Key Differences between GA4 vs Universal Analytics

Google has been continuously reminding providers of local SEO Dubai and all digital marketers that Universal Analytics will stop processing data in July 2023. They have also encouraged everyone to set up their GA4 accounts to avoid losing crucial settings and data if the GA4 account is automatically created after the given date.

If you’re looking to provide the best SEO services Dubai, it’s necessary to keep yourself updated with such changes and try navigating through the new setup so you can thoroughly explain the changes to your staff or clients. This will also help you determine if you need to adjust reports based on what data is available in GA4 vs. the data previously reported on Universal Analytics.

Here are some of the key differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics:

Tracking
One of the most noticeable differences between GA4 and universal analytics is how they track the interactions that occur on your website. Universal Analytics tracks user interactions through page views. This method is effective but has gaps since other interactions such as image clicks, or video watches are not counted.

GA4’s data collection is more effective since every interaction is classified as an event you can analyze using other reporting tools. Events are also tracked independently of sessions and can be turned on/off depending on what data your SEO consultant Dubai wishes to track.

Session Calculation
In Universal Analytics “a session represents the period of time that a user is actively engaged with your site”. After landing on the website or specific page, the session will end after 30 mins of inactivity, the clock passes 12 midnight, or you encounter a new event parameter.

In GA4, “the session start event generates a session ID with which all subsequent events during the session are associated”. Like Universal Analytics, the session will end after 30 minutes of inactivity. However, the tracking of the session will continue after midnight, and encountering new campaign parameters will not create a new session.

App and website tracking
Another aspect that much digital agency Dubai will appreciate with GA4 is the tracking of data from the app and website. While Universal Analytics allows you to track both with the help of other reporting tools and create a separate property for each, GA4 allows you to record or collect the data you need in one platform. It can also track when users continue their session on a different device.

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