UA to GA4
Have you seen the messages in your google inbox?
GA4 is coming…GA4 is coming!
Maybe you’re a pro at GA4 and your organization has already made the leap and maybe you’re reading this and saying, “GA4? Huh?”
We’re here to share some resources for your museum or nonprofit to make the switch to GA4 (a.k.a. Google Analytics 4) so that you continue to gather all of that juicy data on your website!
Some features are starting to change NOW and the UA (Universal Analytics) officially sunsets on July 1, 2023. Even if you are a whiz on your website, this process is going to take time. Our first suggestion - get this process started NOW so that you don’t lose data when July approaches.
Your webmaster/web provider: If your web provider hasn’t already reached out to talk about this change, send them an email and ask to learn more. Ideally, they should be preparing your site for this change and have the tools and resources to answer your questions. Arguably, if you are not familiar with all of the interfaces, this is money well spent!
Google: personally, we find any Google help document to be too text heavy and not always easy to follow. That said, this is the source of truth for all things GA4 and it’s good to have bookmarked as you make the change. The GA4 setup assistant was also fairly helpful
Mighty Citizen: this is an excellent article about the hows and whys this major change is happening. It breaks down the reasons for the change in plain language and is a helpful guide for even the least web-savvy individual.
Wordstream: the opening meme is the most accurate depiction out there for this process - but Wordstream’s article is excellent! This article also highlights some KPI’s that are sunsetting in July (like bounce rate!) so you’ll definitely want to read on!
Squarespace Users: your information and guide is here. It looks like Squarespace is handling the background work - you just need to ensure that you have your GA4 property up and running.
While we’re professionals in a lot of areas, we’ve admittedly struggled with this transition. The resources that we shared were a huge help in understanding the process and helping to make the change. Now, we monitor and tweak over the next 3-6 weeks!