SEO

7 Common Google Analytics 4 Configuration Mistakes To Avoid

Published

11 months ago

May 29, 2023

7 Common Google Analytics 4 Configuration Mistakes To Avoid

If you had a chance to read previous guides we’ve published on Google Analytics 4 (GA4), you probably know that it is not a plug-and-play analytics tool like Universal Analytics was.

There is a lot of information one needs to absorb in order to be able to set up GA4 properly, and time is ticking.

Screenshot from Google, May 2023

With GA4 being a more complex tool, it’s easy to make mistakes that can hinder the accuracy and reliability of the data collected.

In this article, we will explore five common Google Analytics 4 mistakes that can easily happen and provide practical tips to avoid them.

1. Not Setting Data Retention Period

GA4 comes with a two-month data retention period by default, and you have the option to set it to 14 months. The retention period is applied to custom reports in explorations, whereas data in the standard reports never expire.

Once the retention period has passed, data will be automatically deleted – which means if you don’t change that setting as you set up GA4, you will not be able to run YoY custom reports and will lose valuable historical data.

In order to change the retention period, navigate to Data Settings > Date Retention, and in the dropdown, choose 14 months.

Retention setting.

You will also notice a checkbox reading “Reset user data on new activity,” which means the 14-month data retention period is counted from the moment of the user’s last visit onwards.

In other words, each time a user engages in a new activity, their data retention period gets extended for another 14 months.

Honestly, I can’t think of a use case when you would choose to turn that option off, so I keep it switched on.

2. Dimensions With High Cardinality

High-cardinality dimensions are dimensions that contain more than 500 unique values within a single day. This can present challenges and limitations in data analysis within GA4.

Cardinality in GA4 can negatively affect data accuracy and reliability.

For example, when you track the exact word count as a custom dimension on every article page, you may end up having high cardinality if you have thousands of articles because the word count can be different for every article.

How To Fix High Cardinality

To mitigate the impact of high cardinality in GA4, consider creating a bucket of values.

With the example above of word count custom dimension, it really doesn’t matter that much whether the article will have 500 or 501 words. You can bucket values into ranges like:

<500.
500-1000.
1001-1500.
1501-2000.
+2000.

And instead of pushing too many distinct values, you will have only five different dimensions.

Also, as a best practice, always define custom dimensions wisely.

Ensure that custom dimensions align with your analysis objectives and consider their potential impact on data accuracy and resource consumption.

3. Not Linking To BigQuery Account

Linking to BigQuery was available in Universal Analytics 360 but not in the free version. With GA4 now, all users have access to that premium feature.

Since it is exporting data to BigQuery from the moment you connect, it’s important to set it up at the beginning in order to have as much historical data as possible.

BigQuery has a big advantage over GA4 custom reports as data is never sampled, whereas in custom reports, data will be sampled if there are more than 10M events in the exploration report.

In order to link GA4 to BigQuery, navigate to BigQuery Links in your GA4 settings.

In order to complete linking to BigQuery, you would need to create a BigQuery project which will require you to enter your billing information.

It is freemium, and 10 GB is free each month; it will charge you $0.02 per GB if you exceed that number.

4. Failing To Set Up Custom Audiences

GA4 has powerful audience-building capabilities you can read more about in our guide on how to create segments and audiences.

With GA4 audiences, you can analyze specific data segments, empowering you to derive valuable insights. For instance, you can create target audiences such as engaged users, subscribed users, or users who made a purchase in the past 30 days.

It is advisable to create audiences for your ICP and mark it as a conversion.

Since audience dates are not retroactive, it is important to define your target audiences at the beginning of setup in order to gather historical data.

5. Using Auto Migration From Universal Analytics

GA4 is a totally different beast compared to UA, with a different data model.

Even though it offers the option to automatically collect Universal Analytics events, it is better not to use that, as it is a chance to rethink your analytics and design your event collection architecture anew for better analytics.

Collect Universal Analytics events.

6. Not Excluding Unwanted Referrals

Often ecommerce websites have third-party payment processors which are hosted under different domains – and when redirecting them back to the website after the user completes a checkout, GA will detect it as a new session because the referral is different.

In order to avoid that and not distort your conversions data, you need to exclude such domains from referrals so GA doesn’t initiate a new session.

At SEJ, for example, we have the short link “sejr.nl” domain, which should be treated as the same domain – so we added it to our exclusion list.

Also, if you have subdomains and want to track across subdomains using the same GA4 property, you need to exclude your own domain from referrals in order to keep the same session when users navigate from one subdomain to your main domain.

7. Not Choosing The Right Reporting Identity

The following reporting identity options are available in GA4:

Blended.
Observed.
Device-based.

Reporting identity option.

The good news is you can switch back and forth between these options anytime, and it will reflect in your custom exploration reports.

But I would like to mention why it’s important to choose the right option according to your business case.

If you don’t have login and user IDs on your website, 99% of cases should go with “device-based,” because the other two options may distort your conversions data.

The reason is the user’s privacy. With Google signals enabled, GA uses user IDs to track users across devices, then matches them if they are logged in to their Google service accounts on different devices – and there is a chance that user identity may be exposed.

In such cases, it hides user data from the reports and models data based on user behavior. Modeling of data can introduce some level of inaccuracy because it’s an estimation rather than an exact measurement.

With modeled and observed options, you will often notice “Data thresholds are applied” in your reports which have implications for data accuracy.

Thresholding applied.

You may try switching between these options and see how your data is changing.

If you notice a significant difference in the number of conversions between blended, observed identities, and device-based, it may be preferable to use the latter option.

Device-based identity works similarly to how Universal Analytics tracking works.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is crucial to avoid common configuration mistakes when setting up Google Analytics 4 to ensure accurate and reliable data collection.

By understanding these potential pitfalls and taking the necessary measures, you can make the most of GA4’s capabilities and derive meaningful insights for your website or application.

Additionally, GA4 requires ongoing maintenance rather than a one-time setup.

Failing to regularly monitor and analyze your data can lead to missed opportunities and make it difficult to identify and address issues on time.

More resources:

Featured Image: Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock

Related Topics:analytics Avoid Common Configuration Google Mistakes seo

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brightonSEO Live Blog

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4 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of ~~sun~~, sea, and SEO!

Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.

Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary.

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Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome

Published

7 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Max

Close-up of a document with a grid and a red stamp that reads "delayed" over the word "status" due to Chrome's deprecation of third-party cookies.

Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.

The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.

Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025

Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.

Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

The statement reads:

“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”

Continued Engagement With Regulators

Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.

This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.

The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.

Transition Period & Impact

In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.

However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.

The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.

While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.

Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.

Publisher & Advertiser Implications

The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.

Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.

However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.

With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.

Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock

SEO

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

Published

1 day ago

April 24, 2024

Max

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.

However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.

To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

Writing Prompts For ChatGPT

What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?

A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.

The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.

Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.

ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.

How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT

Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”

ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.

Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.

If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.

For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”

Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.

However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.

Must-Have GPTs Assistant

I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.

This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.

It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)

Screenshot from ChatGPT, April 2024

For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.

With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.

Master Reverse Prompt Engineering

ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.

By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.

One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.

This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.

Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.

Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts

First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.

Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.

Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”

Reverse Prompt engineering via WebChatGPT

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”

Reverse prompt engineering: Amazon product

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”

Reverse prompt engineering an SEJ blog post

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.

Go Deeper

Prompts and examples for SEO:

Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”

Important Considerations:

Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.

Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.

Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.

Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques

Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.

Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.

Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.

This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.

More resources:

Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock