How to migrate from Google Analytics Universal to Google Analytics 4

Making the switch from UA to GA4 doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it’s a pretty straightforward process!

 

How to update to GA4 and create a new property ✨

 

  1. Log into your Universal account
  2. Click Admin (bottom left-hand side)
  3. You can then choose GA4 Setup Assistant or simply + Create Property.
    1. For this process, we will click on + Create property


1-2

  1. Enter the property name + Select reporting time zone, and currency, then click on Next

Important: Make a note of your GA4 property's name so you can find it later. If your Universal Analytics property name is "Example property (UA-nnnnnnn)", your GA4 property name will be "Example property - GA4 (xxxxxxx)", without a "UA-" prefix, and where xxxxxxx is a new property number.

 

  1. Then, answer some questions about your business (this step is optional)
  2. Click Create
  3. The next step will be to configure your data stream.
    1. Data streams are new, but this is what allows you to track website and app data.


2-3

  1. Select the web platform and enter your site URL and stream name
    1. Your stream name should include the keyword ‘’website’’ to easily see which property you have created
  2. Once completed, your web stream details will appear, containing your measurement ID.

  3. The final and most crucial step is to take your measurement ID and tag it on your website. There are a few options for doing this:
    1. Option 1. Via your content management system settings (requires Google Analytics 4 integration)
    2. Option 2. Using google tag manager (GTM)
    3. Option 3. “by adding the Javascript tracking code in the header section of your website (gtag.js)”

If you want to view these steps on video, we recommend watching this recording made by Julius from AnalyticsMania. 

 

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a new GA4 property 🙌  - If any issue occurred at any of the steps mentioned above, please contact a Google Specialist. 

 

A few things to consider: 

  1. Data can take up to 30 minutes to appear in your new GA4 property. To verify that data is being collected, Google suggests you browse your website and select Realtime from the report navigation. You should see activity in the Realtime report.
  2. Your historical data from ua will not be available with your GA4 property

 

 


This process can be found in our migration guide available here. If you have any questions about migrating to GA4 - let us know and we will try and help you as best as we can. Contact us