Google Analytics has long been a part of having a website. It shows you who is coming to your website, when they are visiting, and what pages they view. It can tell when people are buying your products, filling out forms, subscribing to newsletters, and other important information about how your audience interacts with your company online.
By using these all-important pieces of information, you can focus on making changes that will drive your customers to what you want them to do on your site. This can improve your online business performance and help you generate more sales.
Recently, however, Google announced that they will be sunsetting the Universal Analytics program that we are familiar with and moving everyone over to Google Analytics 4 by 1 July 2023. Since everyone with a website will need to make the change, it’s time to start focusing on what this means for your business.
What Is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 is more data-focused, not only when someone clicks on your site but for the entire customer lifecycle. Not only will you have the data up to when they purchase, but also afterwards, including additional analytics information such as retention and levels of engagement.
People have changed how they use the internet, and the internet itself has changed. Google has updated their data gathering to reflect these changes.
There are deeper integrations with Google Ads, and businesses will be able to see interactions and web conversations across platforms, including non-Google platforms, social media channels, and even email.
They have updated reporting structures to include additional data. They have added reports that include monetisation, retention, and engagement instead of just the acquisition reports available in the Universal Analytics platform. Google is also restructuring its data collection to avoid collecting cookies amid the new calls for privacy on the web.
Why Is It Important to Switch Now?
Even though you can use your old accounts until July 2023, it’s crucial to start making the switch as early as possible. This will give you time to get used to the new information and recreate any reports you want to keep in the new platform. You can start gathering data now and use the information to identify new trends and compare this data with your Universal Analytics data to be sure this is what you’re looking to capture.
Once you understand how the new information flows, you can set up your goals and filters and make any additional changes you’d like to make before the July 2023 deadline.
Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 are free to use, so running them simultaneously will only benefit your data collection and how you use the newly collected data.
What About My Old Data?
Google will not be deleting the data from Universal Analytics, but by 1 July 2023, website hits will not be processed into that property. You will be able to import data into Google Analytics. However, it has yet to be determined if you will be able to export it from Universal Analytics, so it’s important to begin creating data in Google Analytics 4 early so your company has a base starting point.
Google Analytics 4 will be the new gold standard in the information-gathering world. If your team needs help creating an account and learning the best ways to use it for your business, it’s best to act now. This gives your company time to create an edge before the 1st of July 2023 cutoff and be prepared for the transition.
