How do I migrate to G4?

In less than 2 years, Universal Analytics, or GA3 for the intimate, will be put on the back burner by Google. If you want to continue tracking the data on your website, it is urgent to upgrade to the new version: GA4. Historical data will still be available until the end of 2023, but after that, it's over, goodbye GA3! So if you don't want to be caught off guard, here's how to do the G4 migration.

G4: what is it?

GA4, launched in beta starting in October 2020, represents an entirely new version of Google Analytics. It offers essential features like cross-device measurement, flexible event measurement, and better integration with Google Ads.

Concretely, its advantages are that:

• Privacy and sustainability
• Intelligent use of machine learning to provide customer journey insights across platforms and devices
• Optimal integration with Google advertising platforms to improve the performance of your campaigns and your return on marketing investment.

Why is Google moving to G4?

First, for technical reasons: Universal Analytics (GA3) was designed to measure websites on desktop computers, with independent sessions and cookie-based data collection, which has become obsolete.

Second, political and legal reasons played a role, along with the need to protect personal data. Google Analytics 4 works across platforms, uses an event-based data model for measurement, and doesn't store IP addresses, which helps brands comply with privacy regulations.

Why rush to install G4?

Universal Analytics will no longer be collecting new data as of July 1, 2023, which means you have a 3-month countdown to prepare to migrate to GA4. But don't wait until the last moment, start today to get the most out of your historical data.

Google warns that all historical GA3 data will be permanently deleted after December 31, 2023 and that there will be no option to keep it by paying. It is therefore recommended to export important data from previous years. No time to lose: do the G4 migration!

How do I export GA3 (Universal Analytics) data?

Basically, you have 2 ways to export data from your Universal Analytics (GA3) property:

• either by hand from the Google Analytics web interface: for each report, each period, click on the export link (format of your choice: CSV, TSV, TSV for Excel, Excel XLSX, Google Sheets or PDF)
• or automatically using the API

How do I know if I am using GA3 or GA4?

If you created your property after November 2020, it is likely that it was in the GA4 “format”.

Simple tutorial to migrate from G3 to G4

Switch to GA4 on its site

First, know that a migration assistant will soon be available (it is already available in the US).

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If you are already a gtag user to implement Universal Analytics, you will be able to collect much of the data that GA4 needs thanks to the associated site tags!

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Many property settings will then be retrieved:

• data collection,
• users authorized to access the account,
• associated accounts,
• audiences,
• conversions

In the meantime, don't panic: by following this tutorial, your GA4 property will be created in a few clicks!

You are already on the right track if you have installed Universal Analytics on your website using a gtag. You can now manually replicate what the assistant offers using associated site tags.

To do this, go to the flow settings of your Analytics 4 property and copy your tracking ID:

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After that, head over to the tracking code section for your Universal Analytics property in the property administration tab:

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In the associated site tags, enter your Analytics 4 property ID:

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Creating a GA4 property from scratch

If you want to create an Analytics 4 account, here are the steps to follow.

So you can go right now to https://analytics.google.com/ to get started.

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Start by entering your account name (usually your business name), then select the type of Analytics you want to use.

For Analytics 4, you'll need to opt for an App + Web property.

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You will then need to fill in the name of your property (the name of your website and/or mobile application) as well as the various basic parameters such as the time zone and the currency.

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Finally, you will need to configure your data feeds by adding a website and/or mobile applications.

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If we take the example of a website, you will need to provide a feed name (optional) as well as the site URL.

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Then, you can select the types of interactions that will be automatically measured (via the gear icon at the bottom right).

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The next step is to install GA4 on your website.

You can do this manually by adding the tracking code to all pages on your site (which is not recommended).

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Another option is to install it via Google Tag Manager (recommended).

To do this, go to GTM (assuming you already have an account, otherwise refer to the guides above) and create a new tag to get started:

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Our naming convention: Analytics 4 — basic tracking — all pages.

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Next, select the configuration tag for Analytics 4.

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You will then need to enter the ID number and set up the trigger for all pages.

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You will then need to enter the ID number and set up the trigger for all pages.

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