Why You Should Setup Both Universal Analytics & GA4 Properties on Your Website, And How!

Photo credit: Myriam Jessier via Unsplash

There's a lot to love about the new(ish) Google Analytics 4 (GA4) properties. This new type of web/app property is now the default for Google Analytics (GA), and they really change the game in terms of what you can do with GA, and how you do it. It’s important to know that this isn’t just a new look, as GA4 fundamentally changes how ‘things’ get quantified in Google Analytics. In particular, the new property moves away from tracking HITS in Universal Analytics and toward events-based tracking. An approach that is more effective in addressing the needs of both web and app analytics with a unified approach.

I think what I like the most about GA4 is the simplified goal and event tracking workflow, which doesn’t require any code to be written in order to track custom events. Overall, event tracking in GA4 is much more streamlined, powerful and scalable compared to Universal Analytics.

That being said, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. I’ve helped a few clients transition to GA4 from Universal properties in the past few months, and what I’ve noticed is that GA4 increases the learning curve for novice to moderate GA users when it comes to finding data and reports that they’re familiar with. A seasoned GA pro is probably not going to have any trouble making the transition. But for the non-data nerds who are still casual GA users, GA4 can be a little confusing.

One thing I’ve now realized is that the Universal Analytics interface was a lot more focused on report curation. What I mean by this is that there were a LOT of different ways for you to view your data, and these were all pre-made and served to you on a platter.

GA4 shifts away from the curated reports approach and replaces it with a lighter portfolio of pre-made reports, but adds an incredibly powerful report builder via the Explorations tool.

The report building features available via Explorations in GA4 are nothing short of amazing, and they really open up a lot of new opportunities when it comes to data analysis and discovery. And again, for the seasoned GA pro or data nerd, this is a welcome change.

But like I said, for the casual GA user the transition can be overwhelming. Those reports you were so familiar with in Universal Analytics are nowhere to be found, and not all the metrics that you may rely on in Universal are present in GA4.

The solution here is really just time and education. But we’re at an interesting point in the Google Analytics roadmap, as they’ve committed to moving as many users over to GA4 as possible, while the product is still evolving and the educational resources for GA4 properties are still emerging (though I will admit that the #dataFAM is developing it quickly!).

Don’t get me wrong, GA4 is great and I’m fully on board. But I do worry about how much some users will struggle with the transition. And as a result, one thing I’ve recommended to clients or peers is that they set up both Universal and GA4 tags on either existing or new websites.

This may sound excessive, and to some degree it is. Focus is always your friend in the field of data. And managing two different web properties for a single site that quantifies activity differently may get confusing. But switching to GA4 cold turkey isn’t going to work for everyone, and you may want to give yourself some runway to learn and adapt to GA4.

A good example of the need for a transition phase is bounce rate. A lot of people are familiar with and rely on this metric, and Google has phased it out with GA4. In its place are off-the-shelf metrics like DAUs, WAU’s and MAU’s (i.e. daily/weekly/monthly active users). Which, if you come from the world of app/product analytics, you’ll be right at home with these types of engagement metrics. But if you’re less familiar with this, or the other metrics that now available for tracking engagement in GA4, you need some time to learn and adapt.

So if you’re less of an expert in Google Analytics, and you’re wondering whether you should continue with Universal or switch or make the switch to GA4, my suggestion is to do both. But, here are three things you should keep in mind.

Don’t USE data from both properties

Don’t ever try to apply the data from both properties at the same time. As I mentioned, UA and GA4 quantify activity differently, so the data will never match. And trying to reconcile the data will just melt your brain. What I suggest is that you continue to focus on using/applying data from your UA property in the near term, while you use this time to simply explore and learn GA4 in your spare time.

Rebuild your reports in GA4

Identify the main use-cases, reports, and metrics that you rely on today, and spend time finding out how to find (or build) this information in GA4. In some cases, you will find apples-to-apples comparisons. Other times you won’t (i.e. bounce rate). So you need to spend time rethinking some of the reports you may have used in the past.

Create a timeline

Have a clear timeline in place to transition to GA4. At some point, you should retire Universal Analytics and shift your focus to using/applying your data from GA4. Whether that takes a month, 6 months or a year will depend on you, and how much time you’re setting aside to learn and explore in GA4.

To help with the transition I’ve created a short video to show you how to set up both UA and GA4 properties on a website. I’ll also be publishing more content about the differences between UA and GA4 in the coming weeks.

As always, thanks for reading!