You want to see results when you spend time, effort, and money on your digital marketing. Assessing data and making changes to your approach is key to setting up and maintaining your efforts; after all, you want to be sure you are getting a positive ROI (return on investment). For years, Google Analytics has been the most popular and most effective way of gauging and monitoring your digital marketing campaigns, especially when assessing Search Engine Optimization. Specifically, Universal Analytics has been the tech giant’s measurement solution, so digital marketing professionals have come to rely on this tool for analysis and reporting.
Starting in July 2023, Google is replacing Universal Analytics (UA) with GA4 (Google Analytics 4), and at this time, UA will stop processing data. GA4 has been out for a while now, but most people have continued using the former measurement tool. However, this will soon be changing, and digital marketers will need to transition to the new tool. MDPM Dental Marketing has been preparing for this change. We innately understand the importance of staying ahead of the curve, so the transition will be seamless, and our clients will receive the same high-quality reporting and results that they have always expected of us. While we will completely handle this change, we still believe it is important for our clients to understand this shift and how it will affect their overall digital marketing strategies.
Universal Analytics Vs. Google Analytics 4
Universal Analytics has been the primary reporting and analysis tool for marketers since 2012. It allows users to access vast amounts of data and create detailed, customizable reports, which can then influence decisions about their websites, content, and overall marketing efforts. According to Google, UA “was built for a generation of online measurement that was anchored in the desktop web, independent sessions and more easily observable data from cookies.” Today, however, most organizations utilize a variety of platforms and applications, so using a tool based on a single medium is quickly becoming insufficient.
Google Analytics 4 accounts for the myriad platforms businesses use and, in the process, has streamlined the available metrics while also making them more customizable for each organization’s unique needs. Previously, UA almost exclusively focused on website-centric metrics from which marketers extrapolate how people used websites. GA4, on the other hand, places much more emphasis on your audience and how they interact with your digital platforms. It uses event-based data to provide inherently user-centric measurements to digital marketers. This better allows you to understand your audience and adjust your strategies to account for their online habits. Google’s ever-evolving machine learning can also provide predictive insights to help forecast future actions your users might take.
What Does This Mean For Your Practice?
This evolution in analytics means that your dental practice can better understand your website users’ habits and interaction patterns, which allows you to adjust your strategy to account for any hiccups. In reality, it means that MDPM will be able to accomplish this for you, as our team has been staying current with all of Google’s updates to better ensure that we can keep providing our high-quality digital marketing services for you. We are constantly updating our standards, so there will be a seamless transition once Google actually “sunsets” UA. By getting a jump start on this shift, we have been learning the ins and outs of GA4, as we want to fully harness its capabilities to better serve your needs. We want your practice to keep getting new clients and have your existing ones come back repeatedly. Our services, including Search Engine Optimization, custom websites, and original content, all work in conjunction to make sure your online presence drives the results you want. Our reporting capabilities — fueled by GA4 — provide us with the data to see what’s working and what we can improve on to ensure your goals are being met at every step along the way.
Contact Us To Learn More About The Way We Utilize GA4
At MDPM Dental Marketing in Dallas, TX, we understand that focusing on your practice, team members, and patients is your top priority, so we are here to handle all of your digital marketing. We have an experienced team who can creatively execute and objectively assess our efforts by using data to analyze how all components of your web presence work together. We are experts across the field, and we want to see your practice thrive. If you have any questions or would like a free analysis of your website in addition to your social media and online presence, we invite you to contact our office at (972) 781-8861 today.