Web Analytics: Getting Ready for 2023

Digital Marketing / November 17, 2022

Getting ready for changes in the web analytics landscape this upcoming year is crucial for businesses in order to make better informed decisions.

Scientifically analyzing data and being able to extract valuable insight enables the identification of optimal marketing strategies, the cost reduction in the acquisition of new customers, and overall product improvement. 

Note that some of the following actions won’t apply to every business, all will depend of its size and the amount of data it generates.

1. Switch to Google Analytics 4 ASAP

Google has announced that the sunsetting of Universal Analytics (UA) will begin as of June 2023 whereas Google Analytics 4 (GA4), first launched in 2020, will be adopted as the new standard tool across its analytics platform. 

While the gist of having a GA4 account is to improve privacy for users, it’d be unwise to think that its setup is an easy feat. In fact, it’s not a mere upgrade to any current UA account, but a completely new product with major differences in user experience, privacy, measurement, engagement, and data visualization. 

Transitioning to GA4 takes time, but it will keep businesses equipped with the right tools to succeed in 2023. Those who ignore the UA phase-out risk losing significant data while those who have adapted as soon as possible will have a year or so of historical data which can be accessed for six months following the official phase-out of UA. This is why many agencies and marketers advocate for the switch as GA4 will not import UA data. 

Learn more about the importance of transitioning in our article What Marketers Need to Know About Google Analytics 4 and download our GA4 cheat sheet to help get you started.

2. Implement Server-Side Tracking on Facebook and Google 

Both Facebook Conversion API (CAPI) and Google Enhanced Conversion are needed tools in 2023 in terms of better tracking, conversion attribution, and overall performance in each platform. 

2.1 Facebook Conversions API

Before Facebook Conversions API, there was the Facebook Pixel. The latter was used as a browser-side tool that tracks data through a user’s browser.

However, relying on a browser to track conversions is problematic: users have the option of installing ad blockers, disabling cookies altogether, or using different browsers on different devices. 

Subsequently, Facebook came up with the enhanced version of the pixel: Facebook Conversions API. CAPI is the solution for businesses as it allows tracking through a website’s server instead of a user’s browser, meaning that a user’s browser settings will not affect tracking capabilities.  

From discovery to conversion, CAPI measures ad performance and conversion rate throughout the entire customer journey through the bypass of any limitations stemming from the client’s side. It is essentially a complementary tool to the pixel, filling any gaps that the pixel might have missed.

Learn more in our article Why marketers Need to Start Integrating Facebook Conversions API.

2.2 Google Enhanced Conversion

Similar to CAPI, Google Enhanced Conversion improves conversion accuracy by complementing existing conversion tags via the transmission of hashed first party conversion data from a business’ website to Google, all in a privacy safe way. 

Each time a user completes a conversion on a website, a business will receive first-party data, captured in its conversion tracking tags which will then be sent to Google in its hashed format, and eventually be used to increase conversion measurement. 

Easy to set up, flexible, and continuously striving for better performance, the Google Enhanced Conversion is the server-side tool required to recover conversions, improve bidding optimization, and hash first-party customer data in a privacy safe way.

3. Review Your Cookie Policy

Legislation is changing in Canada and Quebec, namely with the introduction of the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (Bill C-27) across the entire country, and the addition of privacy law requirements with respect to the management of personal information within the private sector, further extending Bill 64 within the jurisdiction of Quebec. 

These new standards aim to strengthen and modernize privacy and data protection within the legal framework since the recent changes in the online world from the past 2 years. 

*Bloom does not offer legal consultation services but recommends looking into your cookie policy and privacy policy to make sure you comply with the new standards.

4. Create a Custom Dashboard

Every business should have a form of data visualization if they wish to better observe and understand trends, patterns and conspicuous outliers in data. 

Google Data Studio is one of the most recommended tools to create custom and personalized dashboards. For free, businesses can create interactive dashboards that will result in attractive reporting documents. 

With a user-friendly interface, key KPIs can easily be measured, trends become effortless to evaluate, and performance across a project timeline can be compared in a simple and efficient manner.

With decisive features such as Live Data Connection, as well as Extensive Customization and Dynamic Controls, businesses can skillfully interpret large volumes of data and thus make data-driven decisions.  

5. Build or Optimize a Data Warehouse like BigQuery

Google BigQuery is one of several data warehouses that can store, analyze, manage, and monitor large datasets using flexible, built-in tools such as machine learning, geospatial analysis, and business intelligence. 

Unlike other queries, BigQuery is free (for up to 1TB) and runs much faster, and will gain higher performance the “heavier” the datasets. It’s also great for when data does not change often and the business wants to use built-in cache or when it wants to reduce the load on relational databases. 

With its high scalability and absence of infrastructure to manage, BigQuery allows organizations and their data analysts to be more productive by capturing and analyzing data in real time, using powerful streaming ingestion capability so that insights always remain current.

6. Use Reverse ETL Tools

In order to activate unused data in everyday business tools, reverse ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) will copy data from a warehouse and send it to marketing, sales, product, eCommerce, and customer support tools such as CRM or ad platforms. 

Businesses should absolutely look into the implementation of reverse ETL tools in time for 2023 as they’re impactful in today’s Modern Data Stack (an ecosystem of tools businesses use to collect, move, store, transform, analyze, and operationalize data). Benefits include the operationalization of data, the prevention of data silos, the integration and scalability of analytics, and increased time to focus on higher-value work. 

Ready for 2023?

Should you need an extra pair of hands to implement any of the above tools or actions, Bloom’s experts understand that your time is precious and that you may have several questions to which they’ll be happy to answer. Feel free to reach out!