Are you really prepared for GA4? 3 things to check before July.

Spotted this fear-inducing countdown?

If you've logged into Google Analytics this week, you can't miss it. Google is getting real dramatic about the switch to GA4 and, despite the naysayers, looks like they're sticking to their guns on the July 2023 cut off date.

This means we have just under 60 days now until UA will stop processing events to force everyone over to GA4.

The problem many are facing is that Google's GA4 Setup Assistant instructions are woefully inadequate and basic. Here's what you really need to do in 3 clear steps:

Check the accuracy of your GA4 integration

If you haven't yet gotten around to it, you're well behind - get GA4 connected to your eCommerce store as soon as you can, and ensure the setup is accurate.

If you're on Shopify, the fastest solution to get set up is via the Google sales channel. This is very quick and very easy. However it's important to note the drawbacks of this option. Firstly it's basic, in that not all eComm events are tracked. Secondly, it's a client-side integration, so you'll see anywhere between a 10-20% discrepancy between GA4 and Shopify transaction and revenue data (before returns). I cover this in more detail in this article on Shopify's native integration.

As GA4 involves setting up a brand new account, my recommendation to clients and students is to choose the most accurate and long lasting setup. This is a server-side setup, where data is passed from the server, through the cloud to GA4, bypassing the browser and its limitations entirely (I cover this more on Youtube). There are several third party services out there who will facilitate this setup, or you can do it yourself through a data scientist. It's important to note that server-side does involve some monthly fees, at the very least for the cloud hosting, so it's sometimes not the best option for small stores and startups.

Once you have some data in the account (ideally a week or more), check the accuracy against UA and Shopify. You're likely to see some minor differences with UA (such as sessions and conversion rate), but if you have a server-side integration, you should only see a 1% difference with Shopify sales (before returns are removed).

Back up your UA data

This is an incredibly important step most stores are ignoring - many are integrating GA4 and leaving it at that. What they don't realise is that come July 2023, Google has indicated we will only have 6 months of UA data, after which all data will be deleted entirely.

Backing up your Universal Analytics data is absolutely critical. Metrics such as sessions, conversion rate, average order value and key traffic sources (to name just a few examples) mean absolutely nothing without historical metrics to compare to.

There are several options to back up your UA data and continue to access it -

• Download a CSV - the most basic method is to download a CSV of each report in UA, however this can be very time consuming and manual
• Google sheets - by far the easiest method to pull up to 3 years' of data, but involves some know how to use the Chrome extension and pull the right dimensions and metrics
• BigQuery - we can use Google's data warehousing tool BigQuery to back up a copy of your data

From there, this data can be connected to a tool such as Google Data Studio to manipulate it for comparison. If this sounds a lot, I run through all these options in my course, along with customised templates in Google Sheets and Data Studio, all ready to plug in and go.

Start learning & Using GA4

With 60 days to go, it's time to take off the trainer wheels and stop using Universal Analytics as best you can well before the cut off date. That way you won't be left scrambling when we no longer have a choice.

This might look like:

• Comparing your UA and GA4 data to understand any discrepancies (they do track slightly differently)
• Changing over your reporting processes and tools to GA4
• Changing your bookmarks to GA4 over UA so you use it more often
• Up-skilling yourself and your team on the platform

Whatever your skill level, you can learn how to leverage GA4 specifically for eCommerce stores to grow your online revenue with my learn-as-you go online course.

In this course I cover just about everything including:

• All the integration options for GA4 and eCommerce stores
• How to customise your GA4 so it's accurate?from setup
• How to analyse your data?using Reports, new Explorations
• How to draw actionable insights from your data that will move the needle on growth
• How to backup your UA data before it's deleted

For June only, save 15% off single student prices using the code 15OFFJUNE. Ends Sat 30 Jun.

Enrol in GA4 for eCommerce now