I've been working in Google Analytics 4 since the day it came out, literally.
I've had A LOT to say about the platform since then…
Like, when it came out, there was no Landing Page report - the hell?
The Google Ads report was super hidden until last year.
There was like a two-year span where some of the most basic reports got hidden, depending on what "objective" you set for your site when you created the property.
It is not a perfect platform. I know that, Google knows that, and you all DEFINITELY know that (people tend to make it very clear 😅).
My hope is that this post can help alleviate some of the unknowns and annoyances of the platform, so you can get back to actually USING your data.
What you absolutely NEED to know about GA4
Table of Contents
Your GA4 Setup Is Probably Incomplete (And Breaking Your Data)
Without a proper setup your data will look broken, incomplete, or just downright wrong. But more than likely, it's not a Google problem. Well…. Not entirely.
You see, the setup you go through when creating your GA4 property is not thorough. Google shows you just enough to get data flowing into your property.
You don't actually see all of the settings and options that impact your data.
To truly complete your setup, you must go through the entire Admin section.
The things you setup in the admin section impact what data is available to you, how long the data is available, the completeness of your data, what events are considered important, and how those important events are attributed to your different marketing efforts.
I'm not going to go into full detail on how to best setup your GA4 property here, but just know it is a must-read.
The Best (and Worst) Google Analytics 4 Feature: Customizations
The best and worst part of GA4 is that it is SUPER customizable.
You don't like how a report is named? Change it!
Hate that you can't see a report pre-filtered? You can!
Don't like your reports navigation? No worries, you can fix that!
Hell, don't like the name of a certain event? Well, you could change that too! I mean, I don't suggest it personally, but it can be done.
This is definitely a double-edged sword. It's so nice to be able to change things, but it's not nice that there are so many things that feel like you HAVE to change them to make the platform usable.
Here's the breakdown of what you can customize in each section (and who it impacts):
When you look at the primary navigation of GA4, there are five distinct sections: Home, Reports, Explore, Advertising, and Admin. All of these sections (sans Advertising) have customizable features.
And the customizations in each section impact everyone with access to GA4 differently 😅
Home
Create custom insights for monitoring - These are property-wide, but you can choose specific people to get email alerts when conditions are met
Customize your first few metrics and the time period they look at - This only impacts the user who makes the changes (everyone's home screen is different)
Reports (changes in this section impact EVERYONE!!!!)
Create your own Reports Snapshot - You can select a template or completely customize the available cards and the order they are presented. Up to you 🙂
Reconfigure your navigation - The library (specifically collections) controls the Reports navigation. You can add, remove, rename, and rearrange reports here
Edit reports - You can change the primary dimension, add an automatically applied secondary dimension, and select which metrics are provided, in what order, and by which metric the data is sorted
You can also save filters to reports
Explore
Create more in-depth DIY reports - Only you have access to these unless you "share" them. When shared, all users will have access to a VIEW-ONLY version of the report
Create custom funnels - These can be exported to the Reports library and added to collections (which will put them in the Reports navigation)
Admin
I already touched on the importance of going through this section and that there are many things here that need attention. But there are a few things in here that can customize the property and impact everyone… That probably should NOT be touched! They require a very thorough understanding of the GA4 data structure to implement correctly.
Most notably: "Create Custom Events" & the "Modify Events" options. I've seen these wreak havoc on plenty of properties.
How to Use Google Analytics 4 Properly: Every Section *Actually* Matters
This one is the one that people overlook the most. It's quite interesting to me.
Admittedly, I understand the appeal of only working in the Reports or Explore section of GA4.
The Reports section feels most like old UA, and the Explore section gives you the most control and the most accurate data.
BUT! I'd argue some of the most important information actually lives in the Advertising section - and not just for advertising people!!!!
This is one of my biggest pet peeves with GA4. The section of GA4 with all of your attribution data (yes, we still get multi-channel funnels) lives in a section called Advertising. What the heck?!
I've talked to hundreds of SEOs, and I think like three of them knew this was here 🤦♀️
Also, I hate the home screen, but the fact that you can create custom insights that will email you when specific groups of people meet specific conditions is pretty damn rad.
So this is a reminder to take some time to go through GA4, open all the available reports, click on all the buttons, and see what you can find.
It is all important.
The Data Isn't Gone, You Just Don't Know Where to Look 😬
I’M NOT MAD AT YOU! Look, there were things missing when GA4 came out. That is so true, lol. But as of today, there are very few things that are truly missing from GA4.
The only metrics TRULY missing from UA in GA4 are Average Time on Page and % Exit, but these can be created as calculated metrics.
The only missing dimensions are those related to Social Media attribution and the more in-depth ad dimensions:
Social Network
Social Source Referral
Ad Slot
Placement Domain
Placement URL
And lastly, the only reports that are truly MISSING from GA4:
Audience > Cross-Device
Acquisition > Social
Behavior > Experiments
It just takes some digging. Lucky for you, last year I mapped out exactly how UA and GA4 metrics, dimensions, and reports are related.
GA4 Isn't Meant to Be a Data Visualization Tool
Yup, I said it. GA4 is NOT a data visualization tool.
GA4 is a website analytics tool. It aggregates and stores your data. That's it.
If you hate the UX/UI, the good news is, you don't have to use it!
There are so many ways to use your data from GA4 without having to use GA4.
You can connect your property to BigQuery for free now. You just have to pay for the BQ storage and usage.
You can pull the data into Looker Studio via the native connection.
You can use a tool like Windsor.ai to connect GA4 to Power BI or Tableau.
The options are endless...
Remember, the main hurdle with data is making it accessible - easy to find and easy to understand.
Solve for that FIRST. Then come to complain to me about the data ;)
THE Biggest Google Analytics 4 Benefit: It's Powerful (And Free, Folks!)
Here is the thing. You can't go without website analytics, at least not if you want to have a successful site… and marketing plan.
And Google Analytics 4 is powerful. Google has been at this website analytics game for a while. The switch from UA was tough, I get it, but GA4 did actually come with some upgrades!
I mean, built-in anomaly detection?! And if you go into Explore, you can even choose the p-value and training data set you want to use? Yes please!
Automatic pattern recognition? Yeeeahh, buddy!
That badass audience and segment builder?! Yeah, Imma need that.
There are other platforms out there, sure! But GA4 is free. And because it is free, there are MILLIONS of people using it. Hundreds of people creating content around how to use it effectively. Thousands of people willing to help you make your data better.
You just have to be willing to be uncomfortable and do the learning.
If you ever need help, feel free to reach out. I just want to see you succeed in USING your data, friend ❤️
