How to set up a GA4 property alongside your existing UA property

While this date is still a while off, there are many reasons to prioritise your migration. A key one for many users will be having year on year analysis available from the depreciation date, to be in this position you will need to have GA4 configured before the end of June 2022 — a much closer deadline.

Migrating sooner rather than later will also give you additional time to get comfortable with the new interface, as well as offering the opportunity to take your time transitioning any processes and reporting.

Follow our step-by-step guide to setting up GA4. This guide is for anyone currently using Universal Analytics who would like to set up GA4 to collect data in tandem.

To make setting up GA4 as simple as possible, Google have created a GA4 setup assistant wizard — to access the wizard you will need Editor access to the account. Once you have the correct access level, the wizard can be accessed by navigating to Admin > Property > GA4 Setup Assistant.

You will first be given the option to create a new GA4 property or to connect to an existing one. In this guide we will be creating a new property.

Then depending on your current Universal Analytics implementation, you may now have the option to enable data collection using your existing tags. This will only be an option for users with the gtag.js tag in place, if you use Google Tag Manager or the legacy analytics.js tag you will need to install new tags to use GA4.

Once the setup wizard is complete you will see the success message “You have successfully connected your properties.”

If you had (and selected) the option to enable data collection using your exiting tags, your set up is now complete. Please note there may be a small delay (up to 30 minutes) before data begins to appear in your new account.

If the set-up wizard was unable to use your current tag, you will now need to add the GA4 gtag.js tag to your site. There is no need to replace your previous tag for UA as data will continue to collect until 1st July 2023.

To find your new tag, navigate to your new property, then Admin > Property > Data Streams.

Here you will see all the data streams currently set up to the property, select Web then click on the stream. At this point there should be no data received.

Clicking on the data stream, you will find Tagging Instructions for both adding the tag directly to site or via Google Tag Manager.

If your site is tagged with Google Tag Manager, you will need to start by creating a GA4 Configuration tag. Populate the tag with your unique Measurement ID and set the Triggering to fire on All Pages.

Alternatively, if you would prefer not to use GTM, your developer can add the tag directly to site, as below.

Once your tag is in place your data stream will start to receive data and populate your GA4 account. Congratulations, the basic set up is now complete.

About the author:

Faye is the Analytics Lead at CreativeRace, heading up our Analytics & Reporting function. Previously, Faye worked at Jaywing for seven years, working with clients such as Kempinski, QHotels, TeamSport, and Hermes.

Related posts:

This gives rise to the thought of getting rid of all of your belongings and maintaining only the most fundamental items in your life. That is, without a doubt, a significant component of the…

Everyone Laughs the Same Laughter. We need to return to what binds us together to make peace, to our roots as human beings and to what matters to us.

The default state for most people is to be so engrossed in their inner dialogue, they dont even notice how active it is. This might be how your brain operates, but you are totally unaware. Maybe one…