Migrating from Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4 in TapClicks

If you are a Google Analytics customer, chances are you’ve seen the messaging about migrating to Google Analytics 4/GA4.  Google Analytics 4/GA4 is the next-generation measurement solution that is replacing the legacy Google Analytics Universal Analytics (UA) properties used to measure website traffic. UA properties will stop processing data on July 1, 2023, and Google Analytics users are encouraged to prepare to leverage Google Analytics 4 properties.

To check to see if your properties are Universal Analytics or a Google Analytics 4/GA4 entity, check the property ID. If it has a “UA-” prefix, you have a Universal Analytics property and should consider migration. If the property ID is numbers only, then you are using a GA4 property.  For more information, check out this article from Google.

For information about how to make the transition to Google Analytics 4, refer to this training guide from Google.

Alternatively, TapClicks can introduce you and your team to our partners with experience in the transition between Google Analytics Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 properties. If you would like an introduction, please feel free to reach out to your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com for more information.

How to Get Started

TapClicks has two connectors available to bring your data into the system. This data is separated because the underlying structure differs between the two products:

1. Google Analytics
2. Google Analytics 4/GA4

Assign Google Analytics UA Properties to TapClicks client records

You may be using Google Analytics today for your immediate reporting needs, but you may not have all properties connected. On July 1, 2023, Google Analytics UA Properties will stop collecting data, but that doesn’t mean that TapClicks will remove any data loaded to your dashboard. By connecting up any additional GA assignments you may need for historical reporting in the future, TapClicks will start collecting and retaining that data for your reporting needs in the future, long after access to the Google Analytics platform is removed. 

Connect to Google Analytics 4/GA4 and review available fields in TapClicks

Once you have at least one GA4 property defined in Google Analytics 4, we encourage you to connect it in your TapClicks dashboard as a first step. As you connect, review if those assignment options match to your TapClicks clients in a way that meets your needs. If it doesn’t, we want to hear what you're trying to do and why.  Share that information with your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com.

Then, start reviewing how Google Analytics 4/GA4 data can be visualized. Similar to Google Analytics, there’s a flexible way to query data from this source. TapClicks has created a suite of data views that cover most user needs, but you’ll want to review that the available data views meet your needs. To see what TapClicks currently offers, check it out here.  If you need something beyond what is offered today, reach out to your Customer Success Manager or customercare@tapclicks.com with the fields that you’re looking to report against. We are happy to review and meet your needs.

Decision point:  Will you collect data on UA and GA4 simultaneously?

This is important. If you will be tracking performance against a UA property and a GA4 property in parallel for the same website, this will impact your reporting.  For example, let’s assume that Acme Agency has a UA property called “Acme Agency Main Website - UA Property”. Then on Dec 1 2022, a new GA4 property is enabled to track against the same page and the property in GA4 is called “Acme Main Website GA4”.  The team has opted not to turn off tracking on the UA property until the end date for UA of July 1 2023.

If both of these properties are tracking performance on acmeagency.com and connected to the TapClicks dashboard at the same time, there will be duplicate tracking for a period of time between December 1 2022 to July 1 2023 as follows:

1. Google Analytics “Acme Agency Main Website - UA Property” from prior to 2015 through July 1 2023
2. Google Analytics 4 “Acme Website GA4” tracking from December 1 2022 forward

TapClicks will not remove any of Acme Agency’s Google Analytics UA data from the database, but this will be something to think about in terms of data visualization. Will your UA data be presented to your users through July 1 2023, or do you want to start reporting on GA4 to your customers before that date? Your in-dashboard widget date range overrides will give you more options on how this data is presented. 

Start thinking

After you connect to both platforms in your dashboard and you confirm that the data available from GA4 will meet your reporting needs, you can start to think about how you want to report on that data. The following sections lay out the different options you have available within TapClicks. Remember, it’s possible that a blend of options will work best depending on your end users’ data needs.

TapClicks Reporting Options

Keep both data sources separate

Considering that Google itself is keeping both property types separate, it may make sense to create separate widgets for reporting purposes. For example, you may want to report on all your UA properties that come from Google Analytics on one set of widgets, while you present your Google Analytics 4 properties in another set of widgets.  

This may be the most beneficial to customers that are slowly moving to GA4 properties, but may not want to expose GA4 data sets to customers that aren’t ready to receive that data.

If you do opt to keep your data sources separate, you’ll want to review any custom calculations you may have built-in TapClicks against the Google Analytics data source and review if they need to be recreated against the Google Analytics 4 data source to build out your reports.

Create a channel

You can create a channel in TapClicks that combines data from both Google Analytics and Google Analytics 4 / GA4 data sources. This is ideal for customers who want to create something that looks and feels like a single data source for reporting. Once the channel is created, it can be used as a single data source when creating widgets on dashboards. For more information about how to Create and Manage Channels, see this article.

When building your channel, consider that some dimensions and metrics in Google Analytics will not exactly tie out to Google Analytics 4 fields. As a result, you may need to make certain adjustments when reporting on certain data sets. Google has indicated that there are certain fields that are equivalent between UA and GA properties, even though how some of those metrics are calculated may have changed slightly. If a field does not appear in the list below, it does not currently have an equivalence between the two platforms. For the most up to date information, please refer to this article from Google.

Google has provided a number of resources that can help with the transition from Google Analytics UA properties to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) properties, some of which have been captured below.

Additional Reading:

• [UA → GA4] Universal Analytics versus Google Analytics 4 data
• Use this article to refer to fundamental differences between UA and GA4.
• GA4 Dimensions & Metrics Explorer
• Use this tool for a full suite of available dimensions, metrics, and labels in GA4 as well as compatibility 

Review your dashboards

Once you determine if you want to report on Google Analytics and Google Analytics 4 separately within your TapClicks dashboards, as part of a channel, or a mix of the two, you’ll want to review your dashboard configuration. Decide how you want to incorporate GA4 data on those dashboards:

• Do you want to create brand new dashboards, reports schedules, and Report Studio templates to include new data or update existing dashboards, schedules, and Report Studio templates?
• Will you use new sections or create new visualizations on existing dashboards?
• If you track against both UA and GA4 properties at the same time, what date ranges will you use for reporting purposes? (This may vary across your clients.)
• Do certain customers need a specialized version of this information on client-specific dashboards?
• Do you need to create any updated calculations either against the new channel or against Google Analytics 4 directly?

If you need help in updating your dashboard to reflect the new Google Analytics 4 data set, the TapClicks Professional Services team is standing by to understand your needs and work with you to update your dashboards, report studio templates, report schedules, calculations, and channels based on your unique needs. Reach out to your Customer Success Manager to learn more about this service.

Next Steps

TapClicks understands that you have a number of options available to you when it comes to the Google Analytics 4 migration and how to present your data. This article will be updated with additional information as it becomes available.

If you’ve already gone through this process within your TapClicks dashboards, we want to hear from you!  Check out this quick survey, here.

If you have any questions about this process or would like to work with directly with our Professional Services team to create the right data story for your team, reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

Happy reporting!