You must have heard that from July 1 this year Universal Analytics (UA) was discontinued and that it was succeeded by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Despite the fact that many people did not like this change, we are left with few options but to accept it.
Anticipating this change in how Google measures traffic, Orioly has enabled a new Google Analytics 4 widget to ease the integration of GA4 and your website.
Google Analytics is a free web traffic analysis tool. Although there are other similar tools in the market, GA4 is currently the most popular platform for collecting website data.
It allows you to monitor traffic, analyze visitor behavior and review the effectiveness of marketing campaigns on your website.
For those of you wondering why GA4 replaced Universal Analytics, it was primarily to collect new data. Due to increasing restrictions such as GDPR, as well as the increase in the use of mobile devices to access websites and webshops, the change was necessary.
That’s why GA4 is based on artificial intelligence (AI) for data collection and analysis, which enables more accurate user tracking, even when the user uses different devices and channels (web, iOS, Android).
Furthermore, GA4 focuses on the analysis of user behavior, which has become increasingly important in today’s mobile, user-centric world.
In order to measure website events, i.e. the behavior of web visitors, you must first create a Google Analytics account.
Next, you need to add a short measurement JavaScript code to each page on the site. Each time a user visits a website, the tracking code will collect pseudo-anonymous information about how that user interacted with the page.
In short – GA4 works in such a way that you have to know exactly which parameters you want to monitor and what your goals are so that you can set the so-called events that will show you the desired analytics.
This could be, for example, how many people visited your website, how many clicked on the Book now button, and how many actually completed the booking.
Google Analytics 4 events are used to measure specific interactions and activities on your website or app.
An event can be applied to measure various actions, such as loading a page, clicking a link, completing a purchase, or to monitor system behavior, such as an error occurring or an application crashing.
By measuring and analyzing these data, we can more easily see which parts of the website (or which promotional activities) we need to improve in order to achieve preset business goals.
Tracking website conversions is therefore crucial for making better business decisions.
Conversions are actually events that we mark as goals. We can divide them into macro (more important) and micro (less significant) conversions.
Examples of macro conversions:
Examples of micro conversions:
As we already mentioned, there are three ways to log in to Google Analytics:
Once you’ve created a Google Analytics account, it’s time to create a Google Tag Manager account as well, if you don’t have one.
Then email us to support@orioly.com or contact us directly through the chat app with the subject “Request for Orioly Template container for Google Tag Manager” to receive the file with the container template.
We have created this template to help you prevent possible errors during installation, given the complexity of their creation.
The first thing you need to do is to install the Orioly Template container to your Google Tag Manager Account.
Login to your Google Tag Manager account.
Click the gear icon on the top right corner of your active container.
Click “Import Container” and select the file that was sent to your email by our support team.
Once you have it installed, now it’s time to connect Google Tag Manager with your Google Analytics 4 account. Do that by following the steps below:
Open the container that you have set up with the Orioly Container Template file.
Click on “Tags” in the left menu.
Select the tag “Google Analytics GA4 Configuration”.
Click “Tag Configuration” and replace the Measurement ID with the one in your Google Analytics 4 account.
Save the changes.
Login to your Google Analytics 4 account and click “Admin” tab.
Click “Data Streams” under the Property menu on the right.
Select the data stream you want to collect data for and click the “Copy” option under the MEASUREMENT ID section.
NOTE: The Measurement ID is a 10 digits code in the format G-XXXXXXXXXX.
In order to activate data collection for your GA4, you need to do some extra setup to your account.
Open your Google Analytics account and go to the “Admin” section on the left menu.
Click “Data Streams” and select the data stream you want to set up.
Select “Configure tag settings” under the Google tag section.
Select the “Show all” option under Settings and click “Override cookie settings”.
Tick the box for “Override default cookie settings” and set the Cookie expiration time to 1h. Leave the rest as it is and click Save.
Now it’s time to activate Google Tag Manager on your Orioly account.
Login to your Orioly account.
Click “Widgets & Plugins” on the dropdown menu in the top right corner of the application.
Under Google Tag Manager click “Enable” and paste your Google Tag Manager Container ID.
NOTE: Access your Google Tag Manager account and copy the Container ID of the Orioly Container Template. It is located in the third column in the same line as the container name.
Choose the widgets you want to track data from and click “Save“.
NOTE: We recommend you leave the option “All” selected to collect as much data as possible regarding your customers’ behavior when booking with you.
To make sure everything is working as expected, install the Tag Assistant Companion extension for Chrome.
NOTE: If the Google Tag Manager tag is marked in a different color than green or if it’s not being displayed, contact your tech support and request a proper installation of the tag.
Although setting up and integrating Google Analytics 4 can be very confusing at first, the fact is that it is a tool that can provide you with very valuable information about the performance of your website and your marketing strategy.
Take advantage of it and start tracking data today.
Read our next features:
ORIOLY
on July 27, 2023
Receive the latest news and resources in your inbox
In this ebook you will learn strategies to boost your digital marketing efforts, and the best part, at a low and even zero cost for your business.
Get eBook
Learn about payment providers for tour operators to help you choose a payment gateway that suits better your business.
by Felipe Fonseca on September 26, 2023
