April 03, 2023
It should come as no surprise that Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) is going away. GA4 – also known as ‘Google Analytics 4’ – has been years in the making and its recent launch promises a long list of benefits for business users.
Like UA, GA4 will measure traffic and engagement to give you better control of customer data and insights. Google’s next generation of analytics however promises the flexibility and intelligence to provide a clearer view of that all-important data across your business website and app. But where do you begin when getting to grips with GA4 and leaving the old Universal Analytics behind?
As of March 2023, the transition from UA to GA4 is afoot. While you have until 1st July 2023 to make the move from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 – at this point, all standard UA properties will stop processing data - it’s recommended that you do so as soon as possible. Using this new measurement system will after all be a learning curve.
Last month, Google got to work making the process of migration as simple as possible. During this time, Google created a GA4 property or account for all the customers using UA automatically, providing they did not request to opt-out of this process.
Whether you created a GA4 property yourself or Google did it for you, you can now connect your existing UA property to GA4 quickly and easily. Simply use Google’s link process to copy over any configurations, including your campaigns, goals and audiences.
Thanks to this simplified process, there’s no need to migrate your data. Instead your accounts are linked, leaving you to explore the features and perks offered by GA4 in all their glory without the complicated setup.
Until 1st July 2023, you can continue to use and collect data via your Universal Analytics account. Even after this point, you can choose to access processed data for a period of up to six months, however new data will not be generated by the UA property. With this in mind, previous reports and old Universal Analytics data should be exported accordingly.
Need a little help making the transition to GA4? We can assist, and really help you maximise your use of customer data for better business outcomes.