Google Analytics 4 (GA4): The Time Has Come To Migrate

Analytics is a critical component of a high-performing modern business. For years, Google Analytics (GA) has helped businesses make informed decisions based on a better understanding of their customers and competitors. Google is now improving its analytics capabilities by migrating to GA4, which promises to provide even more insights to keep businesses moving forward.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the most recent version of Google Analytics, which integrates data from websites and apps. It will replace the current version of GA (Universal Analytics) on July 1, 2023, so you must migrate your data now to avoid data loss.

Let's look at the key differences between GA4 and previous versions, as well as how to successfully migrate your data before it's too late.

GA4 in Context

GA4: is the fourth version of Google Analytics. The previous three versions evolved as follows: 

GA1: Classic Google Analytics which uses the ga.js JavaScript library

GA2: Universal Analytics (UA) which uses the analytics.js JavaScript library

GA3: also Universal Analytics (UA) but uses the gtag.js JavaScript library

The first three GA versions made tracking data from websites and apps more difficult by using separate properties for each. GA4 now includes an App+Web property that allows developers to combine mobile app and website usage data into a single GA property.

Every Universal Analytics (UA) property can be upgraded to GA4. This creates a new Analytics property for collecting new data that does not affect your existing GA account. New Google Analytics accounts will be GA4 in the future, and previous versions will be phased out.

Key Differences Between GA Universal and GA4

Universal Analytics collects and reports data from each user session, implying that interactions are time-stamped. GA4 instead employs a flexible event-based model that provides more accurate reporting.

More information is passed through GA with each user interaction (user location, purchase value, etc.), which is passed into Google Analytics as a standalone event, meaning it is not contained within a session, as with UA.

GA4 allows you to send 25 extra event parameters with each event, which is six times more than UA allows. Even more impressive, you can send up to 500 distinct events to GA4, giving you a much larger dataset to track your engagement.

GA4 Advantages 

The modern user has multiple channels through which to interact with your company's website and apps. GA4 allows you to track all traffic sources from your mobile app and website in one place, eliminating the need for additional products (such as App+Web).

GA4's new interface is an improvement over previous versions, displaying all data and reports in one convenient location.

The following is a summary of the key enhancements in GA4:

Improved Data Model

The improved data model in GA4 enables much easier report creation and analysis while presenting more reliable data.

Analysis

GA4 now includes a new reporting section that can perform advanced analysis and create specific funnels based on any event of your choosing.

Predictive Metrics

The more detailed and advanced collection and reporting functionality in GA4 resulted in significantly improved metrics for predicting user behaviour, such as revenue probability, purchase probability, and churn probability.

Key Differences Between GA3 and GA4

Because the distinctions between GA3 and GA4 are quite detailed and technical, we have summarized the most important ones below.

View and Data Streams Setup

GA has traditionally recommended at least three views: unfiltered (raw and unfiltered data), test (filter, goals, and configuration), and master (filter, goals, and other configurations tested in the test view). GA allows you to create additional views to separate your app and web tracking. GA4 does not support more views, but you can create data streams for your web and apps.

Events Setup and Tracking

GA3 events adhere to the category-action-label-value model. GA4 instead offers a more flexible event tracking configuration that captures four types of events: automatically collected events, enhancement measurement events, recommended events, and custom events.

Unlike GA3, a GA4 property includes an enhanced measurement feature that generates automatic tracking for specific events without the need for additional coding/tagging. Scroll tracking, exit tracking, site search tracking, video tracking, and file download tracking are examples of these events.

User and Event Data Retention

The user and event data retention feature lets you specify how long GA should keep user-specific data for a static website before deleting it. GA3 has five different timeframe options (14 months – do not automatically expire). GA4 only has two timeframe options: two months or fourteen months.

E-commerce Tracking

It should be noted that GA4 is not yet considered a complete replacement for the GA3 property because it lacks comprehensive e-commerce reporting and attribution modelling features. As a result, try to keep your GA3 tracking as long as possible.

The Benefits of Migrating Now

Everyone will be forced to use GA4 by July 1, 2023. Even though the deadline is a year away, it is highly advantageous to migrate now. This is why:

GA4 will only collect data from the moment you create your account and will not import previous data. As a result, the earlier you migrate, the more data you will have.

Switching to GA4 now allows you to collect both sets of data (GA3 and GA4) for a year and compare the analyses for year-over-year data. You don't want to lose any vital reference information.

Giving yourself an extra year will allow your Machine Learning (ML) software to train more and help close gaps in visitor data. The faster your machine learning tools collect data, the more accurate the algorithm will be.

Early adoption will allow you to benefit from improved data sooner. Because GA4 is the future of analytics, it is a good idea to become acquainted with the changes now rather than scrambling when the deadline approaches. Why wait a year when you can reap the benefits of improved data today? It is always preferable to take action rather than react.

How to Switch to GA4

Begin by configuring your GA4 account alongside your existing GA accounts. This enables you to collect data in GA4 without affecting any data in your current GA accounts. If you have a website and/or an app, you can set up a GA4 property from there. Take a look at Google's first-hand guide to upgrading to GA4.

Things to Keep an Eye Out For

Because migrating to GA4 can be a technical exercise with a few legacy systems and new systems that must communicate, some teething problems are likely. Some functions and features have changed since GU, so it is a good idea to plan ahead of time for the migration process to allow for smooth and accurate incremental change.

Because GA4 is still in its early stages, there isn't as much information available to assist early adopters comprehensively. However, in a year, this will almost certainly improve.

Do You Need Help Migrating?

We assist national companies in driving their digital transformation. Contact us to learn how we can support your company's transition to GA4.