The importance of migrating Universal Analytics to GA4.

If you currently use Google Analytics to measure your business’ online performance and haven’t thought about upgrading to the new Google Analytics 4 (GA4), then now is the time to get on with it.

Google introduced GA4 two and a half years ago, with many not paying too much attention, until now that is. Google announced in March that:

All standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits on July 1, 2023.

After that, you’ll be able to access your previously processed data in Universal Analytics for at least six months. 

What that means in simple terms is that access to historical data could end as early as January 2024. To keep historical data you will need to download and store outside of Google Analytics for longer term analysis.

Since historical data cannot be transferred to GA4, it makes it all the more important to configure GA4 as soon as possible to start building up that crucial historic data. It will also give you and your business time to get to grips with the less familiar reporting and user interface of GA4.

You can learn more about GA4 here and find resources for making the switch to GA4 here.

It’s by no means a simple process making the switch and configuring conversions in the new GA4, so get in touch with GOAT if you need help migrating, exporting historical reports from Google analytics, or training on the new GA4.