Google Analytics 4 is replacing Universal Analytics

Did you get the email from the Google Analytics Team? Google Analytics 4 is replacing Universal Analytics. What does that mean for your website or blog?

I have been making websites since 2009 and when I first started, I used Universal Analytics. I set up a Google Analytics account for my client, then I got the UA code and added it to the website. The code I added allowed Google to start to track information like what websites were referring visitors to your website, what’s the most popular page on your website, how many hits are you getting from the marketing you are doing. Many clients find this information useful to target their marketing. If you run ads on Google or Facebook, this info is helpful. I like to collect the data now, even if you aren’t using it, you may want it in the future.

Fast forward to 2022, now Google Analytics 4 is replacing Universal Analytics and they won’t be supporting Universal Analytics after July 1, 2023. Your website won’t track your hit activity after this date. You won’t get any data. That gives you plenty of time to update, but don’t wait until the last minute. Google Analytics 4 is their next-generation measurement solution. There are Google experts out there that can help you maximize the information, especially for those of you with online shopping carts who rely on national and international customers.

Here’s a screenshot from one of my websites. You can see the spike in hits. I ran a Facebook ad during that time.

My recommendation is to log into your website and look at your SEO and Google Analytics now. If you have the Universal Analytics code on your site, consider upgrading it now to take advantage of Google’s most recent analytics. I have a plugin from Google that I like to add to my WordPress websites that connects your Google Analytics 4 to your website. This allows you to see some of the analytics data at a glance when you log into your website.

If you want to learn more and do the update yourself, here’s a link that explains Google Analytics 4.

If you want my help, I can log into your website, see what Google Analytics you are currently using and then log into your Google Analytics account and switch you from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. Then, I can install the new plugin to track your results. I can’t image it would take more than 30 minutes to make the switch and do the setup. The hardest part might be finding your Google Analytics account login information, but I can probably help you with that too! I can couple this change with other website updates so your site stays current.

Let me know when you are ready to update.

Michelle Aspelin
Mindshare Marketing & Implementation Services LLC