Get started with GA4
Looking to improve your website tracking with Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Tag Manager (GTM)? Our specialist team can help. We offer bespoke support and guidance on the benefits of GA4-GTM, and we can help you set it up on your website. Contact us today to learn more and start improving your website tracking.
Why track?
Without tracking your digital marketing activities and results, there is no way to understand and improve performance. You need to know what is doing well, and what could work better in order to keep being badass.
Tracking allows us to analyse trends, look at the age range, gender, location and other factors around your user. From this we can establish your typical user-profile and begin building a strategy that targets and attracts this. The information we get from tracking can range from online behaviour, like how long the visitor is on a webpage to monitoring browsing activity across websites. It is used for many services including providing targeted digital advertisements and website analytics data for businesses.
Types of tracking
There are two kinds of web tracking: first-party and third-party.
First-party tracking involves the website or application owner collecting and managing tracking data directly. When you implement this type of tracking, you have control over the tracking process, including the implementation of tracking codes, data storage, and analysis. You collect data from users who interact directly with your website or app. It provides you with valuable insights into user behaviour, conversions, and other relevant metrics within your own digital properties.
Third-party tracking, on the other hand, involves an external entity or service provider collecting and managing tracking data on behalf of multiple websites or applications. Third-party trackers are often used by advertisers, analytics platforms, or ad networks to gather data across various websites or apps. They rely on cookies or similar technologies to track users' online activities, allowing them to collect data across multiple domains. This data is then used to create user profiles, deliver targeted advertising, and provide aggregated analytics.
It's important to note that recent privacy concerns and regulatory changes, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), have led to increased scrutiny and limitations on third-party tracking. Many web browsers and privacy-focused technologies now offer options to block or limit third-party tracking, prioritizing user privacy.
Google Tag Manager (GTM)
Google Tag Manager (GTM) is free software from Google that allows you to deploy various types of code (tags) to your website. Some good examples of a tag would be Google Analytics tracking code, Google Analytics event codes, Google Ads conversion script, and re-marketing tags. There are many more types of code that can be added to your website using GTM, including custom codes.
It does not replace Google Analytics. Instead, it helps users easily add Google Analytics tracking code (tag) to a website, deploy GA event code snippets, and define rules when each code must fire. GTM also lets you test your tags to ensure they are triggered when you load the right page or click a particular button.
Confused? No problem. We can help whether that's with training, or implementation of GTM and Google Analytics.
Goodbye Universal Analytics (UA), hello GA4
Google's Universal Analytics (UA) has now retired, and has been replaced by the all-new Google Analytics 4 platform (GA4). GA4 is the new gen-z of tracking, designed to offer a full-proof, fully protected and private platform that is ready for both now and the future. We understand what it takes to implement and optimise GA4 tracking and are already ahead of the curve, having got to grips with its new features that help to predict insights, improve personalisation and unification in relation to the customer journey across all your platforms.
Change can be daunting, but fear not! We are here to help your business prepare for the transition smoothly and ensure you’re set up and raring to go when the time comes. If you'd like to read more about how you can get to grips with GA4, we've written a whole blog post on it which you can read here!
Website traffic
Track the overall traffic to your website, including the number of sessions, users, page views, and unique page views. These metrics provide an understanding of the volume of visitors and the popularity of your content.
Traffic sources
Analyse the sources of your website traffic to determine where your visitors are coming from. This includes tracking the percentage of traffic from organic search, paid search (PPC), referrals, social media, and direct visits. It helps you evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and identify areas for improvement.
Conversions
Set up conversion tracking to measure the completion of desired actions on your website, such as form submissions, newsletter sign-ups, purchases, or other specific goals. Monitor conversion rates, conversion value, and the paths visitors take to complete these actions.
User behaviour
Explore metrics such as time on site, bounce rate, and exit rate to understand how visitors engage with your website. Track the most visited pages, popular content, and user flow through your site to identify areas where visitors may drop off or encounter issues.
E-commerce tracking
If you run an online store, enable e-commerce tracking to measure sales performance. Monitor metrics like revenue, conversion rate, average order value, and product performance to optimise your online sales efforts.
Mobile performance
As mobile usage continues to grow, monitor the performance of your website on different devices. Track metrics like mobile traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rates specifically for mobile users. Optimise your site's mobile experience to ensure a seamless user journey.
Campaign tracking
Use UTM parameters to track the performance of your marketing campaigns. Monitor the effectiveness of different campaigns, channels, and mediums to assess the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing efforts.
Audience tracking
Utilise the audience demographic data provided by Google Analytics to gain insights into your website's visitor demographics, such as age, gender, and interests. This information can help you tailor your content and marketing strategies to better target your audience.
