PSPINC Official Company Blog

Why Google Analytics is Switching to Google Analytics 4 and How to Switch Over Manually

Apr

25

Released in 2005, Google Analytics is a free web analytics service where users can view statistics and have access to basic analytical tools for their websites. These tools help website owners optimize their sites for search engines and better market their sites and potential businesses. Since 2012, Universal Analytics (UA) became the default property type. In 2020, Google released Google Analytics 4 (GA4), giving users the option to use either.

Starting July 1st, Google Analytics will not only switch to GA4, but it’ll also stop its data collection for UA properties. And they'll solely support GA4 rather than giving users the choice to either GA4 or UA. Even though it’s almost two months away from now, it’s recommended you switch over sooner rather than later.

Why is Google Switching to Google Analytics 4?

Internet users today are becoming more aware of their privacy online in recent years. With that concern, many users have opted out of tracking cookies, which are text files that collect data about a user’s behavior on their browser. When you first go to a website, many times, it’ll ask if you agree to accept tracking cookies. As users learn more about internet safety, more and more people are opting out of tracking cookies. For Google Analytics, that changes things because UA captures data by relying on first-party cookies. With more people opting out, UA’s data set will become less helpful moving forward. GA4, however, uses event-based data modeling to gather data.

How to Switch Manually from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4

two people looking at google analytics and a tablet

To manually switch over to GA4:

Create a GA4 property and data stream

For a site that already has analytics, start by going to the Admin (lower left) in Google Analytics
Make sure the right account is selected in the Account column (if you only have one Google Analytics account, it’s already selected)
Select the Universal Analytics property that currently collects data for your website in the Property column
Click GA4 Setup Assistant in the Property column
Click Get started under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 Property
In the Create a new Google Analytics 4 property pop-up, depending on how your site is currently tagged, you can either:

Create and continue
Create property

Select the option that best describes your situation on the Set up a Google tag page and follow the instructions to finish creating your new GA4 property
Collect website and app data
Turn on Google signals
Add users

Even though it’ll automatically switch over (if you haven’t opted out), Google still recommends you manually switch to GA4 before the deadline on July 1st. The reasoning behind this is simple: the sooner you switch, the more data you’ll collect in the new system. And that data collection will be vital to help determine trends and insights and how to improve your overall business and marketing plans. If you need help migrating your data from UA to GA4, we have experts ready to help you with your SEO and other marketing needs.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customersupport #digitalmarketing #google #googleanalytics #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #security #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #website #websites #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 164 “Marketing with Audio”

Apr

20

Using audio in marketing has only gotten popular over the past few years. Catchy jingles, sponsored podcasts, audiobooks, and other audio advertising methods. And there’s a good reason for this: people are more likely to remember something with audio, especially music. So, when you use audio in your marketing plan, it’s that much more effective.

The goal of marketing isn’t just to get people to buy your product, but it’s also to keep your products and your brand in the back of customers’ minds. That way, the next time they think of something related to what you’re selling, they’ll think of your brand, making it more likely they’ll buy from you. That’s why we created Click It Audio, which gives businesses an easy way to add audio to their marketing efforts. Embed an audio file onto your site or add an audio QR code on your product packaging and business cards. Get started for free or upgrade to our Standard plan at just $9.91/month.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#advertising #b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #digitalmarketing #ecommerce #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

AI-Generated Search Engines: Bing Chat vs. Google Bard

Apr

18

After Bing announced they’d integrate the AI-generated chatbot, ChatGPT, Google announced their own rival chatbot, Bard. Since then, Google opened access to Bard via a waitlist (much like Bing) in late March. Unsurprisingly, now that users have access to both, it begs the question of which one is better. In the search engine game, Google has always been the clear winner, with about 93% of the global search-engine market compared to Bing’s meager 3%, according to Statcounter.

Now that Bing’s leveraging Bing Chat (their AI-powered assistant), Google may lose some of its longstanding power over the search engine market. Since releasing Bing Chat, there are now 100 million daily active Bing users, one-third of whom are using Bing Chat daily, according to Microsoft Bing Blogs as of early March. With that is also over 100 million recorded chats, according to Search Engine Journal. Both still insist they’re in their learning phase as Bing and Google figure out any major bugs and as they optimize each system. So, while both have their fair share of limitations and bugs, we’ll see that change as OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT), Bing, and Google all work to improve their respective chatbots.

Differences Between Bing Chat and Google Bard

black samsung tablet display google browser on screen

While Bing Chat and Google Bard are both AI-generated, they’re distinctly different because while Bing uses the popular chatbot, ChatGPT, Google uses a LaMDA model, which results in less text-heavy responses. But it’s important to point out that Bing Chat and ChatGPT are not the same; Bing just uses the GPT-4 technology. The biggest difference between Bing Chat and ChatGPT is the fact that Bing Chat can generate images and offer sources that their AI is generating data from.

But so far, users who have tried both prefer Bing Chat over Google Bard. Google, however, hasn’t been out for nearly as long, so Bard is still in the early phases of optimizing the overall experience of the AI chatbot. Bing Chat, however, has the advantage of ChatGPT’s GPT-4 technology, which users have already proven to like, which we’ve seen from ChatGPT’s overall popularity. But regardless, one thing is clear: AI chatbots are here to stay. And we can only assume the technology will continue to grow as experts learn more about how to better optimize them.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ai #aichatbot #bing #bingchat #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #chatbot #chatgpt #google #googlebard #microsoft #search #searchengine #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #web #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 163 “Easy Website Builders”

Apr

13

Today, it’s much easier to build a site for businesses, blogs, portfolios, or for any other reason. In the past, web developers and designers worked together to create a site from scratch. Now, there are a bunch of web builders out there that make it easier for non-developers to easily create a site, with features all designed for different goals people have in mind for their site. Businesses can add cart options, bloggers can choose how they want to rearrange their posts, and there are all sorts of templates out there designed to put the focus on images first. But with so many to choose from with a million different options, it’s hard to know which would work best for your website needs.

That’s why we created WebdeXpress, a simpler web-building tool! Compared to our competitors, WebdeXpress comes free with our premium web hosting service, Dreamersi, and includes great features fit for every website need. And for those who aren’t as tech-savvy, we even have a Done-For-You (DFY) plan, where our design team works with you to create your site in hours. And if you’re looking for a more custom solution, we also custom develop and custom design sites for our customers, too!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #digitalmarketing #hosting #marketing #marketingtips #pspinc #searchengineoptimization #seo #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #websites #webtools #wordpress

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 159 “2 More Weeks to Get 50% Off Pass Wizard Pro”

Mar

16

In case you missed it, the Pro version of our password manager, Pass Wizard, is currently on sale for 50% off your first year. And it has been for a few months now. But that time is slowly coming to end on Thursday, March 30. That gives you two weeks to claim this offer!

With Pass Wizard Pro, in addition to a secure password storage and password generator, you gain access to multi-factor authentication (MFA) options via either SMS or an authenticator app, as well as group sharing features. To get 50% off, sign up for Pass Wizard for free (if you haven’t already) and upgrade to Pro. While checking out, enter the promo code, PRO50, to get 50% off. Then, you’re all set!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #passwizard #passwordmanager #passwords #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 157 “Pass Wizard Giveaway”

Mar

2

If you’re a customer of our password manager, Pass Wizard, you could win one year of Pass Wizard for free! With Pass Wizard Pro, not only can you store your passwords securely, but you can also share them securely with family members, friends, and even trusted employees. To further secure your account, you can even add multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Just fill out this survey to enter the contest. We’ll be using this survey to determine what features we should prioritize in our next development phase, so we’d love to get your feedback on how you’re liking Pass Wizard so far. This contest ends at 11:59 pm PST on Thursday 3/9.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #marketing #passwizard #passwordmanager #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #security #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webtools

Bloguru: Rich Text Editor Now Available!

Feb

20

With Bloguru, our ad-free blogging platform, you can now stylize your blog’s text easily without any coding knowledge! We’ve updated our blogging platform, which includes adding a rich text editor to the post content editor, making it easier to bold, italicize, underline, strike-through, align, and add links to your text. You can even stylize your blog even further by changing text color and adding background color to text as well.

We’ve even added Undo and Redo buttons for when you accidentally make a mistake or want to restore your previous content. But for users with coding knowledge, there’s now a source code icon in the top right, letting you edit the look of your blog even further.

Sign up for Bloguru for free today.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #bloguru #business #contenteditor #css #editor #html #pspinc #richtexteditor #smallbusiness #sourcecode #style #technology #text #update #web #webdesign #webdevelopment #webhosting #websitebuilder #websites #webtools

Enter to Win One Year of Pass Wizard Pro for Free

Feb

13

Fill out this Pass Wizard survey to enter to win one year of Pass Wizard Pro for free. With this information, we’ll be able to improve our customers’ experiences and get a better idea of what features we should prioritize in our future development work.

To enter this giveaway, users must already be a Pass Wizard user (free or Pro), fill out the survey, and enter their Pass Wizard email at the end of the survey. This contest ends at 11:59 pm PST on Thursday 3/9.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #cybersecurity #giveaway #mobile #passwizard #passwordmanager #pspinc #security #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #survey #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #website #webtools

What’s New Newsletter Vol. 154 “Organizing Your Workflow”

Feb

9

Managing your business can be difficult, juggling both your customers and employees. But you need both when running a business of any size. An organized management system reduces the chance for mistakes to happen and increases overall productivity. It also improves the overall work culture, giving employees more transparency, trust, and control over their job.

On the client side, you want all the important data you have on them to be secure and organized. That way, you can provide great customer support and gain insights you wouldn’t otherwise have. For employees, an organized management system will help prioritize tasks and optimize the overall workflow. That’s why we created PSP Pilot, a CRM (customer relationship management) designed to simplify managing, operating, and logging daily tasks for your business. Get started for free today by signing up for PSP Pilot.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#b2b #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerfeedback #customerservice #customersupport #officetips #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pilot #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #psppilot #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webtools

How to Set Up a Facebook Ad

Feb

7

One of the easiest ways to increase visibility online as a small business is through paid ads. As we’ve mentioned before, organic social posts have a limited reach. One of the easiest and most affordable paid advertising options is Facebook ads.

Facebook makes it easy for marketers to create and run ads. After logging into Facebook, you’ll find the Meta (Facebook’s parent company) Business Suite on the left navigation bar, which is where you’ll be able to set up, monitor, and review your Facebook Ads. After opening Meta Business Suite, you can start by clicking on Ads on the left-hand side after selecting the Facebook page you’d like to run ads from. Then, click on Create Ad in the top-right corner. From there, you have three different options:

From There, You Can:

meta business suite create ad screenshot

Create Automated Ads

Facebook offers this option to make it easier for beginners, as it adjusts over time based on its algorithm. However, automated ads don't give marketers as much control over their ads to make them as specific as they might like them to be.

Boost Existing Content

If you already have a well-performing social post on either Facebook on Instagram, this option lets you boost that post. Boosting essentially helps that post be seen by more people, increasing the likelihood that users will take whatever action you'd like them to, whether it's engaging with the post or clicking on a link.

Start a New Ad Campaign

This option lets you choose a specific goal that you'd like your marketing campaign to accomplish. To start, you'll choose a goal, which could be:

· Getting more website visitors.

· Promoting your post.

· Promoting your business locally.

· Getting more leads.

· Getting more messages.

From there, you'll input the information to create the ad, which could include targeting options, ad copy, images, ad scheduling and duration, placements, and payment information. Then, clicking on "Promote now" will start your ad campaign.

Monitor Your Ads

meta business suite ads summary screenshot

After setting up your ad campaign, you can continually monitor it as it runs as well as after it ends. To see how your ads are performing, check Ads Summary, which is the default screen you'll see when clicking on Ads on the left navigation bar. From there, you'll see the Advertising Summary, Recent ads, Recommendations, and Audience sections.

The Advertising Summary shows you:

Overall reach: the number of people who saw your ad. This, however, doesn’t include multiple views from the same people.

Post engagement: the number of engagements people made involving your ad. This could include liking, commenting, sharing, or clicking on the link included in your ad.

Link clicks: the number of clicks your ad received.

Page likes: the number of likes your Facebook page gained because of your ad.

Recent ads will show you your most recent ad campaigns, with the option to view all ads if you’d like to see how a past ad performed. Recommendations, as the name suggests, show suggestions Facebook recommends to help you improve your overall ads. And lastly, Audience gives you more insight into your audience, i.e. your Facebook page followers and those who interacted with your past posts and/or ads. That information includes demographic data like age, gender, and location as well as where your ads were placed.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.