What’s happening?
Google is getting rid of its current Google Analytics tool, Universal Analytics (UA). The replacement for this is Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a more robust web analytics tool for understanding what is happening on your website and making informed decisions to help grow your business’s digital presence.
Google will turn off the existing UA tool in July 2023, at which point your historical data will still be available for a period. However, it will no longer track any new data about what is happening on your website.
Before that happens, you will need to have GA4 or an alternative web analytics tool implemented - especially if you want to look back at year-on-year data. The sooner you can set up GA4 on your site, the better your insights will go forward.
What is GA4?
GA4 is a new property designed for the future of measurement
Collects both website and app data to understand the customer journey better
It uses event-based data instead of session-based
Includes privacy controls such as cookieless measurement and behavioural and conversion modelling
Predictive capabilities offer guidance without complex models
Direct integrations to media platforms help drive actions on your website or app
Does this affect me?
Yes, if you have a website for your business, this will affect you. You will likely already have the old UA tracking, so you will need to switch to GA4 as soon as possible.
This is especially important if you run Google Ads or any web advertising campaign. If you have a custom analytics dashboard via Google Data Studio, this will stop updating with new data once UA is turned off.
Can I make the switch myself?
Yes, you can - especially if you use Google Tag Manager to implement your current Google Analytics tag. Setting up the new GA4 tag, a new property, and a data stream in your Google Analytics account is doable. However, there are fundamental differences between how UA and GA4 work, which you will need to get your head around if you are going to get your new GA4 account tracking useful web metrics.
If you don’t have the time for that, or if you don’t even know what Google Tag Manager is - we can help.
How we can help
Our in-house analytics expert has already implemented several new GA4 properties for clients, and we can do the same for you.
What is included in our GA4 transfer package? We will…..
Set up your new GA4 property
Set up the new GA4 tag on your website through Google Tag Manager (we can set this up as well if you don’t already have it)
Transfer and/or set up all existing custom events and conversions from your UA property
Provide recommendations on enhancements we can make to your new GA4 property to get the most from the new tool
Transfer and/or set up any existing Google Ads tracking, campaign tracking or e-commerce tracking as per your current UA property
Optional Extra
We can also set up a custom dashboard for your most important web metrics, so you can easily and quickly monitor the performance of your web ecosystem.
Sort out your google analytics account now before the new year! If you would like our help to make this transition smooth, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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