Google Analytics 4 and What It Means for BBS Clients

July 1st, 2023 is the date that Google’s Universal Analytics (GA3) will cease to collect data. GA3 is what most people think of when they think of Google Analytics and what they use to track website visits to their website.  Its used on more than 55.7 % of websites in the world!  (That’s hundreds of millions of websites.)

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the next incarnation of Google Analytics, and must be setup on your website separately.   If you don’t install Google Analytics 4 (GA4) on your website by July 1st 2023, your old website analytics will cease to track.

Google has sent out a handful of emails the last few months, and there is only a small notification in the top of your older Universal Analytics to tell you the change is coming.

Many website owners don’t realize what that notice actually means, and won’t take action. They may not realize something is wrong for weeks or months after the cut-over date in July 2023 when they realize their websites have stopped tracking analytics and then scramble to find someone to help.

If you are hosted with us at Prebuilt Sites or The BBS Agency, we have already done the basic setup for Google Analytics 4 on your account for you and integrated it into your website. 

We’ve only done the basic integration. This is perfect for most websites. If you have a WooCommerce site or if there is any advanced setup that was done by you, a member of your team, and SEO professional, or a PPC professional you will need that advanced setup ALSO done in Google Analytics 4. Those advanced custom setups don’t migrate over. This includes any eCommerce tracking as well. GA4 is a big upgrade with lots of changes, including different terminology.

Please check with your internal marketing team or 3rd party marketing or SEO team to see if they need to do any additional setup if GA4.

If you have WooCommerce, please double check with us at [email protected] to see if any additional setup is needed.