Almost all of our clients use Google Analytics to track website progress and statistics, as do most websites on the internet. But there's a big change coming.
As of 1st July, Google Universal Analytics will stop collecting data, and Google is forcing users to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
You’ve probably received 400 emails about Google Analytics 4 in the last month, but what does it all actually mean?
What Google isn't telling you...
Google is forcing you to "upgrade" from Universal Analytics (UA) to GA4, so it's just a like-for-like product swap, right?
Not entirely. GA4 is essentially a different product.
The old version of Google Analytics was a nice plug-and-play marketing reporting platform, where you paste in a bit of code to your website, and it gives you access to all of the nice marketing and website usage reports you could ever need.
GA4 is a much more complex data analysis platform that requires a lot of configuration and tagging setup to get any actual useful data. It is much more powerful and granular, but it really needs quite a bit of intervention.
So what do you need to do?
While Google may have automatically set up a GA4 account for you, it may not be very useful, as we've seen in most instances - as there is quite a bit of manual tagging involved.
It ultimately depends on your website platform, goals and structure. Below, we've broken it down by website platform:
(Monthly SEO clients can skip towards the bottom of the article - Siruss has got you covered!)
GA4 migration for Shopify websites
Shopify has added the functionality to their Google sales channel App, so you can migrate at any time. Setup here is relatively smooth:
- Google Channel Shopify App setup and linking.
- Settings adjustments in Analytics.
- Account linking (if required).
- Ecommerce tracking test.
Get in touch for a price & to book your slot »
GA4 migration for WordPress websites
- Integration depends on your existing setup - however, we do recommend using a relatively new plugin, or vanilla Tag Manager.
- Settings adjustments in Analytics.
- Depending on your website structure and goals, custom tagging to track the important things.
Get in touch for a price & to book your slot »
GA4 migration for Drupal websites
- Changes to Drupal modules.
- Custom events and goals require setting up through Tag Manager.
- Settings adjustments in Analytics.
Get in touch for a price & to book your slot »
Migration for other platforms
The Siruss team can assess the cost based on the required tagging and report creation on an individual basis.
OK, let's get switched over!
Please get in touch to book your slot for the switch. Migrations will take place in May.
If you're a monthly SEO campaign customer, you don't need to get in touch - it's already under way.
What happens if you don't migrate?
You won't be able to track website progress / visitors / etc through Google Analytics. From 1st July - your existing Google Analytics will simply stop reporting any new data.
Google may create a GA4 account for you automatically. However, whether this actually works, or gives you any meaningful tracking is another matter.
Unfortunately, this is pretty important data that you need to know if you have a website, and Google hasn't really left you with any option.
Migration for our existing monthly SEO customers
If you're paying for monthly SEO support, your migration is planned as part of your monthly SEO package, regardless of platform. You don't need to get in touch. The team has already completed some migrations, starting with our Shopify customers.
However, there will be changes to monthly SEO reporting in the future. As Siruss migrates to GA4, our reporting process will change. This is because the data that we get out of GA4 is in a VERY different format. For example: GA4 no longer reports Bounce Rate and other reports no longer exist - there are a lot of little changes like this.
BUT changing to a new way of reporting will be much better. It will be a new semi-automated system, which means reports can be delivered a little bit quicker, and should eliminate the report email deliverability issues that some clients have experienced in the past.
Historical Google Analytics data exports
If you have a requirement to back up data from Universal Analytics, please get in touch to discuss what data you need, and what format. Old Analytics data will only be available for around 6 months after 1st July.
Get in Touch
If you want to find out more about GA4 migration, or want to chat about what it entails, please get in touch with Kevin directly on 01743 588150.
