Why you should migrate to GA4 and what are the main benefits?

Stanislav F.

5 minutes

May 07, 2022

In October 2020, Google Analytics announced a new version of Google Analytics - Google Analytics 4 (GA4). We’ve created this small guide to show you in easy steps how you can migrate your tracking property from GA to GA4.
GA4 will replace the current version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics or UA) in June 2023. This means that you should move to GA4 right now to not lose any precious data coming in. .If you are logging into Google Analytics, you may be prompted to upgrade to the latest version, GA4. Go to the admin panel and click on the GA4 setup wizard. For experienced GA users, following the wizard should be sufficient, but it is not exhaustive and you may lose previous data. Key Changes to Note Before Migrating

What is the difference between GA and GA4?

You can read the entirety of GA and some final resources in Google's announcement - but here's a summary of some core things to note before migrating:
GA4 usage New event-based measurement type instead of the previous page view measurement (using events as a custom tracking option)
If you're using Google Tag Manager - tags are different than before
You will need a new Google Analytics property to store data in The interface is completely different from what you used to use
Some data does not (currently) exist in the way you currently see it in Universal Analytics No Worry: Your data and reports are currently safe and won't go anywhere. The majority of data that you currently acquire from the UA will be available in GA4

Migration to GA4 is more involved than simply changing old code to new code.

We recommend migrating your GA4 database in phases, as data is now collected differently. This includes, but is not limited to:
Pageview tracking
Event Tracking
eCommerce Tracking
Inter-platform integration
For a phased approach, we would recommend:
Phase 1: Create a GA4 property that tracks pageviews and “standard” events.
Phase 2: Implement KPI-related events (e.g. form fills)
Phase 3: Implement e-commerce events
Phase 4: Implement other custom tracking (e.g. non-KPI events, custom dimensions, integrations)
Phase 5: Once the data is collected, an audit of the implementation and any necessary adjustments will be made.
Once the implementation is complete, GA4 will be able to provide information about

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Why you should migrate to GA4 and what are the main benefits?

What is the difference between GA and GA4?

Migration to GA4 is more involved than simply changing old code to new code.

We’d love to talk with you.

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