51: How to Move to the New G4 Google Analytics

Summary

In this episode, Meredith’s husband discusses the upcoming transition from Google Analytics to GA4, highlighting the challenges it presents for users accustomed to the old platform. He explains how this shift affects the ability to track conversions and website performance metrics, offers tips for making the transition smoother, and provides access to a simplified analytics dashboard he developed to help users navigate GA4 more effectively.

Blog Post: Preparing for Google Analytics GA4: What Website Owners Need to Know

Google Analytics has long been the go-to tool for website owners to track visitor behavior, conversions, and site performance. However, a major shift is on the horizon: the transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a completely redesigned platform that is causing frustration among SEO professionals and digital marketers alike.

GA4 promises enhanced features and capabilities, but it comes with a steep learning curve. In this post, we'll break down the changes in GA4, how they impact your ability to monitor website performance, and how you can ease the transition to this new platform.

What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?

Google Analytics 4 is the next generation of Google’s analytics platform, designed to integrate more closely with other tools like Google Optimize. It aims to simplify the user interface and offer more robust tracking, especially for cross-platform user journeys (think mobile apps and websites). However, many longtime users, including Meredith’s husband, have found GA4 to be less intuitive, with key features from the original Analytics either hidden or eliminated.

For website owners, the new GA4 interface can feel less straightforward, making it harder to find important metrics like where visitors come from, how they behave on your site, and which pages convert the best.

The Challenges of Transitioning to GA4

Meredith’s husband describes the transition as frustrating, particularly when it comes to setting up and tracking conversions. In Universal Analytics, setting up conversions was a relatively simple process, but in GA4, it can take considerably longer to configure. For example, something that took mere minutes in UA may now take hours or even weeks to figure out in GA4.

In addition to this complexity, key performance metrics such as bounce rates, specific page performances, and the sources of conversions are harder to access in the new system. This makes it more challenging to diagnose problems or improve your website’s performance based on actionable insights.

What You Can Do to Smooth the Transition

While the shift to GA4 is inevitable (all users must transition by July 1), there are steps you can take to make the switch less painful:

• Let Google handle the migration: Google offers a migration option that allows you to transfer your settings from Universal Analytics to GA4 with a few clicks. It’s not perfect, but it can save you time and effort.

• Create or use a custom dashboard: If you’re struggling to navigate GA4, Meredith’s husband recommends using a custom dashboard that filters out the clutter and provides the essential data you need. He has developed a simplified GA4 dashboard for SEO insights that you can access at Meredith’s husband’s website, helping you track conversions, page performance, and user behavior with ease.

Bullet Points from the Episode:

• GA4 replaces Universal Analytics, and all users must switch by July 1.

• GA4 promises tighter integration with other Google tools like Optimize but is less intuitive than the old version.

• Setting up conversions and accessing key metrics in GA4 is more difficult compared to Universal Analytics.

• Google offers a migration tool to help move your settings over to GA4.

• Meredith’s husband has developed a simplified GA4 dashboard to help users more easily access important data.

Resources

For those struggling with GA4, visit Meredith's Husband's custom analytics dashboard for a simplified view of the metrics you need to manage your website more effectively.