GA 4 Question
-
What differences are you typically seeing in Google Analytics 4 compared to UA? For one site I have, UA says there were 2,342 new users. GA4 says there were 1,899 new users for the same time period. Does that seem like a normal amount of difference between the two platforms?
-
The thing is, in UA, there are two user metrics while in GA4, there are three - New users, Total users, and Active users, with the last one being a primary user metric in GA4. This is the number of distinct users who visited your website; so the users who have an engaged session, or when analytics collects these parameters:
- the first_visit event from a website
- the first_open event from an Android app
- the first_open from an iOS app
I spent some time trying to figure out GA4 and how it's different in terms of Google Analytics affiliate tracking (talking about the software I use). For example, in GA4 there is maximum data retention of 14 months, so there is some data discrepancy between the two. On the bright side, a 7-hour session timeout window is available.
-
@emilycarimus Google Analytics 4 is different from UA in a few ways. For example, GA4 focuses more on events and user behavior, while UA tracks pageviews and sessions. Also, GA4 is still relatively new, so there may be some kinks to be worked out.
As for the difference in new user counts for your site, it's hard to say whether that's normal without more information. It could be due to differences in tracking methods, user behavior, or other factors. But it's not unusual for various analytics platforms to report slightly different numbers. That being said, the difference between 2,342 and 1,899 new users seems high, so it is worth investigating further to ensure everything is set up correctly.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Unsolved Solve a Lost GA Connection - can't get it to work
Hi, I followed all steps on https://moz.com/help/moz-pro/getting-started/troubleshoot-google-analytics?_ga=2.15852085.2007735045.1676157945-122376721.1676157945 below Solve a Lost GA Connection multiple times but I keep getting the message "Our connection to your Google Analytics account was lost. Don't worry, you won't lose any data. Please follow the steps in our guide to reconnect.
Moz Pro | | silvansoeters
" I am on the free trial and would obviously like to connect to GA to see how everything is working. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.0 -
Unsolved Google Analytics (GA4) recommendations for SEO analysis?
Guides on Moz and elsewhere mostly refer to Google Analytics' Universal Analytics (UA). However, UA is being replaced with GA4, and the interface, options, and reporting are very different. Can you recommend a clear, thorough, and effective walkthrough of how to set up useful SEO reports in GA4? Is there a simple tool you recommend that will help connect historical data from UA to GA4 when GA4 is the only option available? If there's no simple tool, what values do you recommend retaining from UA for effective historical reporting? How would you use them? At minimum for reporting, I'd want to show month-to-month changes and year-to-year changes (in percentages and in real numbers) for the following: all site visits all organic visits organic visits as a percentage of all site visits organic visits that led to a specific goal completion organic visits that led to any goal completion Thanks in advance for your help!
Reporting & Analytics | | Kevin_P1 -
Unsolved How to setup a campaign for new client who only has GA4
Hi there,
Moz Pro | | DanielDL
We want to setup a new Campaign, but in the step that it asks to connect a GA property, it says we can only use UA and not GA4.
(Also referenced here https://moz.com/help/moz-pro/getting-started/campaign-setup#traffic-connect-google-analytics and here https://moz.com/help/moz-pro/getting-started/connect-google-analytics) But .... how do we setup new campaigns if the client only has GA4 ?0 -
Custom Events Not Showing in GA4
I have some experience in successfully creating custom events for GA4 via Tag Manager, but I have one account where my events are firing in GTM but not showing at all in GA4 (not real time or anywhere). I have twice done them over and published my changes but still no luck. Any ideas what else the issue can be? There are no internal filters at the moment. Thank you.
Reporting & Analytics | | bradsimonis1 -
Since implementing GDPR, has anyone seen website traffic plummet?
On December 1 and 2, I implemented a cookie banner on 5 of my Wix sites (https://www.sanitationsolutionsinc.com is one example) in order to be in compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and LGPD. Since then my traffic according to Wix Analytics and Google Analytics has plummeted. Anyone else have the same issue? How did you fix it?
Reporting & Analytics | | Jason_Taylor0 -
Differences in site search revenue in GA
I just put in a piece of software to replace a really bad built in site search engine on my 3dcart website. Now I am trying to measure the change, but I am having some issues. When I check the ecom data in the conversions section of GA with the built in segment Performed Site Search, I get promising results. Approximately 5% revenue increase over LY. But if we jump to behavior, site search, usage, and then check the visits with site search, I get a decrease by 4%. And the actual revenue is off, by like double (150k compared to 80k) Anyone have any idea why I am getting these results? The site search function is set up. Tracking is enabled, query parameter is keyword and search url is /search.asp?keyword=
Reporting & Analytics | | ShockoeCommerce0 -
Setting up Webmaster Tools correctly - naked domain DNS error and sub-domains question
I'm trying to get our domain (verdantly.com) set up correctly in Google Webmaster Tools. Currently, I have three "sites" setup: blog.verdantly.com (wordpress.com blog redirected to this subdomain) www.verdantly.com verdantly.com The subdomain blog and www show up without errors. However, the naked domain shows a DNS error. I've checked the DNS settings at the registrar and don't see any issues. So here are my questions: 1. Am I correct in setting up the naked domain AND the subdomains separately in Webmaster tools? 2. How do I track down / resolve the source of the DNS errors at the naked domain? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | letsdothis0 -
Setting up Google Analytic Goals to a 3rd Party Site
I recently received help on a question I asked on SEOmoz but need additional clarification. I am trying to set up goals in Google Analytics for people who click on a “purchase botton” which sends them to PayPal. I created a Thank You page and tried to get PayPal to redirect to it, however, our customers only get to our site’s 404 page. Here is what I’ve done so far: Went into my PayPal account and turned the “Auto Return” to ‘on’ Under website payment preferences, I added the following URL http://www.teecycle.org/thank-youutm_nooverride1. (I formatted the URL this way because the person who provided me with help recommended using the format ?UTM_nooverride=1. However, our CMS system won’t allow “?” or “=”)
Reporting & Analytics | | EricVallee340