Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service from Google with which website and app operators can measure, evaluate and visualise their visitors’ behaviour. The tool is free to use in its standard variant and is considered the most widely used analytics product on the web. With the introduction of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google fundamentally modernised the system: instead of counting individual page views, GA4 treats user behaviour as a connected sequence of events across device and session boundaries. That makes customer journeys far more realistic to map than was possible in the Universal Analytics era.

What data does Google Analytics collect?

Google Analytics gathers a range of data points that are condensed into meaningful reports:

Audience data

The number of active users, new versus returning visitors, demographic characteristics, language, location at city or country level, plus the devices, operating systems and browsers used.

Acquisition data

Which channels visitors come through – organic search, paid ads, social media, direct visits or referrals from other websites. This shows which measures from the SEO and marketing mix actually deliver traffic.

Behavioural data

Which pages are viewed, in which order, how long users stay and where they drop off. Clicks on buttons, file downloads or video plays can be measured as separate events.

Conversion data

As soon as you define conversion events in GA4 – submitted contact forms, completed purchases or newsletter sign-ups; they’re evaluated per source, campaign and landing page.

How does the tracking work?

For data to be captured at all, a small JavaScript snippet (in GA4 the gtag or Google Tag Manager tag) is embedded in each page’s HTML code. As soon as a visitor opens the page, the script sends events to Google’s servers. By default, the script also writes one or more cookies to the device to recognise returning users and delimit sessions cleanly.

In GA4, almost everything is an event: page_view, scroll, click, file_download. That makes the tracking more flexible, but also demands a deliberate concept of which events genuinely matter for your goals. Embedding via Google Tag Manager is recommended, because tracking logic can be maintained there without a code deployment.

What companies use Google Analytics for

Evaluating marketing performance

Which campaign brings qualified visitors? Which channel has the lowest acquisition costs? Google Analytics makes advertising budgets measurable – the prerequisite for every data-driven decision.

Improving user experience

High bounce rates on individual pages, unusually short sessions or checkout abandonment are strong indicators of UX problems. The reports show where things jam, so content, navigation and performance can be optimised in a targeted way.

Measuring SEO impact

Which content gets found organically, which keywords lead to sessions with high dwell time, and in connection with Google Search Console it becomes visible how technical and content SEO measures play out.

Optimising conversions

By evaluating complete funnels, from the first page view to the completed goal – it becomes clear where users bail out and where optimisation potential hides.

GA4 versus Universal Analytics

Universal Analytics, the previous generation, was discontinued by Google on 1 July 2023; data processing in the old properties ended definitively on 1 July 2024. Anyone starting fresh today works exclusively with GA4. Key differences:

• Data model: GA4 is event-based, Universal Analytics was session-based.
• Cross-device tracking: GA4 combines web and app data in a single property.
• Retention period: 2 months by default (free variant) or 14 months.
• Reporting: fewer prebuilt reports, but flexible explorations and standard BigQuery integration.

Privacy and alternatives

Since Google Analytics can transmit personal data to servers in the USA, its use in the EU is only GDPR-compliant under certain conditions: it requires prior, active consent from visitors (a cookie banner with consent management), an adapted privacy policy, and ideally IP anonymisation and limited data retention. There are also data-frugal alternatives like Matomo, Plausible or Fathom, which we at aceArt regularly deploy for clients who want to avoid third-country transfers.

Conclusion

Google Analytics is a powerful tool for deriving real business decisions from web analytics data – provided the tracking concept fits your own goals and the legal framework is respected. If you’re planning a new website or want to migrate an existing tracking setup to GA4, think about privacy, event concept and reporting needs from the start. At aceArt we’re happy to support you with concept, implementation and ongoing evaluation.