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GA4 Setup

Part 2 of many about GA4 and what is coming after UA

The next installments of the Analytics after UA, deals with detailed work you need to do to make sure you have access to GA4. Here is a step by step explanation of GA4 Setup:

Use the GA4 Setup Assistant to create a new GA4 property that collects data in parallel with your existing Universal Analytics property. There are no changes to your Universal Analytics property, and it continues to collect data as always. You can access both properties via the property selector or Admin screen.

Starting GA4 Setup

To use the GA4 Setup Assistant, you need the Editor role for the account.

1. 1. In Google Analytics, click Admin (lower left).
    admin at the lower left hand side
  2. In the Account column, make sure that your desired account is selected. (If you only have one Google Analytics account, it’s already selected.)
  3. In the Property column, select the Universal Analytics property that currently collects data for your website.
  4. In the Property column, click GA4 Setup Assistant. It’s the first option in the Property column.
  5. Click Get started under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property.
  6. In the Create a new Google Analytics 4 property pop-up screen, you’ll have one of the following options, depending on how your site is currently tagged:
    - Create and continue. Click this button to continue to the Set up a Google tag page.
    - Create property. If you see this option, this means that Analytics can reuse your existing Universal Analytics tagging for your GA4 property. Analytics will create a connected site tag between your Universal Analytics and GA4 properties. Select this option and skip to the Next steps with your new GA4 property section.
      Note for advanced users: This option implements standard data collection for your GA4 property. If you’ve implemented any custom tags for your UA property
  7. On the Set up a Google tag page, select the option that best describes your situation and follow the instructions to finish creating your new GA4 property.

Use the Google tag found on your website (Recommended)

Select this option to use the Google tag detected on your website to complete setup without making changes to your site’s code.
If desired, click Details to view your tag details.
Click Confirm to finish creating your new GA4 property.

Use a Google tag you already have

Select this option to reuse a Google tag that you already have admin access to. Click Choose a tag. You’ll see:

1. A list of tags you have admin access to.Tag IDs
2. Choose a tag labeled “On site” to complete setup without making changes to your site’s code. If you choose a tag labeled “Not detected”, you might need to install it. Select the Google tag you want to use, then click Confirm to finish creating your new GA4 property.

Install a Google tag

Select this option if you don’t have the Google tag installed on your website.

- Click Next to install a new Google tag on your website.
- On the Installation instructions page, you have 2 options:
  1. Install with a website builder: If you manage your site using certain website builders (or “CMS platforms,” like Wix or Duda), you can finish setting up your Google tag without making changes to your code.
  2. Install manually: Choose this option if one of the following is true:
    1. Your website builder/CMS does not yet support the Google tag (gtag.js)
    2. You or your web developer are manually tagging your website
    3. Your website is tagged with analytics.js
    4. You use Google Tag Manager

Option 1: Install with a website builder or CMS
If you manage your site using one of the platforms listed on the Installation instructions page, select your platform and follow the instructions to finish setting up your Google tag without making changes to your code.
If your platform doesn’t yet support the Google tag, you can use the manual installation option (below).

Option 2: Install manually
Choose this option if one of the following is true:

- - - Your website builder/CMS does not yet support the Google tag (gtag.js). Note: You’ll need to use your platform’s custom HTML feature
    - You or your web developer are manually tagging your website
      Your website is tagged with analytics.js
    - You use Google Tag Manager

How to manually install the Google tag
On the Install manually tab, you’ll see the JavaScript snippet for your Google tag. Copy and paste your entire Google tag in the code of every page of your website, immediately after the <head> element.

Your Google tag is the entire section of code that appears, beginning with:

<!– Google tag (gtag.js) –>

and ending with

</script>

Next steps with your GA4 setup

After you’re done with the wizard, you’ll see “You have successfully connected your properties” at the top of your Google Analytics 4 Property Setup Assistant page.If your Universal Analytics property name is “Example property (UA-nnnnnnn)”, your GA4 property name will be “Example property – GA4 (xxxxxxx)”, without a “UA-” prefix, and where xxxxxxx is a new property number.

GA4 Setup Assistant — GA4 Property setup assistant

We will continue with GA4 Configuration in the next post.

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Analytics after UA

Part 1 of many about GA4 and what is coming after UA

Hey there! Google Universal Analytics (UA) will sunset before you know it, and your analytics after UA will be dominated by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). I’m thrilled you’re joining me as we dive into the world of SEO analytics with GA4. GA4 is already emerging as the key to gaining comprehensive and user-centric insights into customer journeys across multiple devices and platforms. So, let’s dive in and uncover how GA4 can help us elevate our SEO game.

We might still be learning, but with GA4, we’ll be able to answer two critical questions: How do people find our website, and what do they do once they get there? The most significant change in GA4 is its user-centric approach to tracking and analysis. The new approach means we’ll look at the entire user experience rather than fragmented experiences on individual devices or mediums.

GA4 Events

Before we proceed, let’s familiarize ourselves with events in GA4. The platform is all about event-based tracking, simplifying the process of creating and customizing events, tracking conversions, and building reports. So, Events dominate the landscape of GA4. For example, in the table below, you can see that so many properties that we took for granted in UA are now specific events in GA4:

UA to GA4 — Google table describing some UA properties that are Events in GA4

Now, let’s talk about setting up events. GA4 automatically collects specific event data, but we should set up event tracking for the events that aren’t captured natively. This gives us significantly more data flexibility and empowers us by making it easy to design and personalize events.

event-based-vs-session-based — The difference between UA session-based model and GA4 event-based model. (Source: Rittman Analytics)

To make the most of GA4, we should start by auditing what our GA4 account is already tracking, understand the parameters we’d like to collect and think about the audiences and segments we’d like to build. We should also work backward to understand which events to track and consider event-tracking limitations when finalizing the list of custom events to collect.

In addition to defining events, there are a few GA4 settings we should be aware of. The native events are either web, app, or both. You can find a complete list of these events at Analytics Help.

One of the best things about GA4 is that it unlocks more powerful segmentation abilities, giving us better context around our organic performance. Segments are a subset of users, sessions, or events.

You can apply segments to explorations to focus on specific data sets. We can create segments based on users, sessions, and events, allowing us to ask essential questions and assess our SEO performance more effectively.

GA4 makes for better analytics

Google Analytics 4 is revolutionizing how businesses measure their online presence, and we’re learning about it together. With its advanced features and improved measurement capabilities, GA4 will help us better track and optimize our digital content to improve our SEO performance. So let’s keep learning and growing together!

Please remember, At the most basic level, you should extend the retention of user-level data to a maximum of 14 months as soon as we set up our GA4 property. Google is sunsetting Universal Analytics (UA) on July 1.

But don’t worry; many tools are out there to capture and store your UA data so you keep your historical UA data. Some of these tools host the event and will display it for you, and many more host it as google sheets.

In addition, you can use any number of visualization tools to access all of your historical performance data, giving you access to GA4 and UA metrics simultaneously for the same reports. If you need any help having your data retrieved or setup, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

SEO AND AI – Today

While writing another piece about the future of AI and Large Language models for our blog, it hit me: I need to address today’s realities more. So here is a piece on what we have on the relationship between SEO and AI, today.

Even though AI models like ChatGPT are exceptional at generating statistically likely text, there may be better choices for creative storytelling. However, AI-generated content serves a valuable purpose in functional content creation, which can benefit industries such as e-commerce, reference materials, and more.

To effectively utilize AI-generated content, consider the following action plan:

1. Identify functional content requirements: Understand the applicable content AI can efficiently generate, such as data-driven reports, event summaries, FAQ sections, how-to guides, news aggregation, job listings, legal documents, technical documentation, and directory listings. There are certain content types that AI excels at, and we recommend that you limit your functional content to the following:
  1. - Data-driven reports
    - Event summaries
    - FAQ sections
    - How-to guides and tutorials
    - Compiling and summarizing news
    - Job listings
    - Legal and policy documents
    - Technical documentation
    - Directory listings
2. Kickstart large-scale content projects: Leverage AI-generated content to quickly create a critical mass of content for projects like recipe collections or travel guides. Building on AI content can help you reach your content goals more rapidly while maintaining quality through proper SEO and content management practices.
3. Optimize keywords with AI: Use AI like ChatGPT to explore alternative keywords, questions, or concerns related to your content and rewrite sections accordingly. Using AI to optimize your long-chain keywords will help ensure your content is more engaging and relevant to your target audience.

For example, we worked with a startup founder to successfully use ChatGPT to generate his pitch outline to present his platform, resulting in a significant increase in interest and, finally, his crucial customer’s adoption of his platform.

In summary, to create a cohesive thought and action plan, you should focus on:

- Identifying the correct type of content for AI-generated content creation
- Utilizing AI-generated content to kickstart large-scale projects
- Employing AI for keyword optimization and audience engagement

By following this action plan, you can make the most of AI-generated content to enhance your content strategy and achieve your goals.

The Future of SEO and Virtual Agents

This article is the fourth installment in our series discussing search and the increasing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This installment delves into the evolution of the search function, the Intelligent Agents, and the interaction of goal-oriented search, Virtual Assistants (VA), end-users, and businesses.

The future of SEO means shifting to L2O.

Artificial intelligence is changing how we interact with the digital world. Soon, AI Assistants will collect and act on massive amounts of data on our behalf. These assistants will force drastic changes in the search and search display definition. In many instances, making the act of searching nearly undetectable. However, we have not reached the utopian society depicted in 24th-century Star Trek. So, the creators of these VAs will devise ways to keep their systems updated with the latest information. The updated content will be retrieved from public content. The fresh content will be selected with a new type of SEO, L2O.

Virtual Assistant and the Future of Search

With the rapid advance of AI, bots can quickly process, analyze, and synthesize data and take action. Bots are transforming from our knowledge engines to our Virtual Assistants (VA). VAs predict our needs, desires, and preferences with unprecedented accuracy and will affect desired results. So, instead of googling and using phones or browsers, we interact with our VAs, state our goals, and watch it complete the task.

The shift towards proactive, predictive and personalized search will have profound implications for how we experience the internet. Traditional search engines will be replaced by AI Agents(1). The AI will operate seamlessly in the background, and take appropriate action for its user.

The Future of SEO craft

The need for a new approach to search engine optimization is apparent as the web is increasingly driven by AI. L2O, or LLM Optimization, ensures that AI-powered systems can easily access, understand, and use the latest information.

L2O helps optimize the content and improve the compatibility between human-generated content and the AI systems that will increasingly dominate our online experience. The future of SEO involves creating content easily digestible by AI systems and developing strategies to ensure that the most relevant and up-to-date information is readily accessible to these platforms.

If you own a Moroccan restaurant, you want to provide detailed dynamic content about the ambiance, experience, quality, availability, and the menu. Then when a VA tries to find the best North African Cuisine in Los Angeles, you are available. Finally, combined with your reviews and social information, the VA makes an informed yet biased decision and makes a reservation at your restaurant.

The future of SEO is about biasing the VAs rather than actively increasing the traffic to a website. But here is the funny thing, L2O involves most of the components of today’s SEO.

One key component of L2O involves creating structured data that AI systems can quickly process and interpret. L2O will include using metadata, semantic markup, and voice search optimization that help AI systems understand the context, the flavor, and the meaning of content more effectively. L2O also emphasizes the importance of maintaining a robust online presence through regular updates, high-quality content, and strategic partnerships with other reputable sources of information.

Challenges and Opportunities

Several challenges exist as we move toward a future where Virtual assistants dominate(2) the web. For one, the increased reliance on AI may exacerbate existing inequalities and social biases, as AI systems may be more likely to favor the freely available content overload from established or well-funded sources.

VAs may prove far more gullible because of the upcoming data privacy limitations. Social bias, knowledge overload, and data privacy concerns could limit the diversity of information available to the VAs and easily allow for Black Hat techniques.

However, the evolution of SEO to L2O presents numerous opportunities for businesses, content creators, and individuals. By embracing L2O strategies, organizations can position themselves at the forefront of this new digital landscape, ensuring that their content remains visible and relevant in the age of AI-driven search.

The rise of AI-powered Assistant Artifacts signals a fundamental shift in how we interact with the digital world. As search becomes increasingly predictive and personalized, the importance of L2O as a means of optimizing content for AI systems will only continue to grow.

By understanding and embracing this new paradigm, we can ensure that the internet remains a rich and diverse source of information, even as we navigate the uncharted territory of an AI-driven future.

1- CMS Wire, What to Expect From the Future of Virtual Agents, Andie Burjek, 02/24/23

2- Data Driven Investor, AI Agent Companies, Harsha Angeri, 04/06/23

Leveraging SEO for Revenue Growth

Revenue growth through search engine optimization (SEO) necessitates a comprehensive approach beyond rankings and website traffic. It entails concentrating on content quality, comprehensiveness, and communication between marketing and sales departments. We’ll look at maximizing revenue development through SEO by developing focused content, integrating sales and marketing activities, and optimizing your website for conversions in this blog article.

Targeted Content That Aligns with Your Business Goals

Generating focused content corresponding to your business objectives is critical to achieving revenue growth through SEO. Revenue growth entails creating content that targets your target audience’s demands and interests while highlighting your products or services’ unique selling proposition (USP). Consider the following suggestions:

a. Conduct extensive keyword research to uncover high-value keywords related to your business and your target audience’s search intent.

b. Create content that meets the search intent behind these keywords, offering your audience insightful, engaging, and actionable insights.

c. Optimize your content for search engines by naturally including your goal keywords and ensuring it is well-structured and easy to navigate.

Align Sales and Marketing Efforts for a Unified Content Strategy

It is critical to link your sales and marketing teams for SEO to drive revenue development effectively. Therefore, it would be best to encourage collaboration across various divisions to create a single content strategy that satisfies client needs throughout the sales funnel. Consider the following steps to accomplish this alignment:

a. Promote open communication between your sales and marketing departments, fostering a shared knowledge of your company’s goals, target audience, and ideal customer profile.

b. Create a shared content calendar with input from both teams to ensure your content addresses consumer pain points and guides them through the sales funnel.

c. Put a mechanism for tracking and measuring content performance in place, and use data-driven insights to improve your content strategy and SEO efforts.

Optimize Your Website for Conversions

Maximizing revenue growth through SEO and funnel optimization go hand in hand. Optimizing conversion rates involves creating a seamless user experience that encourages visitors to take the desired actions, such as purchasing or signing up for a newsletter. Consider the following tips for optimizing your website for conversions:

a. Improve site speed and performance, ensuring your website loads quickly and functions smoothly on all devices.

b. Implement clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide users towards the desired actions.

c. Utilize conversion rate optimization (CRO) techniques, such as A/B testing and heatmap analysis, to identify all areas for improvement and optimize your website’s conversion potential.

Leverage Data-Driven Insights to Improve SEO Strategy

To generate long-term revenue growth through SEO, you must constantly modify and optimize your strategy based on data-driven insights. You can make informed judgments about your content, marketing, and sales activities by studying your website’s performance, user behavior, and search trends. Consider the following procedures:

a. Review your website’s analytics data regularly to find trends, patterns, and opportunities for improvement.

b. Monitor your website’s performance, check keyword ranks, and spot chances for optimization using tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics.

c. Iterate on your content strategy regularly, including fresh insights and data to produce focused, high-quality content that supports revenue growth.

Utilize Topic Clusters to Improve SEO and Provide Comprehensive Information

Topic clusters can boost your website’s SEO while offering viewers detailed information. Make your website more organized and user-friendly by grouping relevant content around a core pillar page. Consider the following steps to put subject clusters in place:

a. Identify essential themes significant to your company and audience, and construct pillar pages that provide a high-level summary of these issues.

b. Create supporting content such as blog articles, videos, and infographics that go deeper into subtopics linked to your key topics.

c. Connect your supporting content to the pillar page and vice versa, forming a network of related content that improves SEO and delivers a consistent user experience.

Monitor Competitor Strategies and Adjust Your SEO Efforts Accordingly

Monitoring your competitors’ strategies and altering your optimization efforts is critical. By monitoring your competitors’ content, keywords, and website performance, you can spot gaps and openings that will allow you to exceed them in search results. Consider the following procedures:

a. Conduct regular competitor research to determine target keywords, content strategies, and website optimizations.

b. Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Moz to compare the performance of your website to that of your competitors and identify areas for improvement.

c. Based on your results, adjust your SEO strategy, capitalizing on possibilities to generate better content, target new keywords, and optimize your website for enhanced performance.

In conclusion, increasing income through SEO requires a comprehensive approach incorporating targeted content, sales and marketing alignment, website optimization, and data-driven insights. By applying these strategies, you can improve your website’s visibility in search engines and ensure that your content resonates with your target audience and efficiently walks them through the purchasing process. This potent combination of SEO and revenue-focused content can help your company achieve long-term growth and success.

You can read about the latest changes in Google and SEO on our blog.