Google Analytics 4 Demo Account (GA4)

The GA4 demo account is a great way to experiment with the dashboard without putting your data at risk. Here's how to access it. Wouldn’titbenicetotestGoogleAnalytics4withouttheriskofpermanentlydamagingorlosingyourdata? ThankstotheGoogleAnalytics4demoaccount,youcandojustthat. TheGA4demoaccounthastwoproperties:web-basedonlyandbothmobile-andwebsite-based. Let’stalkaboutboth,howtogetthemostoutofthem,andtheirlimitations. SIGNUP:DigitalStrategyNewsletter Contents 1.AddGA4DemoPropertiesToYourAccount 2.BenefitsofGoogleAnalytics4DemoAccount 3.Can’tFindtheGA4DemoAccount 4.GoogleAnalyticsDemoAccountLimitations AddGA4DemoPropertiesToYourAccount HowdoIaccessmyGoogleAnalyticsdemoaccount? ToaddtheGoogleAnalytics4demoaccountstoyourGAaccount,firstmakesureyou’resignedintotheGoogleaccountwithwhichyou’llwanttoaccessthem.Ifyou’renotsuretowhichaccountyou’resignedin(orifyou’resignedinatall),simplygotoGmailorYouTubeandseewhichaccountcomesup. Onceyou’resureyou’resignedintotherightaccount,allyouhavetodoisclickthefollowinglinks: GoogleMerchandiseStore(Webdataonly) Flood-It!(App+Webdata) Ifyou’renotsurewhichonetoadd,Irecommendboth.Sincetherearedifferencesbetweenthetwo,theremaybesomeactionsyoucanonlydoinoneofthetwoaccounts. Tobeclear,youdonotneedtocreateademoaccountinGoogleAnalytics4.Italreadyexistsforyoutoaccessandexperiment. Incaseyou’rewondering,yes,there’salsoaUniversalAnalyticsdemoaccount(withwebdataonly).Butsinceitwillbeobsoletebythesecondhalfof2023,we’renotgoingtotalkaboutithere. BenefitsofGoogleAnalytics4DemoAccount Here’swhyIlikehavingtheGoogleMerchandiseStoreanalyticsdemoaccount,alongwiththeFlood-it!accountdemoaccount: Youcananalyzerealdatawithoutmakinganychangestoyourwebsiteorapp Takethereal-timedashboardforatestdrive ManypeoplehaveaskedmewhetherGA4isadequateforreal-timeanalysis.ThisisespeciallyimportantfornewsroomsandothercontentplatformsthatareusedtotoolslikeChartbeatandParsely. WhilethedataGoogle’sdemoprovidesmayhavenothingtodowithyourplatform,you’llgetagoodideaofthedataavailableinthe30-minutereport. Experimentwithcomparisons ComparisonsinGA4aretheequivalentofsegmentsinUniversalAnalytics.Thisisaneffectivewaytocomparemultipleaudiencesegmentsinthesamedashboard.Especiallyifyouhaveaudiencessetuponyouraccount. CreateExplorations NeweruserswillprobablyfindtheExploresectionofGoogleAnalytics4themostintimidating.WhatIlikeaboutthisinthedemoaccountisthatnotonlycanyoucreateyourownreports,butotherusershavemadetheirspublic,too. Thatmeansyoucantakealookat,andexperimentwith,reportstheyhavealreadysetup.FromwhatIcantell,thisisonlyavailableintheMerchandiseStoreandnotFlood-It! Can’tFindtheGA4DemoAccount AreyouhavingproblemsaccessingtheGA4DemoAccount?You’renotalone. Sometimeinthespringof2022,theydisappearedfrommanyusers’dropdownmenusintheirGA4accounts.They’reprobablystillthere,though,solongasyouaddedthemtoyouraccountatsomepoint. Assumingyoualreadyfollowedtheinstructionsatthebeginningofthisposttoaddthedemoproperties,here’showtofindthem: 1.AtthetopofyourGA4dashboard,clickthepartwhereitsaysAllaccounts>[AccountName] 2.Inthedropdownmenu,type“demo”intothesearchbar. 3.ClickontheDemoaccountyouwanttoaccess– Flood-It!orGoogleMerchandiseStore. It’sthatsimple.You’renowreadytocontinueusingtheGA4demoaccounts. Alsosee:GoogleAnalytics4Events,Tracking,Creation GoogleAnalytics4DemoAccountLimitations ForallthebenefitsoftheGA4demoaccount,itdoeshaveitsdrawbacks. Sinceit’saccessibletoanyonewhohasGoogleAnalytics– thatis,millionsofpeople– it’snot100percentcustomizable. Youcan’tcreateorediteventsorparameters Whileyoucananalyzeexistingevents,andlearnhowsomeofthemwerecreated,youcan’tchangethem. SinceeventsarethefoundationofGA4,it’simportantyouunderstandthem.You’llhavetouseyourowndashboardforthis. Youcan’tcreateaudiences Thisissomethingelseyou’llhavetolearnwithyourowndashboard. Youcanaccesstheexistingaudiences,butnotmuchmore. Youcan’tedittheReportsdashboard Itmakessensethatwecan’taddoreditevents,audiencesorreports.Betweenthepropertyquotalimitsthefactthatdataisshared,it’sforthebest.Otherwiseitwouldbeacustom-dashboardfree-for-all. Whateverdataisavailablewouldbeamovingtarget,atthemercyofthelatestuser’sedits. Youcan’tuseDebugView Yes,youcanaccesstheDebugViewpage.Butyoucan’tactuallytestGoogleTagManagertagsandtriggers.Forthat,youwouldneedaccesstotheDemoAccount’sGTMcontainer,whichyoucan’t. Grantingmillionsofusersaccesstothesamecontainerwouldcreateasimilarnightmaretothatofsharedeventsandaudiences. Aswithanytool,thebestwaytolearnGoogleAnalytics4istoexperimentwithitonaregularbasis. Usethedemoaccounttobuildconfidence,thenmakepermanentchangestoyourowndashboard. Alsosee:HowtoLowerMyBounceRateinGA4 SpreadIt:ClicktoshareonTwitter(Opensinnewwindow)ClicktoshareonFacebook(Opensinnewwindow)ClicktoshareonLinkedIn(Opensinnewwindow)ClicktoshareonReddit(Opensinnewwindow)ClicktoshareonPocket(Opensinnewwindow)ClicktoshareonWhatsApp(Opensinnewwindow)Clicktoemailalinktoafriend(Opensinnewwindow)Likethis:LikeLoading... Related LeaveaReplyCancelreply Postnavigation ←GoogleAnalytics4DataStreamsReplaceUAViews Widgets Searchfor: Sortby Relevance Newestfirst Oldestfirst Getupdatesonnewposts Enteryouremailaddresstofollowthisblogandreceivenotificationsofnewpostsbyemail. EmailAddress Follow RecentPosts GoogleAnalytics4DemoAccount(GA4) GoogleAnalytics4DataStreamsReplaceUAViews GoogleAnalytics4TrafficbyCity,State GoogleAnalytics4SiteSearchReport(GA4) IntegrateFirebasewithGoogleAnalytics4(GA4)   LoadingComments...   WriteaComment... Email(Required) Name(Required) Website %dbloggerslikethis: