Google Analytics 4 launched in October 2020 and you need to act now to upgrade your website and/or app analytics.
Why do you need to act now? Well GA 4 use a totally new data tracking methodology, and is not built upon the current Universal Analytics.
It is so different that you need to add a new tracking tag to your website.
The key differences between GS4 and UA are:
- Smart insights using machine learning to identify data trends.
- Deeper integration with Google Ads.
- A Customer-centric approach to data capture and measurement.
- More sophisticated data controls.
The third one is perhaps the most important and will prove the biggest challenge to migrate historical data to the new data platform, as it will be like comparing apples and oranges.
This is the key reason why you need to act now to upgrade to Google Analytics 4 and start capturing data with the new methodology.
At the moment there is no information from Google as to when (or even if) they will migrate historical data from UA to GA4 – which means, as soon as you start using the GA4 tag – THERE WILL BE NO HISTORICAL DATA!
However, you can keep the UA tag as well as the new GA4 tag and track your website with both.
Until Google sort out the legacy data issue, you can look at both sets of data on the Google Analytics website, they will display as two different properties in your Analytics dashboard.
This is why it is so important to act now and add the GS4 tag, to start collecting data as soon as possible.
Google Analytics 4 – Act Now to upgrade your website
The good news is that Google are making it as easy as possible. Login to your Google Analytics dashboard, go to Admin and select the relevant website property (if you have more than one in your account. Then click on properties and you should see a link at the top to upgrade to GA4 and it will start to guide you through the process.
If you need more help, there is a comprehensive guide from Google on their support website – click here.
As ever, if you need help with this or any other project, please do get in touch.
I offer a free 30-minute call to discuss, your challenges and how we might collaborate and benefit your business.
If I think I can help you, I will tell you how, why and we can take it from there.
Dave Mutton
Please get in touch on Linkedin, or via my website.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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