How to Update Google Analytics to Google Analytics 4

If you haven't switched your website analytics from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4, time is officially up. Google's classic analytics platform stopped processing new data back on July 1, 2023, and pretty soon, all the historical data you've collected there will be gone for good. This guide will walk you through exactly how to update to Google Analytics 4, step-by-step, without losing your sanity.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

We'll cover creating your new GA4 property, getting the tracking tag on your site, and recreating your most important settings like conversion tracking. Let's get it done.

First, Why Can't We Just Keep Using the Old Google Analytics?

The short answer is: it no longer works. Universal Analytics (UA) was built for a simpler time on the internet, one dominated by desktop website sessions. Today, visitors might interact with your business through a website, an app, a point-of-sale system, and more. UA struggled to connect these dots.

GA4 is Google's answer to this modern, multi-platform world. It's designed to give you a more unified view of the customer journey, from their first ad click to their final purchase, no matter where it happens. It's built around privacy and tracking without relying on third-party cookies, making it a more future-proof tool for your business.

The bottom line is that continuing to use your old UA property is no longer an option. All new website data must be collected in a GA4 property.

The Big Differences: Understanding the Shift from UA to GA4

Before we jump into the setup process, it's helpful to understand a few fundamental things that have changed between the two versions. Getting your head around these concepts will make a huge difference when you start looking at your new GA4 reports.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Measurement Model: Sessions vs. Events

The biggest change is the shift from a session-based model to an event-based model.

• In Universal Analytics, everything revolved around "sessions" — a group of interactions a user takes within a given timeframe. Things like pageviews, transactions, or form submissions were hits within that session.
• In Google Analytics 4, everything is an "event." A pageview is an event, a button click is an event, a scroll is an event, a form submission is an event, and a purchase is an event. This makes tracking more flexible and comprehensive, as you're not just looking at page loads but at every single meaningful action a user takes.

Goals vs. Conversions

How you measure what matters most has also changed.

• In UA, you configured "Goals" to track important actions, most commonly by setting a destination URL (like /thank-you). You were limited to 20 goals per view.
• In GA4, any event can be marked as a "Conversion." This is much more powerful. If you want to track PDF downloads as a key outcome, you just track the file_download event and flip the switch to mark it as a conversion. You have more flexibility and can track up to 30 conversions per property.

Bounce Rate vs. Engagement Rate

For years, marketers obsessed over "Bounce Rate" — the percentage of single-page sessions. But a 'bounce' wasn't always a bad thing. Someone could land on your blog post, find their answer in 20 seconds, and leave perfectly happy. GA4 replaces this with a more thoughtful metric.

• Bounce Rate (UA): A user landed on a page and did nothing else - they didn't click to another page.
• Engagement Rate: This is the percentage of "engaged sessions." An engaged session is one that lasts longer than 10 seconds, has a conversion event, or has at least 2 pageviews. It's a much better indicator of whether a visitor is actually interacting with your content. The inverse of Engagement Rate is... you guessed it, Bounce Rate, which is now available again in the GA4 interface.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Migrating to Google Analytics 4

Ready to make the switch? Let's walk through the process. The process is straightforward if you follow these steps carefully. You're essentially going to create a new GA4 property and run it in parallel with your old UA one.

Step 1: Use the GA4 Setup Assistant

Google has made this first step quite easy. The Setup Assistant will create a new GA4 property that's connected to your existing Universal Analytics property.

1. Log into your Google Analytics account.
2. Click on Admin in the bottom-left corner (the gear icon).
3. Make sure you've selected the correct account and Universal Analytics property.
4. In the "Property" column, the very first option should be GA4 Setup Assistant. Click it.
5. You'll see a box that says "I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property." Click the blue Get Started button.
6. A pop-up will explain what will happen. It will create a new property, copy some basic settings, and enable enhanced measurement. Don't worry, it will not change your existing Universal Analytics property. Click Create Property.

That's it! You've just created a brand-new GA4 property. A success message will appear, confirming your new property has been created. Click on "See your GA4 property" to get started with the configuration.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Step 2: Install the GA4 Tag on Your Website

Creating the property doesn't automatically start collecting data. For that, you need to add the new GA4 tag to your website. You can find this tag by navigating to Admin > Data Streams > [Click your new stream]. You’ll see a "Measurement ID" at the top that looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX.

There are three common ways to get this installed:

Method 1: Using a CMS Plugin (e.g., WordPress, Shopify)

If your website is built on a platform like WordPress, Shopify, or Wix, this is often the easiest path. Most of these platforms have built-in integrations or easy-to-use plugins for Google Analytics.

• Find the analytics section in your website's admin settings.
• Look for a field asking for your Google Analytics Measurement ID.
• Copy your GA4 Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX) and paste it into the field.
• Save your changes.

Method 2: Using Google Tag Manager (Recommended)

If you're already using Google Tag Manager (GTM), this is the cleanest and most scalable method.

1. In your GTM container, go to Tags > New.
2. Name your tag something clear, like "GA4 - Configuration Tag".
3. For Tag Configuration, choose Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration.
4. In the "Measurement ID" field, paste your new GA4 ID.
5. Keep the box checked for "Send a page view event when this configuration loads".
6. Under Triggering, select All Pages.
7. Save your tag, then click Submit and Publish to push the changes live.

Method 3: Adding the Global Site Tag (gtag.js) Directly

If the other methods don't work, you can always install the analytics tag directly into your website's code. In your GA4 Data Stream settings, look under "Installation instructions" for the "Install manually" option. Google will give you a snippet of JavaScript code. You just need to copy this and paste it immediately after the <head> tag on every page of your website.

Step 3: Verify Data is Being Collected

Once you've installed the tag, you want to make sure it's working. The easiest way is to use the Realtime report in GA4.

• In a new browser tab, open your own website and click around a few pages.
• Go to your GA4 property and navigate to Reports > Realtime.
• After a minute or two, you should see your own visit pop up in the "Users in Last 30 Minutes" card. If you see activity, it’s working!

Step 4: Configure Your GA4 Property Settings

Your property is collecting data, but there are a few essential settings to adjust right away.

Increase Your Data Retention Period

This is one of the most important steps. By default, GA4 only stores detailed user-level data for a frustratingly short 2 months. You should immediately change this to the maximum of 14 months.

1. Go to Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention.
2. Under "Event data retention," use the dropdown to change "2 months" to "14 months."
3. Click Save.

Link Your Other Google Accounts

To get the most out of GA4, you should connect it to your other Google marketing platforms, like Google Ads and Google Search Console.

1. Go to Admin > Product Links.
2. You'll see options for Google Ads, Search Console, Merchant Center, and more.
3. Click on each service you use and follow the linking wizard. It's usually a quick, few-click process. This will bring valuable ad data and search query data into your GA4 reports.

Filter Out Internal Traffic

You don't want your own team's visits skewing your data. You can filter out traffic from your office IPs.

1. Go to Admin > Data Streams > [Click your stream] > Configure tag settings > Show all > Define internal traffic.
2. Click Create. Give your rule a name (e.g., "Office IP Address").
3. For traffic_type value, leave it as is (internal).
4. Under "IP address," select "IP address equals" and enter your IP address. (You can search "what's my IP" in Google to find it).
5. Click Create. Note that it takes a little while for this filter to become active.

Graphed

Still Building Reports Manually?

Watch how growth teams are getting answers in seconds — not days.

Watch the Demo

Step 5: Recreate Your Key Conversion Events

Remember how Universal Analytics Goals don't automatically carry over? You need to set them up again as Conversions in GA4.

The good news is that GA4 automatically tracks certain events without any setup, such as page views (page_view), scrolls (scroll), and outbound clicks (click).

Let's walk through the most common example: tracking a "Thank You" or confirmation page that new leads or customers see after filling out a form.

1. First, identify the unique part of your confirmation page URL. Let's say it's /contact-submitted.
2. In GA4, go to Admin > Events in the Property column.
3. Click Create event, and then Create again.
4. In the "Custom event name" field, give it a clear, simple name. Use underscores instead of spaces, like form_submission_contact.
5. Under "Matching Conditions," set up the following rules:
6. Click Create. Now, GA4 will record a new form_submission_contact event every time someone views that confirmation page.
7. Wait up to 24 hours for data to come in for this new event. Finally, you need to tell GA4 that this event is a key business outcome. Go to Admin > Conversions.
8. Click New conversion event.
9. In the "New event name" box, enter the exact name you just created: form_submission_contact.
10. Click Save.

Done! Your form is now being tracked as a conversion in GA4. You can follow this same logic for any key page view on your site — newsletter signups, request-a-quote forms, and more.

Final Thoughts

Making the switch to Google Analytics 4 is no longer optional, but it doesn't have to be a nightmare. By methodically working through these steps — using the Setup Assistant, installing your tag, adjusting your settings, and recreating your key conversions — you'll put your business on solid ground with modern, more insightful analytics.

Now that your data is flowing into GA4, you might find that the new interface can feel a bit unintuitive compared to what you're used to. This is where we built Graphed to remove the growing pains. After connecting your GA4 account (which takes a couple of clicks), you don't need to learn a new report builder. Just ask questions in plain English like "compare traffic and conversions from Google vs. Facebook this month" or "show me my most visited pages last week," and we'll instantly generate the charts and dashboards for you.