Harnessing the Power of GA4 Events: Optimizing Tracking and Measurement

What is Google Analytics 4?

Google Analytics 4, often called GA4, is the newest version of the Google Analytics platform released in 2020 to replace Universal Analytics. You can use Google Analytics to track and measure activity on websites and mobile apps, which gives you a comprehensive look at how people engage with your site or app.

Cross-platform tracking is one of the key features of Google Analytics 4. Being able to track activity on your website and your mobile app makes it easier to get a complete view of the customer journey, so you can optimize your website to improve the user experience. With simplified reports, you can gain valuable insights through Google Analytics 4 even if you're not an expert.

The event-based model of Google Analytics 4 is what really sets it apart. Each action a user performs on your website or app is considered an event. Learning how to use Google Analytics 4 events can help you get a comprehensive view of user activity so you can improve your website or app.

What are events in Google Analytics 4?

Events are what separates Google Analytics 4 from other reporting and analytics tools. Each event represents an action a user performs on your website, so you can use these events to figure out how people are using your website and which elements they're drawn to.

You can create events for page views, button clicks, scrolling, video engagement, and more. With custom events from Google Analytics 4, you can make sure you're tracking any potentially relevant user behavior on your website and app.

A lot of events are built into Google Analytics 4, which makes them easy to track even if you're not an expert. You can dive a little deeper with custom events that allow you to create your own events and their custom parameters, so you can track the data and behavior that's unique to your website.

Benefits of event tracking in Google Analytics 4

Cross-platform tracking is one of the reasons Google Analytics 4 is one of the best analytics tools. A lot of analytics platforms are restricted to websites, but you can use Google Analytics 4 to track user behavior on your website and on your mobile app. As you learn more about your customers and how they use your website or mobile app, you can use that data to make decisions about your marketing strategy and the user experience.

You can use Google Analytics on landing pages and websites, or you can use it to see which parts of your mobile app people tend to ignore. Either way, knowing which events to track and how to use that data is the key to getting the most out of Google Analytics.

Types of events in Google Analytics 4

There are four different types of events in Google Analytics 4. Knowing when to use each type of event helps you collect the most important data so you can make data-driven decisions about your mobile app and website.

Certain types of events are also a little more involved than other events, in terms of setup, so starting with the basics can help you ease your way into GA4. In this section, we'll break down the four types of Google Analytics 4events.

Automatically collected events

Automatically collected events are the events that are tracked by default when you connect Google Analytics to your website or app.

Some of the automatically tracked events include ad clicks and impressions, first website visits, and first app opens.

You don't have to do anything fancy to set up automatically collected events. Once you get GA4 set up on your website or mobile app, these events will automatically be tracked.

Enhanced measurement events

Enhanced measurement events are only collected if you've set up Google Analytics 4 and enabled the enhanced event measurement setting.

When you enable enhanced event measurement, you can track things like file downloads, video engagement if you have an embedded YouTube video on your web page, form interactions, and outbound clicks that lead to other websites.

To set up enhanced measurement events, start by opening Google Analytics and navigating to the Admin page. Before you proceed, make sure you're connected to the right account and property. Next, click Data Streams > Web, then toggle the Enhanced measurement switch on.

Recommended events

Recommended events have already been created and defined in Google Analytics, but they're not enabled by default and you can't switch them on with one setting. Instead, you need to implement these events one by one.

Some of our recommended events include app ad impressions, user searches, user logins, purchases, and refunds.

Setting up a recommended event with Google Analytics is as simple as adding some basic code to your website. This code varies depending on the platform you're tracking activity on and the event you're tracking.

Custom events

Unlike recommended events, you have to create and define custom events yourself. Once you've created an event, you can add it to your website using code like you would with a recommended event.

Custom events are useful if you're tracking events that are unique to your website or if you want to modify events that already exist. If you can't find what you're looking for in enhanced measurement or recommended events, custom events provide a solution. For example, if you use live chat support for your website or app, you can create a new event to track chat box activity and see how users are interacting with live chat.

To set up custom events in Google Analytics 4, you generally need to add code to your website to track custom events, much like tracking existing events. If you're tracking custom events on your website, you can use Google Tag Manager to avoid modifying site code.

Event tracking best practices

In terms of event tracking in Google Analytics 4, there are certain best practices you can follow to optimize your tracking setup and ensure accurate and meaningful data collection. Here are some best practices for event tracking in Google Analytics 4:

Define your objectives

Before you even start thinking about Google Analytics 4 events, think about your objectives for your website or app. Do you want to drive more sales? Are you trying to refine your website to get rid of unnecessary elements that people don't interact with?

Your objectives determine which events you need to track and how you use that data. Think about what you want to achieve and how event tracking through Google Analytics can help you achieve your goals.

Keep it simple

Google Analytics 4 is a vast platform with a lot of capabilities, but that doesn't mean you need to use every available feature for your website or mobile app. When it comes to tracking events, less is more in a lot of cases. Figure out what you want to track and try to stick with those events. Tracking unnecessary events can lead to an overwhelming amount of data that's hard to get any real value out of.

Parameters determine what kind of details you see for each tracked event. It may take a little time to adapt and learn, but using the right parameters is a key part of capturing relevant data that you can use to make crucial decisions. Take your time to learn more about Google Analytics event tracking parameters in Google Analytics 4 so you can make sure your events are set up right.

Regularly review your events

Your business can change quite a bit over time. As your business changes, your analytics needs often change with it. Take some time to review your events on a regular basis to make sure they're still collecting relevant data. Collecting data that's not relevant makes it harder to find what you're looking for, so make sure you're not bogging yourself down with a bunch of outdated events a few months down the road.

Track events with Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics 4 is one of the best ways to gain insights into how users interact with your website and your mobile app. As you learn more about Google Analytics 4 events and how to customize them, you can tailor your events to meet your unique needs.

Using the right tools makes your life a lot easier, and Mailchimp can help with that. You can integrate Google Analytics with Mailchimp, so you can track email marketing events as well as website and app events. You can even use event tracking with your A/B testing campaign. Try Mailchimp today to see how our suite of tools can help you harness the power of Google Analytics 4 events.