Prepare For The Introduction Of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Now

Google Analytics is a vital tool for any small business owner. It helps you track all sorts of things associated with your website and the traffic it generates.

But, Google Analytics is about to undergo some major changes.

You may have heard that Google is sunsetting Universal Analytics on 1 July 2023. It is being superseded by the more powerful Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

So, what does it mean for you and your website?

Here’s everything you need to know and what to do to prepare.

What Is Universal Analytics?

Universal Analytics is a version of Google Analytics. Created in 2012, Universal Analytics set a new standard for how user data was collected and organised. It introduced new tracking codes for websites that helped business owners understand how people were interacting with their site.

Along with the tracking capabilities, Universal Analytics gave more control over how businesses could configure their analytics accounts. It allowed you to tailor your reporting to reflect the data you wanted to see based on the goals of your business. That meant you could test to see how well various marketing and development strategies were working.

All in all, it was a great tool for business owners to gain insight into a previously grey area.

What Sunsetting Universal Analytics Means

While Universal Analytics was innovative when it first hit the scene, it is now considered an old property of Google Analytics. It is being replaced by Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Google is sunsetting or retiring Universal Analytics in favour of GA4 on 1 July 2023.

From 1 July 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing data. You’ll be able to see your historical data, but new data will only go into your GA4 properties. 

So by July 2023 everyone will need to be set up and using GA4. 

Differences Between GA4 And Universal Analytics

What is so great about GA4 in comparison to Universal Analytics? Well, GA4 offers a lot more flexibility and wider capabilities than its predecessor. So, let’s take a look at the key differences:

Web + App
While previously viewed separately, GA4 will unify your web and app analytics into one data collection and report interface. This will allow you to collect data on one property across different platforms. 

Data Model Differences
Universal Analytics had a measuring model that was focused on hits. A hit is an action a user takes that results in data being sent to the analytics server. Hits can include things such as page views, event tracking, transactions, or social interactions. 

But in comparison, GA4 measurement data is event and parameter based, so any interaction can be captured as an event. An event is like a counter, so it measures how often a user takes action on your website. It can delve deeper than simply a page view hit as it can track things like button clicks, contact requests, file downloads and more. 

This means GA4 has a completely different data model, so there will be a learning curve to navigate during the transition phase. 

Custom Reports
Not every business is the same, so it is great to have the ability to create custom analytics reports. GA4 makes it easier to create custom reports using Explorations. Some of these reports were included in UA, but GA4 provides templates that make it easier to get started. 

Why Google Sunsetting Universal Analytics Is A Good Thing

It’s always worrying when a technology you have been used to using takes an evolution. However, this evolution is going to be a positive one for your business. GA4 is a much more user-friendly system, gives you greater reporting capabilities, and allows you to mix data from your app and website.

GA4 is the future of Google Analytics, and Google has made several improvements to the system to make it better than UA. These improvements will help you better understand your customer journey by collecting both website and app data.

It also includes greater privacy controls like cookieless measurement, and behavioural and conversion modelling. Basically, GA4 is going to make it easier to monitor more about your users than ever before and use that data to improve your business.

What You Need To Do To Prepare

Now that you know the change is coming, there are a couple of things you need to do to prepare your business for the change. 

If you aren’t already using any form of analytics on your website, you can begin collecting data on GA4 now. But, if you have been using UA already, you’ll want to add GA4 alongside your existing Universal Analytics setup. 

As GA4 is considered an all new analytics property, you’ll probably be looking at both versions for a while whilst you get up to speed with their key differences. It’s a good idea to start that now before Universal Analytics stops recording information. 

It’s also good to be aware that GA4 hasn’t fully integrated well with some platforms yet, so make sure you check whether there are any known issues or limitations with GA4 on your particular platforms so you can troubleshoot these.