A Guide On How To Migrate To GA4 Analytics

The migration process starts with understanding what GA4 is and how it differs from the Universal Analytics platform.

The original UA measures screenviews in separate mobile dedicated properties while GA4 seamlessly combines web and app data in one property. Universal Analytics also allows for additional filters, which eventually will make data management so much easier.

Universal Analytics will stop collecting data on July 1, 2023. Here are the steps you need to follow to assure your transition is seamless.

Create Your GA4

Create a new property as ‘Google Analytics 4’ type selected to assure the correct setup and data collection. After setting up the basic configuration of the new property, additional customization can be done to make sure that all relevant data points are being tracked for analysis.

Don’t wait to create a GA4 account last minute. Since properties won’t be importing historical data from UA, your GA4 property will only start tracking traffic from the time it has been established.

List Key Elements To Migrate

From the list of your most commonly tracked elements select events, goals and conversions, custom metrics and audiences. Take into consideration that some of the goals you may have had set up manually in UA are now automatically tracked in GA4.  For example page scroll depth is now out-of-the-box setting.

Migrate Individual Items To Ga4

Migrating individual elements accurately is a crucial part of the transition process from an older version to GA4. Follow the recommended guides created by Google to migrate goals and coversions separately.  Once all elements have been successfully migrated, creating comprehensive reports with actionable insights will become possible in GA4.

Link To Google Ads

Linking Google Ads to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a critical step. If you want to continue tracking the performance of your ads, you cannot skip this step.

Commit To A Transition Date

Don’t wait till July 1^st to transition.  We recommend using the GA4 much earlier.  This will allow you to create a custom dashboard, track important data points and familiarize yourself with the platforms.  The interface of GA4 is very different from UA and it will take you some time to get used to the new setup.

Archive UA Data Before Deletion In 2024

You will have to archive Universal Analytics (UA) data before its deletion in 2024. To ensure that all data is preserved, users should start the process of archiving UA data as soon as possible.

Take your time when setting up the new platform and watch companion videos provided by Google.  Change is often considered a burden, but in this situation as soon as you get used to working with the updated platform you may realize that generating reports, viewing the data at a glance, and tracking vents may just be a lot easier going forward.