Once you have installed Google Analytics 4, you can begin tracking events. To get started, visit the chapter 2.6, ‘All properties’ in the Google Analytics guide. From here, you can add custom properties to track everything from site visits to sales. Once you have your properties setup, your account will automatically track events. If you have any questions, you can always contact support. Alternatively, you can check out the FAQ section.
Limitations of tracking events in Google Analytics 4
It can be a challenge to know exactly which GA4 events to track, and the limitations of tracking events in GA4 are often frustrating. The good news is that GA4 has a flexible data model, so you can use different names for events. There are also some recommended events that Google recommends you implement. These should help you understand your data and use Google Analytics’ Machine Learning capabilities, although they haven’t yet been publicly disclosed. These events are also recommended by Google with parameters. The method parameter is an important one, since it enables you to determine what actions are performed by visitors on your site.
There are two types of tracking events in GA4. The first is codeless tracking, which doesn’t require engineers to develop a tracking event. The second type is custom events, which your team chooses to track. While you can still track event values and content, they won’t work as well for Ecommerce. Using custom events and event values can also help you capture similar data. If you’re concerned about the limitations of tracking events in GA4, Google recommends you use Google Tag Manager for tracking ecommerce data.
If you don’t want to create custom events, you can use Google’s data collection feature. The problem is that Google Analytics can only store data on ten million hits per month in its universal version. It’s not clear whether or not this limit will apply to other EU member states as well. Google has provided a number of features that previously only existed in the Google Analytics 360. These include cross-device user journeys, deeper integrations with Google Ads, and more.
One of the most common problems with custom events is that they are not compatible with Universal Analytics. Since the two versions of GA4 have different event names, it’s important to avoid reusing the same event names. While GA4 is highly flexible, it has limits of 500 unique event names per client ID. For example, menu link click tracking trigger conditions are not the same for all websites. A custom event will not work if you don’t specify the correct parameters and names.
To track event types, you can use a spreadsheet. Each column should contain an event name and its associated metric. The naming convention is important because it affects the amount of data you can store in a spreadsheet. You should also be aware of the naming convention for events, which varies depending on who is setting up the tracking. You may also want to use custom events with a user property. These are similar to Universal Analytics user scoped custom dimensions, but apply to all events from hit onwards.
Another limitation of tracking events in GA4 is that it does not support universal analytics. While this feature may be beneficial for you if you use it wisely, you should be aware that it has some limitations. For example, you cannot migrate data from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. Nonetheless, this feature will improve your data quality, and allow you to see a single report across all user paths. With custom events, you can track more data and isolate your target audience more accurately.
Limitations of tracking conversions in Google Analytics 4
Tracking conversions in GA4 isn’t the same as using goals. GA4 uses conversions, which are events that occur after a visitor has completed a specific activity. Those activities can include filling out a form, subscribing to a newsletter, or purchasing a product. In the legacy version of GA, called universal analytics, a user’s conversion occurred when they completed a goal. In GA3, users were able to set up as many as 20 goals per property, so it was easy to see what type of conversion was taking place. In GA4, users need to create an additional view or edit an existing goal to track conversions.
While tracking conversions in GA4 is easier than in UA, some marketers might find these limitations frustrating. Google Analytics offers several limitations, including the need to configure custom dimensions in each property. One way to fix this issue is to switch to a different web analytics platform altogether. Piwik PRO is an alternative web analytics platform. A few of its limitations can be remedied by following these steps:
In Google Analytics, you can also turn any event into a conversion. To do this, you can create a custom event. Make sure you plan out what you’ll call these events in advance and use distinct event names for important interactions. However, you’ll want to use distinct event names for the most important conversions, such as page views and form submissions. This way, you’ll know exactly how many conversions your site has experienced.
Limitations of data collection in Google Analytics 4
You should be aware of the limitations of Google Analytics, including sampling and data collection limits. These limitations are common for most companies, especially those that don’t have the resources to upgrade to the premium 360 version of the software. Fortunately, you can solve this problem with parallel tracking. This method transfers raw hit-level Google Analytics data to a third-party data warehouse, such as BigQuery. This solution helps you understand and manage your data collection limits.
While the new features of GA4 allow you to collect more data, these limitations can cause frustration. You should create a general data collection logic before you implement GA4. If you don’t, you can still collect the same data with an extra step by using BigQuery, but you may encounter export restrictions and end up paying to store garbage data. If you have no data collection logic built into your website, you may want to switch to a different analytics platform.
Besides these limitations, Google Analytics also has many features that make it an excellent tool for tracking user behavior. You can use third-party reporting tools to complement the data Google collects and store it in a database. Alternatively, you can use an ETL tool to integrate your data with other data sources. For example, Hevo is a fully managed ETL tool that supports over 100 data sources, including Google Analytics data.
While Google Analytics allows the collection of data from various platforms, there are some limitations that make it impossible to build a good user flow based on event-based analytics. Google Analytics 4 improves data quality and allows you to create a single report that spans the user’s journey. As a result, your reports will have more information about your visitors’ behavior than ever before. You’ll also have a better idea of what to do with all the data Google Analytics provides you.
In addition to data import, Google Analytics 4 can only export data to a database called BigQuery. However, this type of data requires more processing and is not as flexible as other analytics. It also has limited functionality for importing costs from non-Google sources, though developers are working on incorporating this feature into Google Analytics 4.
While most reports are always unsampled, there are some that are not. For example, if you use the ‘page’ dimension, you’ll find that the values are not unique for every URL. This is also true for other types of data, such as conversions and visits. This type of data is not sampled in Universal Analytics. But the number of reports available for custom parameters is much greater.