How to Convert Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4

Universal Analytics (UA) has officially stopped processing new data, making the move to Google Analytics 4 an essential step for tracking your website performance. If you haven't made the switch yet, or if you ran the setup but aren't sure what to do next, you're in the right place. This guide will walk you through a clear, step-by-step process for migrating to GA4 and ensuring your tracking is set up correctly.

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"Convert" is a Misleading Term: It's a Migration, Not a Clone

First, let's clear up a common point of confusion. You can't truly "convert" your Universal Analytics property into a Google Analytics 4 property. Think of it more as a migration or a fresh start. These are two fundamentally different platforms with entirely different data models. While Google provides a "GA4 Setup Assistant," it doesn't copy and paste your historical data, reports, or most of your configurations.

Here’s what that means for you:

• Your old UA data stays in UA. It will not be moved into your new GA4 property. You'll need to export and archive your historical data if you want to keep it long-term.
• Most settings need to be manually recreated. This includes things like goals (now called conversions), audiences, and custom event tracking.

The goal is to set up a brand new GA4 property that measures what you need, using the old UA property as a blueprint. It's an opportunity to rethink what metrics truly matter for your business.

The Biggest Differences: UA vs. GA4

Understanding why GA4 is different helps make the migration process much smoother. The old model, built around sessions and pageviews, was designed for a desktop-centric web. GA4 is built for a world of websites, apps, and multiple user touchpoints.

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The Shift to an Event-Based Model

The most significant change is the data model. In Universal Analytics, everything was categorized into different types of "hits," like pageview hits, event hits, or ecommerce hits. In GA4, everything is an event.

• A pageview is now a page_view event.
• A session start is a session_start event.
• A file download is a file_download event (which is automatically tracked!).

This streamlined approach provides a much more flexible and user-centric way to measure interactions across your platforms. Instead of trying to fit everything into the "Category, Action, Label" format of UA events, you can now create custom events with specific parameters that make more sense for your business, like product_added_to_cart with parameters for product_name and price.

Metrics like Bounce Rate have also been replaced by more meaningful Engagement Metrics, which tell you if a user actually interacted with your site rather than just leaving without clicking anything.

Step 1: Use the GA4 Setup Assistant

The easiest way to get started is with Google's built-in tool. It creates a new GA4 property alongside your existing UA property without affecting the original. This is the first and most crucial step.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to your Google Analytics account.
2. Click on Admin in the bottom-left corner (the gear icon).
3. Ensure you've selected the correct Universal Analytics Property you want to migrate.
4. In the Property column, click on GA4 Setup Assistant. It should be the first option.
5. Underneath "I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property," click the blue Get Started button.
6. A pop-up will appear. If your site uses the global site tag (gtag.js), you'll see an option to "Enable data collection using your existing tags." Leave this checked. This is a huge time-saver as it allows your new GA4 property to start receiving data from the same tag you're using for UA. If you are using Google Tag Manager or another system, you will need to add the new tag manually (more on that later).
7. Click Create property.

That's it! The assistant will now create your new GA4 property. It will be connected to your UA property, but it's an entirely separate space for data collection. Click Go to your GA4 property to start the configuration process.

Step 2: Key Configurations in Your New GA4 Property

Running the assistant is just the beginning. Your new property is now collecting basic data like page views and some automatic events, but you need to configure it to track what matters. Go to the Admin section of your new GA4 property to dial in these settings.

Adjust Data Retention

By default, GA4 only stores user-level data for 2 months. You'll almost certainly want to change this to the maximum of 14 months to allow for year-over-year analysis inside the Explore reports.

• Navigate to Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention.
• Change the "Event data retention" dropdown from 2 months to 14 months.
• Click Save.

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Activate Google Signals

Google Signals collects data from users who are signed into their Google accounts and have Ads Personalization turned on. Activating it gives you access to cross-device reporting, remarketing capabilities, and more detailed demographic and interest data.

• Navigate to Admin > Data Settings > Data Collection.
• Click the Get Started button in the Google Signals section.
• Follow the prompts to activate it.

Link Other Google Products

Just like with UA, you need to link GA4 to your other Google services to share data between them. This is crucial for seeing organic search data and understanding ad performance.

• In the Property column, scroll down to Product Links.
• Click to link Google Ads and your Search Console account. The process is straightforward and will guide you through selecting the correct accounts to connect.

Step 3: Recreate Your Goals as GA4 Conversions

This is one of the most important manual steps. In UA, you created "Goals" to track important actions. In GA4, these are called "Conversions", and you create them by simply flagging an existing event as a conversion.

Let's look at how to map common UA goal types to GA4 conversions:

Destination Goals → page_view Event Conversions

Let's say in UA, you had a destination goal for when a user lands on /thank-you.html after filling out a form.

1. In GA4, go to Admin > Data display > Events page.
2. Click Create event and then Create again.
3. Name your new custom event. For example, generate_lead or contact_form_submission.
4. Under Matching conditions, set up the following:
5. Click Create. Now, every time someone visits the /thank-you.html page, GA4 will log your new custom generate_lead event.
6. Wait for data to come in (it can take up to 24 hours). Once the generate_lead event shows up in your Events list, simply toggle the switch under the Mark as conversion column.

You have now successfully recreated your destination goal as a GA4 conversion!

Event Goals → Custom Event Conversions

If you were tracking events in UA like a button click or video play, you’ll need to set up a new event for it in GA4. Most modern tracking is set up through Google Tag Manager (GTM). If you were using GTM for your UA events, the process is to create a new GTM Tag:

• Tag Type: Google Analytics: GA4 Event
• Configuration Tag: Select your main GA4 Configuration Tag.
• Event Name: Give it a descriptive name, like cta_click. Follow Google's recommended naming conventions if possible.
• Triggering: Use the same trigger you were using for your old UA Event tag (e.g., a trigger for clicks on a specific button CSS selector).

Once you publish your GTM container, the new cta_click event will appear in GA4. Just like before, once it appears in your Events list, toggle it on as a conversion.

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Step 4: Audit and Implement Custom Event Tracking

Beyond conversions, you need to make sure you're capturing all the interactions that matter for your reporting. GA4 has a feature called Enhanced measurement which automatically tracks some common events like scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, and file downloads. Make sure this is enabled under Admin > Data Streams > [Your Web Stream].

For everything else, you'll need to create custom events. Create a list of all your old UA events and plan their GA4 equivalents. This is the perfect time to clean house and only track what you actually use. As mentioned above, using Google Tag Manager is the most flexible and powerful way to deploy this custom event tracking.

Step 5: How to Handle Your Historical UA Data

Your old Universal Analytics reports will stop being accessible at some point after July 1, 2024. If year-over-year reporting is important to you, you must export your historical data before it's gone for good. You have several options:

• Manual Exports: For key reports, you can manually export them as CSV or Google Sheets files directly from the UA interface. This is tedious but effective for high-level data.
• Google Sheets Add-on: Google provides a free Add-on for Google Sheets that can pull data directly from the UA API. This is a great semi-automated option for building archives of your most important metrics.
• Looker Studio: Connect your UA property as a data source in Looker Studio (formerly Data Studio). You can build reports and then set the date range to an exact historical period to essentially "save" that view of a report.
• API/BigQuery: For users with large amounts of data, using the GA API or exporting to BigQuery (if you had GA360) are the most robust solutions, though they require more technical skill.

Final Thoughts

Migrating from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 isn't just a simple conversion, it's a full upgrade that requires rebuilding your setup. By following the steps - running the Setup Assistant, configuring key settings, recreating conversions, and archiving your old data - you can create a powerful and flexible analytics foundation for your business.

Once your migration to GA4 is complete, you might find the new interface challenging, and your important business data is still scattered across other platforms like your ad accounts, CRM, and e-commerce store. That’s why we built Graphed . We connect to all your data sources, including GA4, in just a few clicks. Then, you can simply ask questions in plain English, like "Show me a dashboard comparing Facebook Ads spend vs traffic and conversions from GA4 for the last 30 days," and we'll instantly generate a real-time dashboard for you, saving you from navigating complex interfaces and manual report-building.