It’s been announced, and we need to ramp up our understanding and implementation of Google Analytics 4. In part 2 of this interview, Krista Seiden of KS Digital, LLC shares her thoughts on the most significant differences between Universal Analytics and GA4. We explore the larger landscape of features and functions and understand the more flexible data model that GA4 provides. We’re in the world of cross-device attribution, and that’s been the focus of Google for the last three years. We thoroughly enjoyed our talk with Krista and highly recommended her training courses. We even have a discount code!

[00:03:43] Sunsetting of Google Analytics 3 - You Can't Take It With You!

[00:04:49] Quick Takes on the Reaction of the Announcement

[00:06:25] The Biggest Difference

[00:08:40] Moving Away from Pages and Sessions

[00:10:16] Bonus Events Out of the Box

[00:13:58] No Longer the Limitations that We All Had with Universal (Goals)

[00:14:28] Integrations Galore!

[00:17:03] Title Sponsor of the EDGE of the Web Interview Series: Wix edgeofthewebradio.com/WIX

[00:17:42] Is Google Forcing Us into a Paid Analytics Model?

[00:20:22] What's Different in Real-Time Reporting?

[00:23:27] What are the Advantages of GA4?

[00:27:19] Flexible Data Model: Deeper Content Parameters

[00:28:49] Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:29:35] The World of Cross-Device Attribution

[00:33:56] How Much Training Does a UA User Need for GA4?

[00:36:20] Should a New Marketer Even Learn Universal Analytics?

We’re excited to offer a discount on Krista Seiden ’s GA4 courses! Go to https://academy.ksdigital.co EDGE listeners can get a $200 discount off of any non-intro course with the code “EDGE”!

The EDGE team dropped in on a number of articles this week from Search Engine Round Table and Search Engie Journal, carefully reading and ruminating about each.  Clearly Erin had a accurate bead on each and should be commended on his astute observation and insight on…..nope, can’t do it.  He forgot to read the first article completely and wow - did he muck it up.  Listen in as we dig through the news and pause as we honor a friend of the show and SEO legend, Bill Slawski. 

[00:04:46] Video thumbnails when there is no video?

[00:06:55] Erin completely makes a heady analysis without READING THE ARTICLE!!

[00:09:01] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:09:50] Google search results might start showing “sponsored” instead of “ad”

[00:15:59] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

[00:16:47] A SEO Legend has passed: Bill Slawski

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

EDGE of the Web is proud to bring you some epic fails shared by friends of the show.  We wanted to lean into the 500, seeing that the server error code 500 is a bad thing, any way you cut it.  We reached out to our guests of the past and asked them to share one of their worst screw-ups in SEO and digital marketing, the ones they really learned from.  We wanted to share these with our listeners so you can learn too!  Thanks so much to all of our listeners and guests over the 10 years and 500 episodes.  We really are blessed to be able to do this and learn from the best.  Special thanks to our 500th episode sponsor, Ahrefs!  Check out their free tool at edgeofthewebradio.com/AWT.

Check out some great Epic Fails from our friends:

[00:03:46] Epic Fails for the 500th

[00:06:23] Benjamin Shapiro

[00:09:08] Marie Haynes

[00:12:41] Jonny Ross

[00:15:40] Garrett Sussman

[00:23:32] Title Sponsor of the 500th Episode: Ahrefs

[00:26:01] Dixon Jones

[00:30:15] Olga Zarzeczna

[00:33:59] Andrew Optimisey

[00:36:48] Barry Schwartz

[00:40:15] Mordy Oberstein

[00:45:38] Future paths of EDGE of the Web

Special thanks to the additional guests that submitted your fails.  We just couldn't fit everyone's in.  Watch for yours on social!

Thanks to everyone who has helped us over the years!

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

Did we hear that right?  Google introduces the first designated schema ranking signal!  That’s breaking news!  Erin, Mordy and Jacob cover the Google I/O news of the week from Search Engine Roundtable, Search Engine Land and TechCrunch.  Learn about Mordy danger whistle that Jacob has just in case!  All this and more from the EDGE.  Be sure to check out episode 500!

[00:05:02] Google I/O Rolls Out | What to know regarding SEARCH

[00:12:44] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:13:35] A New Ranking Signal from Google?

[00:19:19] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

[00:20:13] Google's Latest Language AI Model

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

It’s been announced and we need to ramp up our understanding  and implementation of Google Analytics 4. 

Krista Seiden of KS Digital, LLC shares about her role as project manager of GA4, discusses the history of Google Analytics, and maps implementation of Google Analytics 4.  An incredible resource of knowledge of GA4, Krista teaches the foundational concepts of the new platform and the treasure trove of new insights that are coming our way.  It’s time to get our GA4 game on as we have a year to gather our data before it’s gone from Universal Analytics.

[00:03:52] Krista Seiden's history that led her to GA4

[00:06:41] Moving to the GA education team

[00:08:09] PM on the new Google Analytics product: GA4

[00:10:31] Short history of Google Analytics

[00:11:58] What Universal Analytics brought to the table in 2014

[00:13:16] GA4 released under the tool name: Google Analytics App Plus Web

[00:14:41] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/wix

[00:15:18] The web doesn't work the same way that we used to measure user behavior

[00:16:50] The GA4 foundational concept: User behavioral modeling as opposed to chasing fictitious accuracy

[00:19:00] The sunset announcement & the contention

[00:20:07] Why are people afraid of GA4

[00:22:30] Where is our historical data going?

[00:28:07] What is being lost in Google Analytics 4?

[00:31:03] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:32:00] This isn't the Bounce Rate you're looking for…

[00:44:04] First time ever: fully customize the user interface of analytics

[00:44:50] Google Signals: Connecting users between their devices

[00:47:03] The new mindset of getting into GA4

[00:02:54] Coming up to our 500th episode

[00:05:45] DMCA request took MOZ.com off of Google’s Index

[00:10:12] This Week’s Poll

[00:11:12] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:12:37] Improve your promotions on FB with “Culture Codes”

[00:00:00] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

[00:22:06] 4 practical impacts to SEO from Google’s Machine Learning advances.

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine

[00:02:46] Ad Revenue growth reported by both Google and Microsoft

[00:05:39] EDGE of the Web Title Sponsor: Site Strategics

[00:06:26] Would you ask SEO questions to a bot based on John Mueller? It depends.  

[00:09:04] This Week’s Poll

[00:09:52] Google stealing content? Or are people stealing from Google? It’s the new Chicken or the Egg question.

[00:15:11] EDGE of the Web Sponsor: edgeofthewebradio.com/inlinks

[00:16:04] You can remove your personally identifiable information from Google Search Results

#StandwithUkraine edgeofthewebradio.com/ukraine