Universal Analytics is sunsetting and GA4 is on the rise - but what does that mean for measuring your content?

Measuring your content performance risks getting a bit more complicated with Google's sunsetting of Universal Analytics and the rise of GA4. A survey by the Content Marketing Institute found 62% of marketers already found measuring content a challenge - and that challenge might be getting steeper.

Successful marketing depends on data. Data to inform your strategy, data to see your success, and benchmark against future efforts. To understand your content success Google Analytics is an essential part of the measurement mix. And as Google’s longstanding Universal Analytics sunsets, all your past data could go with it if you’re not careful. Without your past data, benchmarking against previous campaigns or comparing new content/ pages to existing pages will be nearly impossible.

You have until July 1st 2023 to migrate all your data or lose it. You can learn about how to switch your analytics to GA4 here.

But don’t despair, get ahead of the migration, and then GA4 will actually provide all sorts of new brilliant measurement opportunities. This newest version of Google Analytics helps you track, consolidate and analyse data from both apps and websites without switching versions as before. This is with Google’s Events data model.

One of the best features from a content strategy and marketing point of view is Google’s machine learning technology which will help you collect and predict new insights and observe user journeys from your web pages and apps easily.

Another notable mention is Pathways - a feature that shows you entry points to your site and then a refined view on how they navigate your site. This allows you to better analyse user journeys.

New changes from the tools we rely on so much always feel stressful, but if you lean into it change always brings opportunity. GA4 offers an array of new features that can only help with your content marketing measurement and strategy.