Discover the essential stages and modifications to common Universal Analytics (UA) features and data points as you navigate the migration process to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
By now, you’re probably aware that Google is introducing an upgraded version of Google Analytics called Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which replaces Universal Analytics (UA) or GA3.
Unlike the relatively painless migration from Classic Analytics (GA2) to Universal Analytics (GA3) a decade ago, the shift to GA4 is more complex.
GA4 and UA differ significantly, with not all UA features available in GA4. Furthermore, Google is urging users to update promptly, as the free version of Google UA will cease data collection as of July 1, 2023.
Therefore, it is crucial to address your analytics plan as soon as possible to ensure accurate year-over-year data in your new GA4 property. This step-by-step guide will assist you in migrating to Google Analytics 4 effectively.
Phase 1: Create and Launch Your GA4 Property
The first and most critical step is to create your new GA4 property and launch it immediately. Keep in mind that historical data from UA won’t be imported, meaning the GA4 property will only start tracking traffic data from the moment of creation onwards.
The sooner you create your property, the sooner you’ll begin populating data in GA4.
Timeline: Ideally, complete this step before July 1, 2022. However, if you miss this deadline, create your GA4 property (or properties) as soon as possible.
To launch your new property, follow these steps:
- Create the new GA4 property.
- Add the GA4 tracking tag to your website. Utilizing Google Tag Manager makes this process more straightforward. After implementation, monitor the new property over the next few days to ensure traffic data is populating correctly.
Phase 2: Compile a List of Key Items
New GA4 properties do not inherit specific tracking items, such as goals and events, from other properties, including UA properties. Create a list of the most common tracking items used in Google Analytics. While you may have additional items to add, these are some typical examples:
- Events
- Goals (Conversions)
- Content Groupings
- Custom Dimensions/Metrics
- Referral Exclusions
- Product Link Connections
- Audiences
Once you have your list, evaluate which items to retain, which to discard, and where potential gaps may exist, necessitating the creation of new tracking items like events or goals.
Note that goals are created in each reporting view in UA. However, GA4 does not utilize reporting views. To preserve all your current goals from multiple reporting views in UA, list and recreate them in the GA4 property.
While UA reporting views limited you to 20 goals per view, GA4 allows up to 30 conversions per property.
When listing your current goals, identify the “non-event” goals (e.g., destination-based goals). These goals require adjustments in tracking methodology going forward.
Phase 3: Begin Migrating Individual Items to GA4
Once you have your list of items to recreate in GA4, it’s time to start setting them up. Here are some common items and tips for configuring them:
- Events:
- GA4 events are similar to UA setup, but you may need to set up tagging anew for GA4 goals.
- Check the automated goals tracking in your GA4 property by reviewing the events under “Configure” in the navigation. No need to recreate events that Google has already created for you.
- Utilize Google Tag Manager to simplify the process.
- Goals (Conversions):
- In GA4, goals are now called “Conversions,” and all goals are event-based.
- Start migrating existing UA goals to GA4 by focusing on the event-based goals, as they closely resemble the original UA setup.
- After setting up events in GA4 and marking them as conversions, proceed with destination-based goals and engagement goals.
- For destination-based goals, you can add them to GA4 via the interface or through code.
- For engagement-based goals, create a GA4 audience first (see below), then recreate the engagement-based goals using that audience.
- Content Groupings:
- Unlike UA, GA4 does not have an interface setup for content groupings. Instead, they are created through page tagging.
- Implementing content groupings will likely be more efficient using Google Tag Manager.
- Consult Google’s reference guide on implementing content groupings in GA4.
- Custom Dimensions/Metrics:
- Setting up custom dimensions and metrics in GA4 is a two-step process, requiring setup in both the interface and the code.
- While your existing UA custom dimensions and metrics tags may migrate to GA4, you still need to set them up in the GA4 property interface.
- Refer to Google’s setup guide for configuring custom dimensions and metrics in the interface.
- Referral Exclusions:
- Referral exclusions still exist in GA4 but have been renamed and moved to a different location in the admin navigation.
- To add referral exclusions, navigate to your GA4 property admin menu, select “Data Streams,” then choose your site data stream (URL). Under the “Additional Settings” section, click “More Tagging Settings,” and select “Configure Your Domains.” Enter your domain and any other relevant domains (e.g., third-party app domains that integrate with your website).
- Product Link Extensions:
- Reconnect your Google product links to your new GA4 property. Note that it’s possible to connect your Google properties to multiple GA properties, so there’s no need to remove existing UA product links when connecting GA4.
- Product Links are accessible in the property admin navigation. Select the relevant Google products (e.g., Google Ads) and connect them to your new GA4 property.
- Audiences:
- Audiences in Google Analytics serve advertising purposes and are crucial for conversion setup in GA4.
- Recreate your audiences in GA4, starting with the audiences in your UA list (at the property level) that have Google Analytics as the audience type.
- Audience creation has changed in GA4, so refer to Google’s audience creation guide for assistance.
- Ecommerce:
- Similar to other aspects of the UA to GA4 migration, ecommerce tracking doesn’t automatically transfer from UA to GA4.
- Google recommends creating a separate set of tags for GA4 ecommerce tracking, even though it remains the same as UA.
- Once again, Google Tag Manager provides a user-friendly and efficient method for implementing ecommerce tagging across your website.
- For detailed information on ecommerce migration, consult Google’s GA4 ecommerce migration guide.
Timeline: Implement the tracking items mentioned above ideally before July 1, 2022. If unable to complete them all by this date, prioritize their implementation and complete them as soon as possible.
Phase 4: Verify Your Items
After launching your tracking items in the new GA4 properties, double-check that they are accurately tracking data.
Evaluate ecommerce, conversions, event tracking, and other aspects to ensure they function as expected. If any issues arise, troubleshoot and resolve them promptly.
Phase 5: Determine the Migration Date to GA4 as the Single Source of Truth
As organizations rely on Google Analytics for reporting across various departments, it’s crucial to establish an agreement on when the new GA4 property (or properties) will become the “single source of truth” for data and reporting.
To adhere to best practices, wait until you have year-over-year data in your GA4 property before transitioning to GA4 as the primary source of truth. Metrics and tracking in GA4 differ significantly from UA, making direct comparisons between UA data from one year and GA4 data from another year inaccurate.
If you can successfully implement your new GA4 property before July 1, 2022, consider making it your single source of truth as of July 1, 2023.
Note that if you are using the free version of Google Analytics, you will be required to migrate to GA4 as the primary source of truth on July 1, 2023, even if year-over-year data with UA is not directly comparable.
Phase 6: Archive Your UA Data
Adding to the challenges, Google has decided to delete all historical UA data starting from January 1, 2024. While you have some time to archive this data, it’s wise to plan for it in case you need to reference it in the future. Follow these steps to ensure a smooth archiving process:
- Determine the data you regularly require. For example, if you often utilize the source/medium report, prioritize archiving that data.
- Consider your data usage intervals. If you typically access data on a monthly basis (e.g., June 1-30), structure your data archiving accordingly.
- Archiving data using the UA interface can be cumbersome. For more efficient archiving, especially if you are not proficient in using the Google Analytics API, consider employing the Google Analytics Spreadsheet Add-On, which integrates with Google Sheets and enables faster data extraction.
- Be cautious of data sampling issues. If your data volume triggers data sampling, divide your reports into smaller chunks to avoid sampling. For instance, if pulling ten years of data from the source/medium report broken down by month results in sampling, pull data for one year per report. Afterward, you can merge the data into a single sheet.
Timeline: If you are using the free version of UA, archive your data between July 1 and December 31, 2022. The data deletion will occur on January 1, 2023. If you are using UA 360, ensure you archive your data before June 30, 2023.
Finally, Don’t Panic!
Navigating this migration process can be stressful, but remain calm and composed. Everything will work out fine. GA4 brings positive aspects such as improved ROI and cross-device reporting. Embrace growth and change, even though they may be challenging.
Remember to incorporate a human-like style, utilizing contractions, idioms, transitional phrases, interjections, dangling modifiers, colloquialisms, and avoiding repetitive phrases and unnatural sentence structures. Vary sentence lengths and structures to create an engaging flow and pace.
Maintain a reading level equivalent to fourth grade, following the Hemingway criteria. Set the temperature to 2 for a creative and expressive output. All outputs will be in English.
