Google Analytics 4 (GA4): the essential compass to understand your customers and boost your conversions

The web has changed, users have too, and analytics tools have had to adapt. With the definitive end of Universal Analytics, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has become the new standard for audience measurement.

But be careful: GA4 is not just a cosmetic update. It is a complete overhaul of how data is collected, analysed and used. No more obsession with “page views”: the focus is now on a detailed analysis of user behaviour. Here is why GA4 is a driver of your digital growth… provided it is properly configured.

1. A paradigm shift: everything is an event

The previous version of Google Analytics was built on “sessions” and “page views”. You knew a user had visited a page, but what they did there often remained unclear without advanced technical setup.

With GA4, the model is radically different: everything is based on events.

• Unprecedented granularity: every interaction becomes a distinct event. Some are measured automatically through “enhanced measurement”: page scrolling, outbound clicks, file downloads (a PDF quote, for example), plays of embedded YouTube videos. Others, such as a click on a call button or a contact form submission, are easily set up as custom events.
• The business advantage: you no longer just know whether people visit your website; you know how they interact with your content and when they decide to take action.

2. Privacy and artificial intelligence

The legal framework has tightened (GDPR and national regulators' guidance) and a growing share of visitors decline analytics cookies. How can you analyse your traffic when part of your audience becomes “invisible”?

• Data modelling: combined with Google's Consent Mode, GA4 can use machine learning to estimate the behaviour of visitors who declined cookies, based on those who accepted them. However, this modelling only kicks in above a certain daily traffic volume: on a small website, data remains partial.
• Predictive audiences: GA4 can calculate probabilities, such as the likelihood that an active user will make a purchase in the next 7 days or will not come back. These audiences, valuable for your ad campaigns, mainly apply to e-commerce websites and require a large volume of buyers and conversions.

3. Cross-device tracking for a unified customer journey

A buying journey is no longer linear. A prospect may discover your business on their smartphone during their commute, browse your services on their tablet in the evening, then fill in a contact form from their computer the next day.

• Fewer duplicates: where older solutions often saw three separate users, GA4 can merge these visits into a single journey. To do so, it relies first and foremost on a User-ID, available when your customers log in to a customer area or online shop. Without a login, matching across devices remains limited.
• Conversion attribution: thanks to the data-driven attribution model, you better understand which channels (SEO, social media, ads, email) really contribute to your sales, from the first contact to the final conversion.

What changes in practice

Conclusion: don't settle for the default configuration

Having GA4 is one thing; using it properly is another. A basic installation only gives a partial view of your performance. To turn this data into a real acquisition lever, you need to set up custom events, define your own conversions (key events) and cross-reference GA4 with Google Search Console, which shows what happens before the click. That is how you spot the pages where visitors drop off (see our article on traffic vs conversion) and complete the toolkit presented in SEO analysis tools.

Does your GA4 dashboard seem unreadable, or are you unsure your conversions are being tracked correctly? Contact us for an audit of your tracking plan and let's turn your data into strategic decisions.

Frequently asked questions

GUIGOUT SASDigital agency based in Bourg-en-Bresse, in the Ain region of France. With more than 20 years of expertise, we specialise in custom website design and search engine optimisation (SEO).