In October 2020, Google Analytics released a new version called Migrate on Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This short guide is for marketers who want to correctly move their websites over to GA4.
The current version of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics (UA), will be replaced by GA4 in June 2023. You will have to use GA4 next year, so you must move your data carefully to Google Analytics 4 so you don’t lose anything.
When you log into Google Analytics, you may be asked to upgrade to GA4. If you go away to the admin sector, you will find a GA4 Set-Up Assistant. If you know how to use GA, just following the steps in the junior, has to be sufficient. However, it doesn’t cover everything, and you might lose data that you had before.
You can read all about GA in Google’s announcement, which also has a list of resources at the end. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important things to know before moving:
- GA4 uses a brand-new way to measure based on events instead of the old page-view method (which used events as a custom tracking option)
- If you use Google Tag Manager, the tags are different from what they used to be.
- To store the data, you will need a new Google Analytics property.
- The interface is nothing like what you have been using before.
- Some data doesn’t exist the same way you can see it in Universal Analytics.
What is the GA4?
- GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics. It used to be called an “App + Web” property. They changed the name of Google Analytics to “Universal Analytics” and released this new platform a while ago.
- , Unlike Universal Analytics, Migrate on Google Analytics 4 can be used for a website, an app, or both if you want to be fancy.
- It also gives you more brilliant insights to help you better understand how users interact with your website or app and prepare for upcoming changes, like the end of third-party cookies.
- According to Google, the new platform’s goal is to give a “more complete understanding of how customers interact with your business” by using a customer-centric measurement instead of measuring based on a device or platform.
- For example, you can tell if a customer finds you through a search or display ad, install your app, and make a purchase. Before now, many companies used last-click attribution, which made it hard to see the real impact of top-of-the-funnel campaigns.
- Google Analytics 4 aims to change that. And we’ll be there.
How to Switch to Google Analytics 4?
Are you ready to move to GA4? Google just said Universal Analytics will stop working in the summer of 2023, so now is the time to switch to Google Analytics 4.
If you already have Google Analytics, you’ll use the GA4 Setup Assistant, which collects data with your regular GA account.
Note:Â You can still use Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 until at least next year. Different information is on each platform, so it’s best to keep both setups, at least for now.
Are you ready to start? I’ll show you how to set up Migrate on Google Analytics 4.
Step 1: Create a new GA4 property as the first step
- Go to Admin and click on GA4 Setup Assistant
You can find the link to the GA4 Setup Assistant on your Universal Analytics property’s Admin page. It adds a property that collects data for Migrate on Google Analytics 4 and your Universal Analytics property.
- Click on “Get Started.”
- Allow data collection using the tags you already have (if possible)
- If you exploit a website trendy or CMS that already ropes the gtag.js tag (like WordPress, Shopify, Wix, etc.), you may have the option to Enable data collection using your existing tags. (Then skip Step 2)
- If your website builder or CMS doesn’t yet support the gtag.js tag, you use Google Tag Manager, or your website is already tagged with analytics.js, the wizard can’t use your existing tagging, and you’ll have to add the tag yourself. See Step 2 for instructions on how to set up Google Tag Manager.
Step 2: Set up Google Tag Manager to gather data
- Setup GA4 configuration tag
To make a Google Analytics 4 Configuration tag, you need to click:
Tags > New > Tag Configuration > GA4 Configuration > Google Analytics.
Then, enter your measurement ID, add any custom user properties you want to set up in User Properties, set up the Initialization trigger, save the tag configuration, and publish your container.
Step 3: Tag Universal Analytics and GA4 with your existing custom events.
Using dual tagging, you can keep your implementation of Universal Analytics in place while you build out your implementation of Migrate on Google Analytics 4.
Step 4: Choose one of the following ways to set up Dual Tag:
- Use the GA4 Setup Assistant and choose “Enable data collection using your existing tags.”
- Add the GA4 Measurement ID to a new “config” directive by hand (G-XXXXXXXX)
Link GA4 to your other Google products in the third step.
To see the entire customer cycle, track how users interact with your marketing activities and link your Google Ads account to your Analytics property.
Set up Google Search Console integration if you want to look at your site’s organic search results, see where it ranks in search results, which queries lead to clicks, and how those clicks affect how people use your site.
Link a Migrate on Google Analytics 4 property to a Google Optimize container so you can run A/B tests and customize your website.
Step 4:Â Copy the custom settings from GA3 to GA4
Copy the custom settings you’ve made in your Universal Analytics property to your new GA4 property.
Step 5: Make a list of referrals you don’t want.
To get rid of any referrals you don’t want, copy over your list of referrals you don’t want.
Step 6: Make a list of IP addresses to be left out
Filter internal traffic by copying and pasting IP exclusions or adding new ones.
Step 7: Make your measurements and metrics
In Universal Analytics, custom dimensions and custom metrics are used to add more information to the data that has been collected. This is what event parameters in Google Analytics 4 do. Here’s how to map your custom dimensions and metrics based on their scope.
Step 8: Progress your spectators as of UA to GA4
Move your audiences from your Universal Analytics property to your Google Analytics 4 property. So, you can use your GA4 data to find the same groups of users and then export those groups to your linked Google Ads accounts.
Step 9: Set up conversions in GA4 (Step 5)
In GA4, conversions are called “Conversions.” In Universal Analytics, they are called “Goals,” but they do the same thing.
Step 10: Use the Goal Migration tool to move UA goals automatically to GA4 destinations.
The goal relocation tool lets you quickly create an entitled goals from your linked Universal Analytics possessions as alteration events in your Google Analytics 4 property.
But the tool can only be used to move two types of goals:
- Destination goal: When a user lands on a specific page, like a “thank you” or “confirmation” page.
- Event goal: When a user triggers a particular event, like a social recommendation, video play, or ad click,
All other types of goals will have to be added by hand.
- Set up other goals by hand
If you have goals like “Pages/Screens per session,” “Duration,” “Smart,” or “goal that use ordinary terms” in your existing UA property, or if you want to set up new goals, you will have to do that by hand.
Step 11: Other Settings
In GA4, conversions are called “Conversions.” In Universal Analytics, they are called “Goals,” but they do the same thing.
Step 12: Make Google Signals work.
It would help if you turned on Google signals to improve remarketing and reporting features. This will help you learn more about your customers across their devices.
Why you should upgrade to GA4, to sum up
Event-based analytics have been around for a while but are becoming the norm quickly. The way Google tracks data has changed dramatically with Google Analytics 4, which is a good thing. Custom events and reports make it easier to figure out which growth strategies work.
Changes in user behavior (like more touchpoints), more activity across devices, and better ways to use data have all led to more people using event-based analytics. Google Analytics 4 is a robust platform for learning about user behavior and your business because it is flexible, scalable, and has modern business intelligence (BI) features.
Google Analytics is a tool that can do a lot.
