Google recently announced that it would be sunsetting its current version of its analytics platform, Universal Analytics. From 1st July 2023 Universal Analytics (UA) will stop recording and processing website data. Universal Analytics was built for online metrics rooted in desktop behaviour and derived from data generated by cookies. With evolving measuring standards and a focus on user privacy, this way of capturing data is becoming obsolete. To prepare for the future of analytics, Google have introduced Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a platform designed to deliver increased flexibility around metrics and provide visibility of a unified customer journey across platforms.

But what does the move to GA4 mean for firms, and how can you prepare for the switch?

Get greater value from your data - Google's machine learning has been built into GA4, generating detailed predictive insights about how visitors are engaging with your site, which audiences to target, and which visitors might be at risk of not returning.

Develop a better picture of visitors across platforms - GA4 helps to provide an overview of a visitor's lifecycle, unifying data across platforms, devices and touch-points.

Measure engagement with compliance in mind - Improved privacy controls enable you to flexibly manage the collection of user data, including cookies and meta data, without limiting the way you can analyse site performance.

How can you prepare for the switch?

With Universal Analytics halting data collection from 1 July 2023, make sure you being the move over to Google Analytics 4. Use this checklist to begin the switch:

1. Identify an account structure to segment your data across accounts, properties, and data streams.
2. Create a GA4 property alongside your existing UA property.
3. Create data streams to begin seeing data within your GA4 property.
4. Enable data collection by adding a GA4 tag to your CMS, directly to your web pages, or through Google Tag Manager.