Why You Need to Be Making the Change to Google Analytics 4 Now (And What You Need to Know)

No one wants to use guesswork to accomplish important business objectives. The idea of closing your eyes and running your finger across a list to determine your next course of action sounds unnecessarily risky if not downright unsustainable.

Google Analytics saves us from having to market our businesses this way. But change is coming on this front, and that can be equally daunting. This is a long-winded way to say Google announced they are sunsetting their current Universal Analytics platform in July, and asking users to transition to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) ahead of the move.

Why Making the Switch Now Is Your Best Option

We get it, change is scary. Human nature would be to ride that Universal Analytics wave straight into the digital sunset. But here us out…you could ride that wave AND flip the switch on GA4 at the same time. If you do this now, you’ll have a few months of historical data so that you’re not making important marketing decisions blind, without the help of historical data.

You can run both systems concurrently and move between them (at least until July), to become acclimated with all GA4 offers.

Activating GA4 Isn’t Difficult

Half the battle in Google Analytics is knowing where to find the feature you’re looking for. To find and activate GA4, click on Admin on the bottom left, and under Property click on GA4 setup assistance. From there it’s as easy as following the setup prompts.

Here’s Exactly What’s Going to Happen When You Make the Switch (Per Google)

We’ve established that not making the move to GA4 will create a gap in the data that you collect and use to make marketing decisions, and that decisions without data is paramount to guessing. That’s bad.

But it’s important to understand exactly what’s involved with your data and this transition. This is what Google has said about making the switch:

• Your historical data will not import from Universal Analytics to GA4.
• Universal Analytics will continue to collect data on your properties until July, 2023.
• You will retain access to Universal Analytics data for at least six months.

Google is encouraging people to export their historical reports in spreadsheet form through CSV, Excel, Google Sheets, PDF or other similar formats in this time.

Hire VisionFriendly.com to Manage Your Analytics Data

If this all feels a little overwhelming, or you would like to maintain a more interactive relationship with your historical data, we are here to help. VisionFriendly.com has extensive experience empowering our clients to make informed marketing decisions through our analytics services. We can help you establish a system that works for your business. If you have any questions or would like to get started on your next project, contact us today!

About the Author:

Visionfriendly.com

VisionFriendly.com is a Chicago digital marketing agency with over 25 years of experience helping clients nationwide. We have an in-house team of marketers and creatives ready to improve your business’s marketing operations.