A quick guide to get you started
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or took a super long holiday...lucky you), you must have heard that Google recently launched a new property feature: App+Web
We’ve even written an article about the launch of App+Web, so you have no excuse.
This new event-based model allows you to collect unique interactions that users have with your content, being on your website or on your app, or both. In this article, we’ll cover what you need to do to set it up and get you going.
The new property type utilizes a more flexible event-based model for collecting the unique interactions that users have with your content, allowing you to measure any custom event that you set up.
1. Create a Firebase project
First things first, you need to go to the Firebase console and create a project. This project will act as the container for your app and will help you develop, monitor and grow your app.
When creating your project, you will be asked to link it to Google Analytics. This step will allow you to create your App + Web property later on in your Google Analytics account.
It is in your Firebase project that you will be able to connect your Android, iOS or web app and for which you need to have access to your app’s code (and some dev skills). More info on how to connect your apps:
2. Set up the App + Web property in Google Analytics
Now that you have a Firebase project connected to your Google Analytics (GA) account, you can navigate to the “Admin” section in GA and you’ll notice a new property added.
Note that if you create a new Firebase project it is important to first connect your Firebase account to GA and not create a new property manually, since the new App + Web property will appear automatically. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a duplicate unused property.
If you already had a Google Analytics for mobile Apps property (now deprecated - more info on Google shutting down GA for mobile apps) connected to an existing Firebase project, you can upgrade it for the new property in the Firebase project settings:
Once in this brand new property, the first action is to go to Property settings and set up your data streams. This is where you can select both your website and your app(s) to add to the property. Note that even though this is an App+Web property, you can also choose to only add a website or an app.
3. Configure your data streams
Once your stream is created, you need to configure it by using the gtag tracking code to add to your website. There are different ways to add this code but we tend to recommend using Google Tag Manager, as it’s straight forward and doesn’t require you to adapt your page code (no dev skills needed).
If you’re already using Google Tag Manager for your website, you can simply add a new tag that is now available in the different tag types, in which you enter the Measurement ID of your new property. Make sure you add a trigger to your tag on all pages (or on the subset of pages you want to measure
With this done, you are ready to start digging into this new property and discover a whole new way of looking at your data!
Indeed, what’s really important with this new positioning by Google is that they are moving away from the traditional session + pageview model that Google Analytics has been using for more than 15 years to an Event + Parameter model. It is a new measurement model for web traffic and it comes with a multitude of possibilities in terms of data collection and user behaviour.
It’s important to mention that this is still in Beta but we’re nevertheless excited about this and we’ll make sure to dig into these new possibilities in the coming weeks/months. Stay tuned for our next articles on the subject! | LinkedinThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Charlie Deschamps