0498 70 98 60Google Analytics 4 (GA4): Why You Should Migrate Now
GA4 is the future. Actually, it’s already here. The final switch is just around the corner, in July 2023 to be exact. And as anyone in digital marketing knows, tomorrow comes fast. Change is built into everything digital, and you can’t improvise it. You have to plan for it.
That’s why we decided not to wait until summer 2023 to move the many Google Analytics accounts we manage over to GA4. First, to protect our clients’ data. Second, to get comfortable with the new platform and its many new features.
The payoff is a sharper view of the data you collect and what it’s actually good for. In this article, our analytics team explains what GA4 is, why the GA4 migration matters, the steps to get there, and what makes this tool different.
What Is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is simply the latest version of Google Analytics, Google’s platform for measuring digital performance. It’s the same platform that millions of website owners have used for years to collect and analyze data on their online marketing.
GA4 is a major overhaul of the platform, with new features and improvements designed to give businesses more accurate, more useful data about their websites.
What New Features Does GA4 Offer?
Google keeps adding new metrics and features to GA4 reports, such as views per session and average session duration. Overall, this update is designed to deliver more precise data to Google Analytics users, and the changes fall into four main areas:
User behavior tracking. GA4 gives you a deeper understanding of how people behave on your website, including page interactions, events, and demographic data.
Advertising integration. GA4 integrates more tightly with Google’s ad platforms, starting with Google Ads, to help you understand how well your campaigns are working.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning. GA4 uses AI and machine learning to surface more targeted insights and recommendations for improving your site’s performance.
Account customization. GA4 offers more customization options, so businesses can better understand their audience’s needs and adjust their marketing strategy.
Why Is Google Replacing Universal Analytics With GA4?
At Google, an update always means progress. GA4 is a far more advanced measurement platform than the previous version of Google Analytics, Universal Analytics (UA).
The goal is clear: help businesses better understand how users behave, so they can adapt their digital strategy accordingly.
Is the Switch to GA4 Automatic?
No. You have to create a GA4 property yourself and add its tracking to your website. And because GA4 is a new platform, not a simple upgrade, you’ll need to learn features and reports that work differently from Universal Analytics.
That’s why it pays to prepare the migration carefully and keep up with Google’s announcements, so you get the full benefit.
Google has also made the deadline clear: standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing data on July 1, 2023. After that date, a site still relying on UA won’t collect new data.
How Do You Migrate to Google Analytics 4?
Here are the general steps to migrate to Google Analytics 4 (GA4):
- Create a GA4 property from your Google Analytics admin panel.
- Set up your data streams (GA4 replaces UA’s views with data streams for your website and apps).
- Install the GA4 tag on your website, following Google’s instructions or through Google Tag Manager.
- Configure events to track key actions on your site, such as button clicks and form submissions.
- Check that everything works with GA4’s DebugView or by reviewing the data coming into your GA4 reports.
- Mark conversions for the actions that represent wins for your business, such as purchases or email sign-ups, and import them into Google Ads conversion tracking if you advertise.
- Analyze the data: explore your GA4 reports to understand your audience’s behavior and improve your website’s performance.
In general, a GA4 migration takes time and resources to configure properly. Plan it carefully and follow Google’s documentation to minimize errors and data gaps.
Feeling lost? We can handle your GA4 setup and configuration for you.
Why Should You Migrate to GA4 as Soon as Possible?
Beyond the more advanced features covered above, migrating early gives you a longer runway of GA4 data. Comparing like-for-like data across two periods is what makes analysis meaningful. The longer you wait, the longer you’ll go without a usable year-over-year comparison.
Take January 2023 data collected in UA. It won’t line up with the January 2024 data you’ll collect in GA4, because the two platforms measure differently. You won’t be able to compare those periods accurately unless GA4 is already running today.
Your historical UA reports won’t vanish the day processing stops, but UA’s reporting and visualization will soon lag far behind GA4’s. So move to Google Analytics 4 as soon as you can, and start benefiting from its more advanced features and better analysis.
Let Us Help You Get Comfortable With GA4
Google Analytics 4 is the present and the future of web analytics. Universal Analytics was useful; GA4 is essential, because data is one of the most valuable assets in online marketing. Our analytics team can help you set up, learn, and manage this powerful tool.
Référenceur is a French-speaking digital marketing agency from Belgium and Luxembourg that sets up and audits GA4 for businesses remotely, through video calls, shared screens, and monthly reporting. Need a second look at your tracking? Get a free assessment.
Where Things Stand in 2026
Universal Analytics standard properties stopped processing data on July 1, 2023, and Universal Analytics 360 properties a year later. Google then shut off access to the UA interface and API on July 1, 2024, so GA4 is now the only version of Google Analytics. In March 2024, GA4 also renamed “conversions” to “key events.” To see how GA4 credits each channel for those key events, read our guide to GA4 attribution models.