GA4 Migration Guide in 12 Steps
Less than 1 year left for your business to migrate from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4.
Many companies are left wondering what and how to even prepare for Google sunsetting Universal Analytics.
Questions such as, what will happen to my data? I’m not familiar with the new tool? How do I even get started?
This resource will help guide you through this process and provide a roadmap for your team.
Why should I migrate as soon as possible?
Google Analytics does not allow you to get historical data into GA4. Data starts once you have migrated over to GA4
You won’t be able to migrate historical data from UA to GA4 as they are based on different models. There is a workaround using BigQuery but this requires extensive technical aptitude. If you require historical data, Contact Us to see how Data Partners can help.
GA4 is promoted by Google as being better than UA. While this may true in some regards, there are still many features that GA4 does not have.
Nevertheless, migration should be done as soon as possible to start collecting data with GA4. You will also upgrade your skillsets.
The earlier you start, the better you will be working with GA4
1. Audit your UA Property
You can do this manually by following a checklist such as: https://www.bayleafdigital.com/how-to-run-google-analytics-audit/ or you can do this automatically by downloading a tool such as: https://optimoanalytics.com/google-analytics-audit/
2. Plan your GA4 Account Structure
Web and Mobile Data can be within one property. For ex: you have 1 website, 1 IOS app, and 1 Android. This would mean 1 property with 3 data streams.
It is important to determine how many properties and streams to setup before beginning to use GA4
3. Assign the Right User Permissions
Give access to the people who need it and not to everyone.
Establish a good user permission process from the start
4. Go Over Property Settings
During your UA audit, make sure to keep note of settings. You can check things such as
- Time Zone
- Currency
- Referral exclusion list
- Cross-domain tracking
- Filters
5. Get all Events to be Migrated from UA
List all your UA events before recreating in GA4. There is a tool from Google which lets you automatically migrate your events which is helpful for quick migration
But this is not helpful for most migrations as you won’t have complete customization and control of your data
GA4 gives more freedom in tracking and creating custom parameters
Check if there are events that could be replaced by GA4 enhanced measurement
6. Identify custom dimensions and metrics to setup
Understand the difference between UA and GA4 on custom dimensions.
UA and GA4 differ in scope, which determines which events a specific dimension applies to.
In UA, there are 4 levels of scope: session, hit, product, and user.
But custom dimensions in GA4 are configured as either event-scoped or user-scoped.
Custom dimensions in GA4 describe event or user
When creating custom parameters in GA4 for your events, remember to register them as custom dimensions or metrics
You can set up 50 event-scope custom dimensions and 50 custom metrics and 25 user-scoped custom dimensions per GA4 property
7. Recreate Conversions
UA goals are called conversions in GA4. You can setup up to 30 conversions per GA4 property.
If you had many goals across different views in UA, you have to come up with a new measurement strategy as views don’t exist in GA4. Smart goals also don’t exist in GA4
8. Implement eCommerce tracking
Pay close attention to required parameters for eCommerce. If you don’t follow the right parameters, events will not appear in eCommerce reports.
While some events and parameters in UA can be translated in GA4, not all of them will.
It will be helpful to have a new eCommerce implementation for your GA4 property
9. Link GA4 to tools
GA4 allows you to connect to BigQuery (a feature that was only available in GA360)
Check out what other integrations you can do by following the picture below
10. Maintain Historical Data
Historical data from UA can’t be migrated into GA4.
However, you can export data into BigQuery as raw data to continue analysis.
You can also use the UA export function for reports
While google does not provide this capability out of box for regular UA users, service providers such as Data Partners can help migrate your historical data
To find out more: Contact Us
11. Continuous Training
Continuous training should be done even after GA4 Migration is complete
GA4 is not a complete product and Google is constantly releasing new features.
To get the most out of GA4, a culture of continuous learning should be put in place
12. Continuous Monitoring
As mentioned, Google will be releasing new features on GA4 constantly. Team must be sure to monitor that all events, conversions, reports are working as expected.
Audits should be routine and data should be flowing.
While this may sound like a tedious task, doing so will ensure the quality of your data is great and you have what you need to get the insights to drive business forward.
Doing this alone might require time and resources. Data Partners can help from audit, implementation, and continuous support
