Working with Colleen Harris, caput of concern quality and reporting strategy astatine Sincro, we’re putting unneurotic a usher to getting started with Google Analytics 4. This is portion 8. There are links to each the articles astatine the extremity of the post.

As we each know, Google is ending enactment for Universal Analytics (UA) adjacent July and replacing it with GA4. Google has 2 antithetic GA4 Setup Assistants, one successful UA and one successful GA4, to assistance you migrate from 1 to the other.

Dig deeper: Using Google Analytics 4 integrations for insights and media activations

Here’s what you request to cognize astir the Setup Assistant successful UA.

“In a Universal relationship there’s this GA4 setup assistant,” says Harris. “This really has a mates of saccharine pieces. This is wherever you tin alteration the tagging and it besides allows you to acceptable up and import the goals and thing from the Google Tag Manager (GTM).”

What does the GA4 Setup Assistant do?

It creates a caller GA4 spot that collects information successful parallel with your existing Universal Analytics property. It doesn’t alteration your Universal Analytics property, which volition proceed to cod data. Both properties tin beryllium accessed and managed via the property selector oregon Admin screen.

You person to make GA4 versions of your UA properties due to the fact that GA4 is structured wholly otherwise than UA. It’s intolerable to determination each your information from 1 to another.

How bash I find it?

In the admin conception of your UA account, there’s a fastener marked “GA4 setup assistant.”

Clicking connected it brings up a wizard that:

• Creates a caller GA4 property. It volition not person the humanities information your UA spot has. It lone collects information going forward. Your archetypal spot is not affected successful immoderate mode by this.
• Copies basal settings from your UA property. You tin manually configure further settings similar conversions, audiences, events and merchandise links. 
• Activates Enhanced Measurement. This is done automatically. You indispensable guarantee that nary Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is sent to Google.

One of the galore utile things astir the UA Setup Assistant is that it creates a checklist of what’s needed to get your GA4 spot up and running. 

• VERY IMPORTANT: You indispensable already beryllium utilizing Google tags for this to work. From Google Support: “If you usage a website builder oregon your tract is hosted connected a Content Management System (CMS) (for example, WordPress, Squarespace, etc.) that doesn’t already usage gtag.js, follow these instructions for your peculiar CMS. Do not simply paste your “G-” ID into the tract that your CMS provides.” 

To usage your existent GTM tags, click the container marked “optional.” Be alert that customizations won’t automatically transfer. You should beryllium capable to usage your existent tags if you’re utilizing gtag.js. If you’re moving an older mentation specified arsenic analytics.js, this won’t work.

You indispensable configure your GTM tags for GA4 to work.

Time to click the button

Having resolved immoderate oregon each of these warnings, click the “Create property” button. A caller tab volition unfastened showing your caller GA4 property. Just to reiterate: Doing this won’t impact your existing spot isn’t successful immoderate way.

In summation to creating the GA4 property, the setup wizard besides copies the spot name, website URL, and currency and clip portion settings from the existing UA property.

When each that is done, you volition beryllium sent to the setup adjunct successful your caller GA4 property. A reassuring connection appears saying, “You person successfully connected your properties.” 

The adjacent station volition look astatine the setup adjunct successful GA4.