 Things Small Businesses Need To Know About Migrating to Google Analytics 4" (link)
- Paid course: "Google Analytics 4: Migration Process Training" (link)
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