Google Analytics has long been a cornerstone for millions of business owners worldwide. However, as of July 1st, 2023, Universal Analytics will be phased out and replaced with Google Analytics 4 (GA4). It’s imperative to transition to GA4 now to ensure seamless data tracking and continued insights into your website’s performance.
Why You Should Set Up Your Google Analytics 4 Now
With the impending discontinuation of Universal Analytics, the time to act is now. Setting up GA4 immediately allows you to start collecting data on your new property while preserving historical goal tracking and e-commerce data for future comparisons. GA4 is definitely worth doing and implementing.
What to Expect from Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 offers numerous advantages over its predecessor:
- Privacy Focused: Enhanced compliance with privacy regulations.
- Cross-Platform Analysis: Unified tracking across web and app.
- Improved Customer Journey Tracking: Better insights into user behaviour.
- Enhanced User Engagement Analysis: More detailed engagement metrics.
- Powerful Audiences for Ad Campaigns: Improved audience segmentation.
- Simplified Goals and Events: Easier setup and management of goals/events.
- Enhanced Visualizations and Reports: More intuitive reporting tools.
For more details on these features, visit Google’s official support page.
The Set-Up Process
New Users
If you don’t currently use any Google Analytics properties, you’ll need to create a new account and set up a GA4 property from scratch.
Existing Users
For those already using Universal Analytics, utilize the GA4 setup assistant to add a GA4 property alongside your existing profile. This dual setup ensures continuous data collection without interruption.
Manual Setup
If your website relies on plugins or extensions requiring manual entry of the “UA-” ID, you’ll need to integrate Google’s global site tag (gtag.js) into each page’s head section. This can typically be done through your website builder’s custom HTML settings or via Tag Manager.
Our managed migration service handles all these steps for you, ensuring a smooth transition without any hassle.
Migrate Today from £375 + VAT
Avoid the complexities and let us manage your GA4 migration. As experienced professionals well-versed in optimal GA4 setups, we’ve successfully migrated numerous clients from Universal Analytics to GA4, securing their business data for the future.
Our Service Includes:
- A comprehensive review of the current setup, including key information and segmentation.
- Setup of new GA4 property & data streams.
- Replication & configuration of goals/events tracking.
- Data validation 2–4 weeks post-migration to ensure accurate tracking and necessary adjustments.
FAQs
What Happens If I Don’t Switch to GA4?
Failing to switch before July 2023 will have resulted in losing all historical Google Analytics data. But Google automatically transferred you to the new GA4. However, that needs some setting up on the
What Happens To UA Data When We Migrate?
You can access historical data on Universal Analytics for at least six months post-update (July 2023). After this period, access will no longer be available.
Will Our Google Tag Manager Affect Our GA4?
No, migrating to GA4 does not impact your use of Google Tag Manager. Both work seamlessly together, enabling continued management of tags and tracking codes through GTM.
Do We Need To Update Our Cookie Policy with GA4?
To stay compliant with privacy regulations like GDPR, there is a GA4 guide that helps you stay compliant within Google Analytics.
Seamless integrations with Happy Otter the SAS software development experts.