The event, “Getting SEO Measurement Right in 2024” provided an opportunity for attendees from the digital marketing discipline to understand more about the latest issues and trends, as well as hear updates and top tips on how to address these; important for maintaining a competitive edge in digital marketing.

The focus was on SEO hot topics for 2024 ‘so far’, including Cookie Consent, Bot Traffic, Google Results, the shift to GA4, and the AI impact on SEO – and conveniently, Google formally announced the release of their AI Overview the evening before. Thank you Google!

Cookie Consent Impacts and Problems

With increasing regulations around data privacy, the topic of Cookie Consent was the first major highlight to resonate with attendees – a dry and not normally exciting topic brought alive by the shared recognition. When it comes to this topic, businesses often ask, “Do I have to?” and the short answer is YES. According to gov.uk following the EU directive, “You must get the user’s consent before you set any cookies that are not strictly necessary.” The impact is usually a significant drop in recorded traffic numbers, affecting data analysis in perpetuity. Effective cookie consent management is essential to have a reliable baseline for digital marketing let alone maintaining user trust.

Bot Traffic Ruining Tracked Data in Google

Bot Traffic is spam traffic leading to short term spikes, with clear footprints such as time on site time (low), traffic from, er ‘unusual’ countries (Poland, Russia, etc). It is clearly automated, clearly not real or genuine to website tracking of user experience. It is an inconvenient mess, making month on month (MoM) and year on year (YoY) comparisons difficult, often invalid. Techniques were shared to block in GA (Google Analytics), but alas the effectiveness in tackling this issue can be low without reasonable attention. Cressive shared hints and tips to deal with bot traffic, but one inevitable consequence is greater reliance upon GSC (Google Search Console) as a reliable source of data – no bad this arguably for SEOs. It is less affected compared to GA, however not immune. 

Google Results and Congested SERPs

The landscape, format and content of Google Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) continues to change, and it is becoming increasingly cluttered considering both paid and free results such as products, FAQs, mobile scrolling, news etc – a collage of fragmented snippets. This creates both challenges and opportunities. To make the best use of Google Results latest updates for digital marketing promotion, maps, business listings, videos and Wikipedia, and all the wide variants and options require consideration. Wikipedia is often overlooked, but it is one of the best ranking websites for many searches. Additionally, you can target Featured Snippets. Google says, “Featured Snippets are special boxes where the format of a regular search results is reversed, showing the descriptive snippet first.” The increasing complexity of SERPs demands management and this can be automated using Cressive DX’s reporting, to record and highlight visibility in responding to and managing all search results.

The Forced Shift to GA4 and End of UA (now aka “GA3”)

One of the most significant events of the year is the transition from UA (Universal Analytics) to GA4 (Google Analytics). This shift changes the way data is collected and interpreted. Much has been, and is being, written on this subject so the focus on the briefing was on the more surprising impact and options. Many businesses didn’t have trouble with this transition, many others faced challenges, and few switched to alternative analytics tools such as Matomo or Adobe Analytics because of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) – a European Union regulation on information privacy. The limitations and enforced changes to digital marketing analytics interpretation caused by this shift to GA4 are found in every SEO engagement currently and will be ongoing impact. The demise of UA/GA3 at the end of June necessitates a change in focus and management.

Read our article “GA4 and UA – What’s the Difference?” highlighting the shift to GA4 in more detail. 

AI, AI Overview and the Impact on SEO

Perhaps the fastest trending topic of the year is AI & SEO and its impact. It is changing often and rapidly, that by the time you finish reading this article, there can be a new AI update or release… The evening before the briefing meeting saw Google announce the new AI Overview ‘search result snippet’.

Google rolled out AI-Powered Overviews (SGE – Search Generative Experience) to US search results, powered by the new Gemini model. We can be certain of some immediate responses to interpreting SERPs and result snippets – by both users and for SEO, and Cressive shared actions that can be employed today to deal with and better manage SEO in response. We proactively research and incorporate AI into both the consulting SEO services and SEO software so we harness the latest innovations as well as react to the constant changes. The next wave of SEO has begun and Cressive remains determined to stay at the forefront of changes in digital marketing, and share these to the benefit of our clients.

At Cressive DX, with more than 3 decades of combined experience we guide businesses through these difficult transitions and challenges. We use our proprietary software and proven industry expertise, to turn your data into insights and insights into high value solutions. Best-practice brand control leads to better Digital Brand Performance. 

This was the first Breakfast Briefing organised by Cressive DX offering comprehensive information on 2024 SEO hot topics to attendees, but it won’t be the last. See you in the next event in Q3.

Originally published 25 June 2024 on LinkedIn.

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In the digital analytics world, the transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics (GA4) marked one of the significant events of the year and it is pivotal for any enterprise focusing on Digital Brand Governance and enhancing their Share of Voice.

While UA, with its session-based tracking system, has been an essential web data analysis tool for years, GA4 introduces a more dynamic and event-based approach. This offers a big shift on how data is collected and interpreted.  And now, UA has been phased out, leaving us with GA4. This begs the question: What’s next? How do GA4 and UA differ, and what are the challenges of this transition?

Some Differences Between GA4 and UA 

One of the fundamental differences lies in the tracking approach: UA’s session-based approach provided a linear view of user interactions, while GA4 with its event-based tracking offers a more granular, user-centric perspective. This change grants a deeper understanding of user behaviour and engagements.

When it comes to data visualisation, UA displayed multiple pre-set charts by default. On the other hand, GA4 works best when integrated with third-party tools like Google’s Looker Studio or the Cressive DX platform for more comprehensive data analysis. GA4 is more exploratory and customisation-based.

Another noteworthy difference is in data retention. GA4 has a reduced data storage duration limited to 14 months in the free version compared to UA and this presents a challenge for long-term data analysis and historical comparisons.  Unlike UA, GA4 also includes specific features such as Streams ID and cross-domain tracking, which offers enhanced capabilities in tracking user journeys across various domains. 

These are only a small portion of distinctions between the two with other differences in areas such as user metrics, pageviews, sessions, and account structure, many of which we are likely already familiar with. But, Google being Google, things aren’t that simple and the transition from UA to GA4 made things more complicated than what it was… 

Issues and Aftermath – What Now? 

GA4 has brought a number of challenges to the table. The shift to event-based tracking forced organisations to reevaluate their existing analytics strategies and possibly retraining of staff. The change wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for businesses, it was a challenging process where most of them lost valuable historical data and adapting to those changes required a great deal of resources and time.

A few simply switched to other web analytics tools such as Matomo or Adobe Analytics because of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) a European Union regulation on information privacy. Countries including Italy, France and Austria have banned Google Analytics on the grounds of violation in data collection and storage practices. 

Furthermore, GA4 relies on third-party tools for data visualisation and analysis. This necessitates partnerships with tool providers and deep understanding of those softwares, impacting both the workflow and the budget. Plus, reduced data retention impacts the importance of timely data analysis and decision making. Embracing GA4 is not just about adaptation: it’s about solid analytics strategies to remain agile in a rapidly changing digital landscape. 

At Cressive DX, we have more than 3 decades of combined experience in guiding enterprises through these difficult transitions: from understanding the core differences between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4, to implementing new strategies for Digital Brand Governance and maximising Share of Voice. Using our proprietary software and proven industry expertise, we turn your data into insights and insights into high value solutions, pragmatically and without the fluff. Best-practice brand control leads to better Digital Brand Performance. 

Originally published 1 December 2023 on LinkedIn.

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