We only have a couple of months left to set up Google Analytics 4 and since this tool is quite different than what most of us are used to with Universal Analytics, it poses a significant challenge for business owners.
Any data migration or setting up of a new tracking system needs to be done carefully to have accurate readings on your new property.
Additionally, there will be no previous data migration from UA to GA4, which means that it is best to set up GA4 as soon as possible. Migrating to GA4 will ensure that you have enough data once UA is not available.
So, if you are looking to initiate the migration, but don’t know where to start, don’t worry, in today’s article, we will cover the basic migration checklist.
These steps will help you don’t miss out on something important when setting up GA4. Nonetheless, if you do not want to go over all this yourself or you do not want to waste business time migrating, you can search for the GA4 migration services by Fortis Media and have a third party do it for you.
GA4 Migration Checklist
Check How Your UA Property is Set Up
You should first examine how your user account is configured before you begin your migration. You can get a clear overview of your UA accounts and properties by gathering information from them.
Understanding how your UA is configured will make it easier for you to configure GA4. Keep a document detailing all the information from your UA audit.
Create and Structure Your GA4 Property
Views in Universal Analytics allow you to create separate collections of data. Views are not available in GA4 and data can be separated in a variety of ways. You can create as many data streams and properties as you like based on your business needs.
The data associated with a property is specific to a particular user base. To conduct a general analysis of data, it is best to store it in one property. Apps and websites receive data from a data stream that lives within a property. Using three streams of data in one property is the best practice.
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Add Tracking Tag From GA4 to Your Website
Page views can be tracked using the GA4 configuration tag. In addition, you can send all other custom events from GTM to the GA4 account using this method.
Once the tag has been added, check the property over the next few days to see if traffic data is being collected.
Set Up BigQuery
Your next step should be to set up BigQuery, which will give you access to ensemble data and data retention. Data retention is extended beyond 14 months with BigQuery, allowing access to raw, unsampled data.
Identify Which Events Need to Be Migrated
There is a major difference between GA4 and UA in its data model, which is based on events. It is possible to track page hits, event hits, and social interactions using Universal Analytics. All interactions are counted as events in GA4.
It is different from Universal Analytics because GA4 events do not have categories, actions, or labels. Consider Google Analytics 4 when planning your data collection before migrating. Choose the UA events that are most valuable to your business and migrate them to GA4.
The new data-based model allows you to set up events from scratch. Data tracking parameters can be customized more easily with the new GA4 data model.
Set Up Custom Dimensions or Metrics
Google Analytics covers a wide range of dimensions and metrics. It requires both coding and interface settings to set up custom dimensions and metrics.
It is possible to migrate existing UA custom dimensions and metrics tags to GA4, but you will need to set up dimensions and metrics in the GA4 property interface.
Dimensions are configured according to their scope, which determines which events they apply to. The scope of UA can be divided into four levels, Sessions, Hits, Products, and Users. A custom dimension in GA4 is either event- or user-scoped.
Train Everyone How to Use GA4
Every transition to a new system can pose a challenge for users, which is why you need to train your team to get comfortable with the new interface and tracking.
Even though GA4 is quite different from UA, you’ll get used to it very quickly. You’ll see all the benefits that come with this more powerful tracking system and ask yourself why you haven’t migrated sooner.
