Google first announced Google Analytics 4 over two years ago, however they have now confirmed that from 1st July 2023, Universal Analytics will stop processing new hits – meaning you will need to complete your transfer to Google Analytics 4 within the next 13 months.
What is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 was created to focus on evolving measurement standards, helping businesses to succeed and grow by understanding the complex and multi-platform customer journey.
Google Analytics 4 has flexibility to measure different types of data, using Google’s machine learning technology to surface and predict new insights.
Universal Analytics vs Google Analytics 4
Universal Analytics was built for online measurement on desktop, but is quickly becoming obsolete due to users now using a multitude of devices to browse the web. Google Analytics 4, however, operates across a variety of platforms and devices, using event-based data to deliver user-centric measurements.
What’s more, Google Analytics 4 has a strong focus on privacy – helping businesses to meet evolving user expectations with controls for data collection and usage. In particular, Google Analytics 4 will no longer store IP addresses.
Benefits of Google Analytics 4
As well as new Privacy settings, Google Analytics 4 has other benefits:
Understanding Customers Across Touchpoints
Google Analytics 4 allows you to get a complete view of the customer lifecycle with an event-based measurement model that can be used for website and app analysis.
Improve ROI
Data-driven attribution features allow you to analyse the full impact of your marketing across the customer journey, helping you to understand how your marketing activities influence your website and app conversions. This analysis can then be exported to Google Ads, to further optimise your campaigns.
Increased Privacy Settings
Google Analytics 4 has put into place country-level privacy controls, meaning that you can manage the collection of user-level data – such as cookies – whilst retaining key measurement functionality such as engagement and conversion rates.
Machine Learning Data
Google Analytics 4 uses machine learning to generate predictive insights regarding user behaviour and conversions. This then creates new audiences of users that are likely to purchase, allowing you to optimise your marketing campaigns and strategies appropriately.
Transitioning to Google Analytics 4
As previously mentioned, Google’s Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on 1st July 2023. Although this gives you plenty of time to transfer over to Google Analytics 4, transitioning now will allow you to build the necessary historical data before Universal Analytics stops processing new hits. What’s more, it will give you enough time to understand how the new platform works, and where to find important data to influence your marketing campaigns.
Need help transferring to Google Analytics 4? Contact our team of Google Experts now to see how we can help.
From 27th June 2022, multiple-location Google Drive files will be replaced with shortcuts.
Google Drive Changes With Shortcuts
Google is replacing files and folders that are stored in multiple folders in Google Drive with shortcuts. This helps to reduce confusion around files with multiple parent folder locations, and will create easy access to files and folders.
This will mean that once a file is replaced with a shortcut, one location is preserved for files or folders currently contained in multiple locations, and all other instances of the item will be replaced with a shortcut.
Ownership and sharing permissions for files and folders are preserved.
This new change is available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers and users with personal Google accounts.
If you use Backup & Sync, the replacement process will only start once you have migrated to Drive for Desktop.
Action Required
The migration will take place automatically meaning no action is required from your users.
However, prior to the change being implemented, admins will be able to control when shortcuts should be created. To do this, in the Admin console, go to Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Upcoming changes to My Drive and under “Manage shortcut creation”, you’ll have the following options:
Always create shortcuts
Create shortcuts only for content shared within your domain and trusted domains
Create shortcuts only for content shared within your domain
Don’t create shortcuts
If you don’t take any action, Google will automatically set your account to always create shortcuts.
A few months before the change, you may start to see an in-product notification banner to notify you of the change.
A Message for Our Clients
No action is required from you, however, if you have any questions, please do contact us by giving us a call on 0121 295 5352 or by sending us an email to hello@ballyhoo.co.uk
You may know that we are a Google Partner – and have been since 2016 – but every year Google requires you to complete a list of certifications in order to continue to be a Google Partner for the year ahead.
We are thrilled to announce that we have yet again renewed our Google Partner status.
What is a Google Partner?
A Google Partner is an internationally recognised partnership which highlights skill and knowledge. Becoming a Google Partner means that we are recognised for maximising campaign success for clients, to drive client growth.
This is done through running and maintaining client campaigns and demonstrating skills and expertise with Google Ads.
Staying Relevant with Google
To be a Google Partner, you must complete yearly certifications in a number of areas. This is because Google wants to ensure that you have the knowledge to be a Partner, but it also helps to keep us up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.
What Does This Mean For You?
This means that we are the perfect fit to set up, run and manage your Google Ads campaigns. We have access to exclusive resources, support and industry insights that help us to maximise your campaigns success.
Our team can improve account performance and help you to prosper online.
Digital Marketing Services
If you’re interested in running Google Ads for your company, contact our expert team now to have a chat on how we can help you. We also offer a range of other Digital Marketing services to help you succeed.
As a Google Partner, we now have access to Grow My Store – an online tool that evaluates your website and generates a report for you to help you boost your online business performance.
What is Google Grow My Store?
Grow My Store is a new online tool offered by Google that analyses your online e-commerce website, giving you a report that includes an overall score and detailed insights to help strengthen your website and business performance.
What’s more, you can also see how your website compares to other retailers in your industry and view personalised market trends to help you reach new customers.
Why Use Google Grow My Store?
Grow My Store reports help you to compare your website with the latest industry trends to boost your business and receive recommendations on how you can improve your website to get a higher conversion rate.
As a Google Partner, we are able to run a report for you, explain the sections that your site is scored against in depth, and advise on strategies that you can use to further improve your score.
Armed with your website report, we can help you to stand out in a competitive environment, expand services into new areas, and improve your website.
Grow My Store Report Factors
Overall Score
Before going in depth with each ranking section, Google gives you an overall score for your website. These are split into 4 levels:
Beginner – 0 – 25%
Basic – 25 – 50%
Medium – 50 – 75%
Advanced – 75 – 100%
This score is calculated based on the below sections.
Product Information
As an e-commerce website, your focus will be on your products and encouraging customers to browse and purchase these.
Google analyses how well you showcase your products, and breaks this down into 4 segments:
Product Details – How well your products are listed and described on your website. Your products should be filled out with the relevant information, such as size, colour, price and images.
Reviews – Google checks to see if you have product reviews enabled – as this can increase customer conversions.
Product Search – Google analyses how well your search function operates on your website – to help convert visitors to customers. It also checks how well your filters work on your website search, so watch out for this too.
Product Prices – You should have your prices published and visible for all website visitors to see.
Personalisation
This section analyses how you let customers personalise their accounts and configure their experience.
Google splits this into 2 sections:
Personalised Accounts – Google checks to see if you allow users to create their own accounts on your website. This is because users like to be able to have their own accounts and receive personalised content.
Wish Lists – Google checks to see if you allow customers to add to Wish Lists – as they are a powerful tool to improve shopping experience. This also encourages client loyalty, as users can come back and shop the items that they desire.
Flexible Fulfilment
In this section, Google analyses the flexibility that customers have when shopping, including payment and delivery options. The easier it is for customers to checkout, the more likely they are to purchase.
The 4 segments in this section include:
Basket – Here, Google checks that users have the ability to add products to their basket, where they can then check and modify these choices from multiple devices.
Next Day Delivery – Google advises that you offer a next day delivery service, and therefore checks to see if you have this available on your website.
Free Returns – Offering free returns promotes good user experience, meaning that Google recommends having this available for customers.
Multiple Payment Methods – Offering more ways to pay appeals to more people, and it’s suggested that you have as many payment methods as possible.
Customer Service
We all know that Customer Service is a priority for businesses, and Google advocates for this too. This section of the report focuses on the quality and availability of your business’es customer service.
Again, this is split into 4 segments:
Contact Phone – Google checks that you have a phone number available on your website that is easy to find.
Live Chats – It is advised that you have a web chat available – whether that’s an online chat, Facebook chat, or chat bot – for customers to get help quickly when they need it.
Returns Policy – You should have a returns policy available on your website that is easy to understand for all customers (and you should also have free returns – see ‘Flexible Fulfilment’ section above).
Social Media – With the rise of social media being used by consumers, the report checks that you have at least two social media accounts connected to your website.
Security
Browsing a safe and secure website is one of the top priorities that a consumer takes into account when purchasing online, so it’s no surprise that Google analyses the security of your website.
The report checks that you have an SSL certificate live on your website to make it HTTPS protocol compliant. This ensures that confidential information inputted from customers is kept encrypted and prevents hackers.
Mobile
Finally, the last section of the report is based on how mobile friendly your website is, which is unsurprising – with 46.7% of UK web traffic now coming from mobile devices.
This is split into 2 segments:
Mobile Speed – Mobile speed can have a significant impact on your conversion rate, which is relevant with mobiles as they are being used so often.
Mobile Friendly – Google takes into consideration how easy your website is to use on mobile.
Get Your Google Grow My Store Report
Do you want a Grow My Store Report, with our expert advice and guidance on how you can improve your website? Contact our expert team of website developers today to see how we can do this for you!
If you already have this option ticked and no longer want the calendar to show your location, you can untick this box – a warning box may appear telling you that it will remove the records of your location, but if you’re not using that then this is fine to go ahead.
Setting Working Hours & Out Of Office
In the same section in settings, you can also set your working hours and out of office. It’s important to note that when you indicate that you’re out of office, your calendar will automatically decline all meetings during that time.
Want to get the most of your Google apps? We are Google Partners, meaning we can manage your Google Workspace apps for your business – contact us now to find out more.
After the release of Google Workspace late last year, Google is now moving all previous G Suite customers to an equivalent Google Workspace plan, as G Suite will no longer be available going forward.
Google will do this for all accounts automatically by the end of March, however we can do this for you beforehand – ensuring you are put on the right plan.
It’s unlikely, but this may mean that you will need a higher tier plan which could be different pricing. If you anticipate this being an issue then please contact us to discuss.
G Suite Basic vs Google Workspace Business Standard
Your core services will still be available on your new Workspace plan, however, here are a few differences between the current G Suite Basic plan and the new Google Workspace Business plan.
G Suite Basic
Google Workspace Business Standard
Number of users
Any number
1-300*
Email, document, photo storage per user
30GB
1TB**
Android app management
✔
⨯
Selectively distribute mobile apps
✔
⨯
Shared drives for teams
⨯
✔
Advanced Drive sharing permissions
⨯
✔
Maximum number of participants per meeting
100
150
Google Meet – Recording meetings, breakout rooms, Q&A
⨯
✔
*If you require more than 300 users, you will need to be upgraded to Google Workspace Enterprise plan.
**Shared between all users, 2TB if you have more than 5 users
A Message for Our Clients
We will soon be transitioning your G Suite accounts over to Google Workspace. This will not result in any downtime for your emails or accounts. If you have any questions, please do contact us by giving us a call on 0121 295 5352 or sending us an email at hello@ballyhoo.co.uk
Google is now offering Google Partners up to £400 Ads credit for new customers.
Google announced earlier this month that they are now offering a £400 credit matched spend to new customers that sign up to Google Ads through a Google Partner – a huge increase from the previous £75 offered. Therefore, when you spend up to £400, Google will match this by 100%, giving you a whopping £800 to invest in your initial Ads budget
The credit has to be used within 60 days – meaning that you could spread this out to £200 extra per month on campaigns.
This credit is only available through signing up with a Google Partner – such as Ballyhoo!
Benefits of Working With a Google Partner
In addition to getting free credit, we can also manage and set up your campaigns for you.
Google Partners is a marketing programme for advertising agencies, that allows them to manage Google Ads accounts on behalf of other businesses.
Google Partners must pass Google Ads product certification exams to show that they have the knowledge required to provide clients with this service, and also ensure that they are up to date with the latest Google product information.
Benefits of working with a Google Partner include:
You can work with knowledgeable experts
They can setup and support you quickly
They have access to Beta features (which helps to keep you competitive)
They work directly with Google to get support and suggestions
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online advertising platform developed by Google, which allows you to display paid ads to web users on Google search and on non-search websites, mobile apps, and videos. There are a variety of ad types available – including service offerings, product listings, or videos to web users.
Google Ads allows you to reach new customers by targeting your ads, controlling your marketing costs, and easily measuring your success.
You may have received an email this morning from Google, outlining the changes coming to Google Workspace. Below, we’ve explained the update and outlined any action that you need to take.
Update Name
Search History Control
In a Nutshell
Google stores your search history across your Workspace apps such as Gmail and Drive. This means, when searching in Gmail and Drive, your search history will show up as suggestions as you type. From 29th March 2022, you will be able to control the storage of your Google Workspace search history data, and turn off the suggestions.
Action You Need to Take
This is optional. The search history setting will be on by default from 29th March 2022, but you will be able to turn this off or edit how long your search history is stored. To do this, go to ‘My activity’ and ‘Google Workspace search history’.
Need help with your Google Apps? We are Google Partners, meaning we can manage your Google Workspace apps for your business – contact us now to find out more.
Google Workspace brings collaboration and communication together under one roof.
You’ll still have access to Gmail and other apps like Docs and Google Meet.
There’s no additional charge, you will be transitioned to an equivalent tier on the new Google Workspace subscription model.
Some business management news for you today. As you may know, Ballyhoo has been an official reseller of G Suite for a number of years.
G Suite includes professional email accounts and an ever-expanding range of office suite and business applications, such as Calendar, Docs and Google Meet. Depending on your edition, you’ll also benefit from terabytes of cloud storage via Drive and advanced admin tools to keep your business secure and compliant.
Google has announced that G Suite has been rebranded as Google Workspace, a moniker that better reflects their diverse product offering and the ethos of the brand in providing everything your organisation needs to work effectively.
With productivity and collaboration at the forefront of every organisation’s needs right now, and digitisation rapidly accelerating due to the pandemic, Google is firmly marketing Google Workspace as the only subscription you need to keep your team on the right track.
https://youtu.be/bE31y5HbukA
What does this mean for my existing G Suite account?
Not a lot, to be honest. You’ll still have access to Gmail and the other applications you may be taking advantage of (though we know for many of you email is possibly the only application you currently use).
In practical terms, you won’t need to lift a finger as the Ballyhoo team will take care of the transition over the coming months as we move your subscription to the correct new Google Workspace tier. Your pricing will remain the same and we will continue to be your point of contact for any administrative queries.
You will, however, see the name of the service change on your Ballyhoo invoices from G Suite to Google Workspace and you may spot the new name and branding during your customer experience when you use Gmail, Docs or any of the other Workspace applications.
What about the future?
We can’t promise Google won’t pull another rebrand out of the bag, that’s for sure! It seems only yesterday that we moved from Google Apps to G Suite! (we’re showing our age, aren’t we?)
Long before we became a Google Cloud Partner, we used Google Apps in-house for years and soon came to realise that it was the best solution for our clients too, outstripping Outlook and other email clients in ease-of-use, reliability and product experience.
The gamut of additional features and applications that have been added over time have rapidly improved our own collaboration and communication capabilities and we’re excited to see how the Google Workspace evolution takes things even further.
Polls have recently been introduced in Google Meet.
Some features in the pipeline include the ability to collaborate on Docs real-time from within a chatroom environment and use Google Meet picture-in-picture within Docs, Sheets & Slides (as opposed to forsaking face-to-face video for screen sharing).
We’ll see what else the future holds! Picture-in-picture is certainly something that the Ballyhoo team will benefit from while many of us continue to work remotely.
If you have any questions about Google Workspace or cloud collaboration tools please reach out to us on 0121 295 5352 or email support@ballyhoo.co.uk to speak with the team.
We get many enquiries asking if there is a way for team members to access the same folder or documents in one place, and the answer is yes. Google Drive gives you the option to create, share and access documents and folders with your team, we have created a demonstration below to help you get to grips and understand how to do this.
Step 1 – Access Google Drive
Log into Google Mail and click on the Google Apps button in the top right corner:
Select Drive from the menu:
Step 2 – Create a new folder
Click on the “New” button in the top left and select “New Folder”:
Give the new folder a name and click create:
Step 3 – Add Content to Your Google Drive Folder
Double click to enter the folder. Once you’re in, content can then be dropped into the browser and added to the folder:
Alternatively, content can be added by clicking the new button in the top left and selecting “File Upload” or “Folder Upload”:
Step 4 – Share the folder
Once your folder has been created and documents have been added, you can now share it with your team by clicking on the folder name located at the top of the screen and selecting Share:
Enter the names or email addresses of the people that you want to share the folder with:
Any files or folders that are now added within this folder, by anyone, will automatically appear for everyone that the folder is shared with.
If you are still unsure or have any questions regarding this process, please feel free to contact Ballyhoo today on 0121 222 5870, email to hello@ballyhoo.co.uk or fill out the contact form on our contact page.
