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The 5 Most Common Reporting Errors in GA4
Released in beta in October 2020, GA4 became mandatory for all non-360 accounts as of July 2023. From that point on, accounts with GA4 integration must manage their entire reporting workflow through GA4.Although GA4’s interface is more user-friendly than Universal Analytics, many reporting errors still occur. In this article, we cover the five most common GA4 reporting mistakes and how to fix them. Missing Data Sometimes you’ll see no data at all in GA4. This usually happens because the tracking code is installed incorrectly or blocked in the user’s browser. To fix it: In GA4, go to Property → Data Streams → Web and copy the Measurement ID of your stream. Install that ID either by hard-coding it into your page source or by adding a “GA4 Configuration” tag in GTM. Data Duplication Often this is caused by having the GA4 snippet both hard-coded and deployed via GTM. Use only one method—either install directly in your HTML or via GTM, but not both. Misinterpreting Data – UA vs. GA4 Comparison Universal Analytics (UA) and GA4 use different data models (UA: session/last-click; GA4: event/last-engagement) and serve different use cases. Comparing their reports side by side leads to confusion. Instead: Learn what each metric and dimension means in its own context. Choose the tool that best fits your needs rather than forcing a direct comparison. For more details, see: Differences Between UA and GA4 Attribution Model Differences Last Non-Direct Click: Ignores direct traffic and credits the last non-direct source. Last Click: Includes all sources and credits the very last click. Invalid Data Filters Filters that are too strict or misconfigured can exclude valid data. Check your filters under Admin → Data Settings → Data Filters and ensure you only filter out truly unwanted traffic. Overwhelmed Analysis Interface When you have thousands of events and parameters, GA4’s UI can become unwieldy. For large datasets, enable the GA4–BigQuery link and perform your complex queries in BigQuery for more reliable, scalable analysis.
Website Design from an Analytics Perspective
A website’s UX compatibility and healthy analytics measurement require the site design and technical infrastructure to be structured according to the following points: The GTM (Google Tag Manager) snippet must load before the dataLayer. This ensures that the data needed for analytics and tracking is collected and recorded correctly. If the GTM snippet loads after the dataLayer, it can lead to missing or inaccurate data. Therefore, loading GTM before the dataLayer is essential. Technically, the page structure should not be a single-page application. Single-page sites often cause problems for Analytics measurement and GTM setups. Single-Page; i.e., one-page websites that present all content on a single page. Users scroll or search within that single page to find the content they need. Why Your Site Shouldn’t Be Single-Page Content Density: If a site has a lot of content, cramming it all onto one page makes searching and scanning harder. Splitting content across multiple pages helps users find what they need more easily. SEO Improvements: A multi-page structure allows unique meta tags, titles, and descriptions per page, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index each page. Load Time: Too much content on one page slows down loading. Multiple pages reduce load time and improve user experience. Management Ease: Managing and updating content is simpler when it’s organized across several pages rather than all on one. Content Focus: Multi-page sites let you optimize each page for a single topic or purpose, making messaging clearer and helping users find relevant content. Of course, every site has different needs, and some cases may suit a single-page design. But generally, multi-page sites organize content better, enhance UX, and are more SEO-friendly. Follow Jakob’s Law in your site design to give users a familiar, efficient experience. Instead of reinventing the wheel, integrate standard interaction patterns and refine your design accordingly. When positioning elements, remember user attention decreases from header to footer. Critical conversion-driving components should be placed where they will get the most visibility. The menu should reflect a clear category hierarchy and serve users efficiently, in line with UX best practices. A site’s category hierarchy organizes content and guides users to find what they need. It shows relationships between topics and improves navigation. For example, an e-commerce store uses nested product categories, while a news site groups articles by topic and subtopic.Category hierarchies also help site search engines surface relevant results within a selected category, making content discovery easier. Add a breadcrumb trail made of subcategories so both users and search engines can understand and navigate the site structure. Breadcrumb is a navigation element that shows a page’s position within the site. It typically appears near the top of the page as a series of links like “Home > Section > Subsection”. Pages should load ideally in under 2.5 seconds. Page speed is critical for Analytics and CRO, so optimize technically for fast performance. Use the brand colors and typography defined in the brand book consistently across all elements. Keep URLs as short and meaningful as possible. Append paths that follow the category hierarchy. On an e-commerce site, structure the funnel so users start their conversion path as quickly as possible, offering a straightforward, fast, practical experience. Optimize images: product image files should be under 100 KB to maintain speed. Banner sizes may vary. Also ensure filenames and alt text match the image and page content for better crawling. Downloadable links (e.g., PDFs) should not open in a new page. Serve them directly so tracking treats them as downloads. Avoid “ghost search” in-site search implementations. They hinder tracking and analysis of search terms. Ghost Search automatically shows results before a user types in the search box. While meant to help discovery, it can surface irrelevant results and hurt performance. It’s better to implement a simple, user-friendly search that returns accurate results without extra resource usage. Minimize click depth: users should reach content in as few clicks as possible (ideally 2–3). Deep hierarchies hurt UX; design to keep navigation shallow. On an e-commerce site, prevent “dead clicks” by prompting users when they miss an action (e.g., “Add to cart” or login). This reduces drop-off and improves conversion rate. Banner images linking to listing pages should include clickable links so users can initiate the conversion journey directly. On product pages, add a related-products slider (“You might also like”) to increase engagement and conversion.
2023 Trends in the Digital World
The digital world continues to grow and evolve with advancing technology. In order to keep up with innovations driven by leading tech companies like Google, Meta, and Apple, brands and websites must follow the latest trends of 2023 and integrate them into their own practices. In this article, we’ll share the key digital trends for 2023 so you can improve your measurement, stay on trend, and remain competitive in digital marketing.What Awaits Us in 2023?In 2023, the data and analytics driving digital marketing will shift toward a more human-centered approach, with artificial intelligence and machine learning playing an increasingly prominent role. As emphasis on data security grows, analytics professionals will take on ever more critical responsibilities. The practical trends we expect in 2023 are: More Human-Centered Digital Marketing: Delivering personalized, human-centric experiences will be essential. Marketers will leverage customer behavior, interests, and purchase data to craft highly targeted campaigns. Rise of AI & ML Applications: Artificial intelligence and machine learning will become more widespread, enabling deeper data analysis, more accurate predictions, and faster decision-making. AI will help marketers create more effective campaigns by understanding individual interests and purchase behavior. Greater Emphasis on Data Security: With rising data breaches and cyberattacks, companies will invest more in protecting customer data. Privacy regulations like GDPR will guide best practices. Advanced Data Visualization: Comprehensive visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Looker Studio) will become even more important for rapid, insightful decision-making. IoT Marketing: The Internet of Things will drive new customer insights via device-to-device data collection, allowing marketers to tailor products and services more precisely. The technical and theoretical digital trends for 2023 include: Meta – Conversions API (CAPI) Google – Server-Side Tagging Google – BigQuery ChatGPT UX Laws & Neuroscience Techniques Meta – Conversions API (CAPI)Conversions API is designed by Meta to create a direct connection between marketing data and ad optimization, reducing cost-per-action and improving measurement across Meta technologies. To send website events via CAPI, you set up and configure a server on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), then forward GA4 web tag data to that server and onward to Meta via CAPI.With Conversions API: Brands lower their cost-per-action. Campaigns become easier to optimize. User data is sent directly from your server to Facebook’s, bypassing cookies and preserving privacy post-iOS 14. Ad performance measurement becomes more reliable. CAPI data is less prone to errors than pixel-based tracking. Google – Server-Side TaggingServer-Side Tagging moves measurement tags from the client (browser) to a server you control (e.g., on GCP). This approach offers several advantages over client-side tagging: Fewer tags on your site/app, improving frontend performance. Better data protection by processing user data in a customer-managed server environment. Simplifies manual CAPI integrations via GTM. Google – BigQueryBigQuery, launched in 2012 on Google’s Dremel technology, is an enterprise data warehouse for fast SQL analytics at scale. With GA4 becoming mandatory in July 2023, brands need BigQuery to store data long-term, visualize accurately, and perform deep analyses.Why BigQuery? Secure, long-term data storage and advanced brand-specific analyses are crucial in 2023. GA4’s default data retention is only two months (extendable to 14). BigQuery removes time limits entirely. It captures every custom event and parameter in one table without row limits. Columnar storage and a tree architecture enable lightning-fast queries on massive datasets. Combines online/offline data for advanced analytics (CLV, clustering, association analysis, etc.) and supports built-in ML. Supports cross-platform measurement by joining data from various tools and CRM systems via user ID. Deep analytics in BigQuery lets you—for example—exclude offline purchases from online campaign audiences, boosting conversion rates.ChatGPTUndoubtedly the most talked-about AI of 2023 is ChatGPT. This conversational AI, powered by GPT-3.5, generates real-time, human-like responses—even writing code. Its ability to understand and answer virtually any question places it firmly among the year’s top trends.UX Laws & NeuroscienceNeuroscience studies the nervous system. By integrating physiology, anatomy, maths, developmental biology, and psychology, it explains learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness. UX laws and neuroscience techniques apply these principles to web design to create more intuitive, brain-friendly user experiences. Every user interacting with your design follows certain psychological principles. For 2023, brands will use neuroscience to inform UX analyses and optimize site design for human cognition.For more on UX laws and neuroscience, see UX Laws & Neuro Science. If you haven’t implemented these integrations yet in Q1 2023, act quickly—don’t miss the trend.
What is GDPR? Is GA4 GDPR Compliant?
Data privacy has become increasingly important in recent years. This is due to consumers’ and users’ concerns about protecting their personal data and governments enacting various laws to safeguard that data. In this article, we’ll focus on Google Analytics 4’s (GA4) data privacy features and examine whether these features comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).What Is GDPR?GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a data privacy regulation that came into effect in 2018. It governs how organizations in the European Union collect, process, and store personal data. GDPR adopts a user-centric approach to privacy, requiring organizations to explain what data they collect, how they use it, and with whom they share it.Whom Does GDPR Cover?GDPR sets standards for processing personal data in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA), establishing principles of transparency, fairness, purpose limitation, accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality.All companies operating within the EU or EEA must comply with GDPR when processing personal data. Moreover, any company outside the EU/EEA that handles personal data of EU/EEA residents must also adhere to GDPR rules.For example, an EU citizen visiting Turkey as a tourist falls outside GDPR’s scope while abroad. Conversely, a non-EU citizen in an EU country is protected under GDPR. If a U.S. citizen visits Germany, German organizations must handle that person’s data in compliance with GDPR, even though the individual is not an EU citizen.Does GDPR Apply in the U.K.?GDPR took effect in the U.K. in May 2018. After Brexit, the U.K. incorporated GDPR into its own Data Protection Act, maintaining equivalent protections for personal data.History of Privacy Fines Against Google AnalyticsGDPR has empowered data subjects with greater control over their personal information. Since its enforcement on May 25, 2018, Google has faced significant fines under GDPR. In March 2020, Sweden fined Google LLC €7 million for violating Article 17(1)(a) by not removing search results upon request. Then in December 2021, France’s CNIL fined Google €150 million because users could not refuse tracking cookies as easily as they could accept them. Google Ireland was fined €60 million, and Google LLC €90 million for the same issue.French regulators also rejected GA4’s IP-anonymization as insufficient to protect data transferred to the U.S. The EU Court of Justice in July 2020 invalidated the Privacy Shield framework governing EU-U.S. data transfers, further complicating Google’s ability to move EU data to its U.S. servers.Other data protection authorities in Austria, the Netherlands, and Norway have similarly found Google Analytics non-compliant with GDPR, threatening fines or restrictions.What Is Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?PII refers to any data that can identify an individual—name, address, birthdate, phone number, email, national ID, passport number, etc. Protecting PII is critical because its exposure can reveal someone’s identity and personal details.GA4’s User Privacy FeaturesGoogle Analytics 4 offers several privacy-focused settings, allowing site owners to honor user consent while still gaining useful insights. Two key areas under Data Settings are Data Collection and Data Retention. Let’s explore them.Data Collection SettingsYou can access Data Collection under Admin > Data Settings > Data Collection:Google Signals Enabling Google Signals allows GA4 to link signed-in users’ site/app data with their Google accounts, provided they’ve consented to ad personalization. Signals lets you use location, search, YouTube, and partner-site data in aggregate, anonymized reports. Users can manage this via myactivity.google.com.Location & Device DataTurning on these options lets Analytics collect geographic and device information, with the ability to exclude specific countries.User Data Collection ConsentHere, you confirm that your site/app informs users how their data will be collected and shared with Analytics, and that you’ve obtained their consent accordingly.Data Retention SettingsData Retention lets you choose how long user-level and event-level data are kept (2 or 14 months). You can also reset user data on each new session. Your choice should reflect your industry’s needs and the sensitivity of the information collected.IP AnonymizationGA4 anonymizes the last 8 bits of each user’s IP address by default, fully embedding anonymization in its data model. This protects users’ privacy while still providing geographic and device insights needed for analysis.Consent ModeWhen users deny cookie consent, your Analytics data will be incomplete. Consent Mode uses machine learning to model those users’ behavior based on similar consenting users, preserving privacy while retaining useful insights in your reports.Server Location & Data Transfer Restrictions in GA4Under GDPR, transferring personal data from the EEA or U.K. to outside jurisdictions without adequate safeguards is restricted. GA4 users cannot choose where their data is stored—much of Google’s infrastructure is in the U.S. If you process EU/U.K. personal data in GA4, you must ensure compliant transfer mechanisms are in place, often requiring legal consultancy.
How to Identify Unused CSS and JS Lines?
Website speed is one of the most important metrics in SEO efforts. Nowadays, almost every search engine emphasizes fast-loading web pages, low DOM size, and minimal resource consumption. Therefore, search engines tend to avoid ranking pages that load slowly, contain unnecessary lines of code, or use excessively large DOM elements, as these are considered to provide a poor user experience.Through free speed analysis tools such as Pagespeed or GTMetrix, the most common issues we encounter are the warnings "Reduce Unused CSS" and "Reduce Unused JavaScript".Before taking any action on these warnings, it is essential to analyze the causes properly and understand which CSS and JavaScript files/libraries exist in the underlying structure of our website.Why Does the “Reduce Unused CSS and JavaScript” Warning Occur?In general, e-commerce platforms contain ready-made CSS and JavaScript libraries. Since these libraries are designed to be useful for any type of website, they include many CSS classes and JavaScript functions that we do not use.We can identify the CSS lines and JavaScript functions in these files that are not used on our website, clean them from the files, and make our pages load with higher performance. You can apply the method we share below on your own website to detect these lines!How to Detect Unused CSS and JavaScript Lines?First, after entering your website, right-click on the page you want to analyze and select "Inspect".Then, in the opened DevTools panel, click the three-dot icon on the right and activate More Tools > Coverage.At the bottom, in the Coverage panel, click the reload button to refresh the page and allow DevTools to load the CSS and JavaScript files on the page.Click on any of the loaded CSS/JavaScript files to open it in the DevTools tab.In the opened CSS/JavaScript file, sections highlighted in blue indicate that the corresponding CSS line/JavaScript function is actively used on the page, while sections highlighted in red indicate that it is unused.This way, we can easily determine which lines and functions in all CSS and JavaScript files hosted in our website's structure are used and which are not.What to Consider Before Cleaning Unused CSS and JS?Although it may seem that many of the codes in the CSS and JavaScript libraries loaded on our pages are unused, there are important points to consider before performing any cleanup. Before cleaning unused CSS and JS, make sure to pay attention to the following: Ensure that the relevant CSS/JS code is not used on every browser, device, or page. Some JavaScript functions only run on specific events. For example, functions triggered by user-side events like scroll or click should be carefully analyzed for active/inactive status before cleanup. Before cleaning CSS and JS, identify the files that increase your browser’s DOM size. Do not waste time on small CSS and JS files. Always back up your website before performing optimizations! By using this method, you can detect and clean unused CSS and JavaScript lines on your website, allowing your pages to load faster and provide a better experience for visitors!
How to Check Domain History?
Domain is the name given to the domain name owned by our website. For example, the domain name/domain of the https://analyticahouse.com website is "analyticahouse.com". Domains are used by renting them for a certain period of time from domain registrars (hosting/domain companies). When we are considering opening a new website or want to find out whether our existing website was used in the past, we need to check the domain history. We have compiled 2 great methods for you to check domain history!Why is Domain History Important?Knowing what purposes the domain name of the website we use was used for in the past, and whether it was exposed to any search engine penalties, will enable us to be more conscious and productive in the SEO optimizations we will apply on our website. In addition, analyzing the extent to which our website was affected by Google algorithm updates in the past will give us an idea for the SEO studies we plan to apply on our site. For this reason, checking domain history, knowing what purposes the website was used for in the past and how it was affected by Google algorithms will shed light on our future work.How to Check Domain History?You can apply the two different methods we mentioned in our video to check domain history. Thanks to these methods, you can learn both how your domain looked in the past, what it was used for, and to what extent it was affected by Google algorithm updates. Checking Domain History with WebArchiveIf you are wondering what your website looked like in the past, all you have to do is go to the WebArchive website, paste your site's main URL and press enter. WebArchive provides us with a chronological bar showing on which dates the website has been active since 1996 and the snapshots it has taken.From this section, you can select a year when your domain was active, and by clicking on the saved snapshots from the calendar below, you can find out what your domain looked like and what it was used for on that date!Learning How the Domain is Affected by Google Algorithm Updates with Website Penalty IndicatorYou can use the Website Penalty Indicator tool to learn how much our domain name/domain has been affected by past Google algorithm updates and whether it has lost its indexes/SEO visibility by receiving a penalty.After entering the website, all you have to do is write your domain name and select the Google extension for your country. Then, by saying "check domain", you can see how the domain name was affected by past Google algorithm updates.The Website Penalty Indicator tool is a completely free tool and shares with you how your website has been affected by Google algorithm updates. To examine in more detail and get information about what these algorithm updates are, you can also use SearchMetrics, a paid tool.To learn more about the Google algorithm updates and changes that may have affected your domain in the past, you can check out our blog post titled Important SEO Updates From Past to Present!