Advanced Features of Google Analytics 4

What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google’s analytics tool, which helps businesses and marketers track and analyse user behaviour on websites and mobile apps. It replaces the older version of Universal Analytics and brings several improvements, including advanced machine learning, better integration with Google services, and more flexible event tracking.

GA4 is designed to provide a deeper understanding of user interactions across devices and platforms, enabling more accurate measurement of campaign performance and more effective data-driven decision-making.

Create New GA4 Account & Properties

The two levels of Google Analytics 4 are accounts and properties. You can consider an account to be any other account in any service. If you haven’t created a Google Analytics account yet, you start by just creating one.

Below the account level are then the individual properties, which can most easily be thought of as separate websites (or apps). Within the property, measurement settings and report preparation are already set up. In one account, you can have one or more properties.

For example, a company that has an ordinary company website will have an account and under it, 1 ownership for this website. Conversely, a business that has a corporate website and 2 separate online stores may have 3 separate ownerships for each site/store under their Google Analytics account.

Admin Panel in Google Analytics 4

The Google Analytics 4 user interface is designed in a minimalistic way, with a focus on clarity and a high level of customisation on the part of the user. Google provides a basic tool with reports and, furthermore, gives several options to customise this administration according to your needs.

In the header, there is a selection of Google Analytics accounts or properties. On the left side of the administration, there is a basic menu with the home screen and the main Google Analytics 4 sections. In the bottom left corner, there is a link to settings, and in the top right corner, there is a toggle between Google services and Google accounts with help options. And in the main central section, there are all the reports and settings, depending on which part of Google Analytics we are currently in.

GA4 Setup Checklist

Setting up Google Analytics 4 measurement consists of a few key steps, which we will briefly review.

✔️ Analytical audit – the first step should be to clarify what we want to measure on the website or online store. It is ideal to write down all desired events and have them ready for the next steps. Then, if we want to set up the measurement via Google Tag Manager, it is a good idea to check with the programmer whether everything is ready to measure these events (e.g., whether there is a suitable and available dataLayer).

✔️ Setting up an account and property – the next step is to create a Google Analytics account and property if we don’t already have one. When we create one, Google Analytics walks us through a few steps and basic settings that need to be completed.

✔️ Web implementation – followed by adding the basic code from the created web stream to the website (or online store or app) – for the most flexibility, I recommend implementing via Google Tag Manager (which must be implemented on the website before use).

✔️ Event setup – after setting up the basic Google Analytics 4 measurement code, this is followed by measuring all of the events from the first point. One by one, all the desired events need to be set up so that they are correctly collected into the interface.

✔️ Testing – if everything is set up, detailed testing and validation of individual settings or events should follow. It should be verified that everything is working correctly and that the events are triggered at the right time, when they are supposed to be.

There are a few more steps you can take to make the most of Google Analytics 4—for example, setting up public accounts, editing pre-made reports, or preparing custom reports within the interface.

In case you have traffic from Europe (EU/EEA), make sure you also have the cookie bar set up correctly, including consent mode. This is because if you have incomplete or incorrect settings, you risk incomplete or missing data in the Google Analytics 4 interface.

Install GA4 with New Google Tag

You have several options to install GA4 (Google Tag) on your site. If your web or e-commerce solution allows it, you can deploy GA4 directly through the administration. The other option is to use a third-party extension/plugin, which is mainly used in CMS solutions like WordPress. The third option is to deploy GA4 via GTM (Google Tag Manager), where you can also set up GA4 events and tags for other services (e.g., Facebook, Microsoft Ads,…).

I recommend deploying GA4 measurement through Google Tag Manager. It’s the most flexible solution for the initial setup and following any changes in the future.

Enhanced Measurement Events in GA4

Advanced measurement in GA4 allows you to measure some events without manually setting them up on your site (either in code or via GTM, for example). You simply enable them in the GA4 web stream settings, and they start collecting (with the GA4 base tag properly deployed).

The current events to choose from are Scrolls, Outbound clicks, Site search, Form interactions, Video engagement and File downloads.

How Reports Work in GA4

There are two basic types of reports in GA4. The first type is the default reports, which remain consistent for every user once a property is created. These can then be edited, hidden, added and changed as needed by the individual user. Custom reports, available in the Explore/Exploration section, constitute the second type of report. Here there are several types of reports to choose from, which can be set up from scratch directly according to the requirements of a particular user.

👉 Funnel Exploration Report in GA4

This kind of custom report is especially typical for e-commerce clients with a shopping cart. It literally presents the funnel that customers go through from the beginning (visit) to the completion of the main conversion, which is usually a purchase (but it can also be, for example, a form submitted, a survey completed, etc.). A typical feature of a funnel is that the number of users decreases with the next step (for example, 1,500 people view a product detail, but only 400 of them add the product to their cart, and of those, only 60 complete the purchase).

In funnel reporting, we mainly track 2 key metrics:

• how well users manage to navigate between steps
• how long it takes them to do so

With this report, we can learn, for example, which step users get stuck in most often or which step takes them the longest. This knowledge allows us to optimise the customer’s conversion journey (most often the purchase process on the online store).

What are the new features of GA4?

The problem with the old Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) was that over time it became outdated and out of step with the times. It lacked new features tailored to current trends, opportunities, and problems. Since Google started working on the new version (GA4), Universal Analytics has received virtually no improvements at all. These came only after the completion of GA4 itself.

ㆍ Machine learning and smarter insights

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) leverages advanced machine learning to provide smarter insights and predictive analytics. By automatically detecting trends in user behaviour, GA4 can alert businesses to significant changes, such as spikes in demand or potential churn risks. Features like purchase probability and revenue prediction help marketers make data-driven decisions, optimising campaigns with greater precision.

ㆍ Improved data controls for privacy compliance

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) introduces enhanced data controls to help businesses comply with evolving privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. With features like granular data retention settings, consent mode, and improved user data deletion options, GA4 gives website and app owners greater control over how data is collected and stored. These tools allow businesses to maintain compliance while still gaining valuable insights into user behaviour, making GA4 a future-proof analytics solution.

ㆍ Customer-centric measurements

As businesses move towards more personalised and data-driven strategies, measuring customer interactions across touchpoints has become more important than ever. Google Analytics 4 takes customer-centric measurement to the next level by allowing businesses to understand their users in a deeper, more meaningful way. Unlike Universal Analytics, which primarily focuses on sessions, GA4 uses an event-based model, making it easier to track customer journeys across platforms and devices.

Google Analytics 4 unifies user journeys across websites and apps using identifiers like User-ID and Google signals for comprehensive cross-platform tracking. This unified view powers sophisticated audience building, allowing segmentation based on specific events, properties, and user behaviour for analysis or targeted advertising.

GA4 collects essential engagement and revenue data used to analyse or model Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). Additionally, GA4 leverages machine learning for Predictive Metrics, forecasting actions like purchases and enabling the creation of predictive audiences.

ㆍ Improved reports

Most of the reports in the original Universal Analytics were simple tables. The format was ideal for exporting and further work with data, but it lacked clearer visualisations and reports that could tell something at a glance.

GA4 introduces a new set of predefined reports that provide a clearer, more structured view of user behaviour. Unlike Universal Analytics, GA4 focuses on event-based tracking, offering built-in reports that highlight user engagement, retention, and conversion trends. The updated Life Cycle and User Reports make it easier for businesses to monitor key performance metrics without extensive customisation.

ㆍ Google BigQuery integration

One of the biggest technical innovations that came with GA4 is the native (and free) integration with Google BigQuery. This tool is mainly used by web analysts and marketers who work with large volumes of data. BigQuery allows this data to be stored and then processed (basically, it’s Google Sheets on steroids with lots of other useful features and interfaces). This tool was only available to a small portion of users in Universal Analytics, as implementing it and linking it to Google Analytics was both technically and financially challenging.

However, this is not the case in GA4, this linking is very easy (literally a few clicks) and free of charge. You only pay for using BigQuery, which, however, has a few stored or processed data each month for free. Thus, small and medium-sized websites or online stores can have access to full GA4 data in BigQuery for just a few euros per month (the smallest ones can easily fit into the free limit).

BigQuery stores raw data, which can be used in BigQuery or exported to other systems.

ㆍ Enhanced data collection with GA4

GA4 enhances data collection by tracking user interactions across multiple devices and platforms in a single property. Unlike Universal Analytics, which separated website and app data, GA4 unifies these touchpoints, providing a holistic view of the customer journey.

With event-based tracking, GA4 captures user interactions seamlessly, whether they occur on desktop, mobile, or an app. Features like User-ID and Google Signals help link cross-device activity, offering more accurate attribution. This improved data collection allows businesses to better understand multi-device behaviour, refine marketing strategies, and optimise user experiences for higher engagement and conversions.

Advanced reporting and analysis in GA4

GA4 introduced the advanced capability to create custom reports from scratch, in addition to predefined and customisable reports. You can choose from the following report types:

✅ Free form – most commonly the classic table format, but Free form can also be used for other visualisations – Donut chart, Line chart, Scatterplot, Bar chart or Geo map.

✅ Cohort exploration – similar to Universal Analytics, the new GA4 features a cohort exploration report that can be customized.

✅ Funnel exploration – the classic funnel we know from marketing, it is especially useful for the e-commerce segment.

✅ Segment overlap – the ability to visualize up to 3 different segments with a preview of the overlap between user segments, sessions or events.

✅ Path exploration – this report allows you to track the most frequent user actions on the site – a sequence of pages or events.

✅ User explorer – the ability to track the behaviour of individual users in a table or time map

Why to shift to Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics 4 offers a wealth of advanced features that provide deeper insights into user behaviour, website performance, and marketing effectiveness. GA4’s event-based data model, improved cross-platform tracking, and machine learning-driven insights enable companies to optimise their strategies and make better decisions.

The flexibility to track user interactions across websites, apps, and other digital touchpoints ensures that companies can capture a comprehensive view of customer journeys. Adopting GA4’s sophisticated features will be essential for companies to stay ahead of the competition and achieve data-driven success as they continue to adjust to changing digital landscapes.

Frequently Asked Question