Universal Analytics (UA) will sunset on the 1st of July 2023, or the 1st of July 2024 for Google Analytics 360 users. Google will then move to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
GA4 will bring an evolution of the measurement standards, allowing users to measure different kinds of data from iOS apps, Android apps, and Web.
It’ll also give businesses the ability to identify user journeys across their websites through automation, uncover new insights using machine learning technology, and methods to improve marketing return on investment (ROI).
It’s recommended to implement or migrate to GA4 as soon as possible so that enough year-on-year (YoY) data can be pulled prior to the full migration.
Here are the steps you need to take:
1. Create a new GA4 property in your Analytics account
From the Account column, go to Property and create your new property. From there, give it a name and select the reporting time zone and currency.
After this, select your industry category and business size before finalizing the creation process.
What is a property in Google Analytics?
In Google Analytics, a property is a website, mobile application, or blog, etc., that is associated with a unique tracking ID.
2. Add a data stream
In the Property column, click Data Streams and then Add stream. You can add a data stream from an iOS app, Android app, or Web.
3. Set up data collection for websites
You’ll need to follow this step to collect data from web pages.
To start seeing data in your new GA4 property, you have to add the Google tag to your web pages. If you’re using Google Sites, HubSpot, Wix, WooCommerce, or WordPress, you can paste your G- ID into the Google Analytics field provided by your CMS.
Your G- ID can be found by looking at the Data Streams - it’ll be in the top right corner.
If you don’t have access to a field to enter your G- ID, you can paste the Google tag into your CMS’s custom HTML feature.
To do this, go to the Data Streams page, select Web and go into the data stream. Under Google tag, click View tag instructions and then Installation instructions before clicking Install manually. Here you’ll be given the JavaScript snippet for your account’s Google tag, which can be pasted immediately after the <head> on each page of your website.
4. Activate Google Signals
This step is required for enhanced remarketing and reporting.
With Google signals active, audiences created in GA4 that are published to Google Ads can serve ads in cross-device-eligible remarketing campaigns. These are served to Google users who have consented to Ads Personalisation.
5. Link to Google Ads
With the Google Ads links migration tool you can recreate UA links or create new Google Ads links.
6. Map UA custom events to GA4
You can use dual tagging to maintain your UA implementation while building your new GA4 property. Doing this lets you build a historical record in GA4 while still being dependent on UA until the switch.
