Make the switch to GA4
What you need to know about the sunsetting of Universal Analytics
- Until July 1, 2023, you can continue to use and collect new data in your Universal Analytics properties.
- After July 1, 2023, you'll be able to access your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months. Google strongly encourages you to export your historical reports during this time.
Advantages of GA4
Universal Analytics was built for a generation of online measurement anchored in the desktop web, independent sessions, and observable data from cookies. This measurement method is becoming obsolete with Google's efforts to phase out third-party cookies.
Google Analytics 4 operates across platforms, does not rely exclusively on cookies, and uses an event-based data model. The event-based model tracks each user engagement as a unique event rather than measuring sessions and grouping user interactions together.
The focus on events enhances flexibility and user behavior prediction with reports like cross-platform and pathing analytics. There are also enhanced data visualization capabilities and auto-tracking of specific events.
Pathing analysis allows you to explore the paths that your site visitors take from their apps and browsers.
GA4 uses machine learning and AI-powered insights that predict data trends and provide predictive metrics which include purchase probability, churn probability, and revenue prediction. You can anticipate your visitor's actions and use this insight to customize campaigns and target segmented audiences.
For more information, visit Google's Help Center here.
Making the transition
Export historical UA reports as soon as possible since the data will not transfer into the GA4 property.
Universal Analytics will no longer process any data starting July 1, 2023. We strongly encourage you to create a GA4 property and start collecting data for your website as soon as possible.
You don't need to worry about configuring tags or debugging any data reports for your Edlio website. Once you have your GA4 measurement ID, enter that number in the SEO & Marketing section of Settings.
Check to see if you have a UA property or a GA4 property
Look at your property ID to see which type of property you have.
- Universal Analytics property IDs start with UA and end with a number (UA-XXXXXXXXX-1)
- Google Analytics 4 property IDs have only numbers (XXXXXXXX) or G-
Once you have a GA4 property set up, find your measure ID. This is the number that we need to link your Google Analytics to your website.
To set up tracking in GA4, you must use the measurement ID.
The GA4 measurement ID format is G-XXXXXX.
- To find your measure ID, go your Google Analytics dashboard and click "Admin" which can be found on the bottom left of the page.
- Click on "Data stream" which can be found on the top part of the Property column.
- Click on the stream for your Edlio website. You will see your "G-XXXXXXX" ID in the top right.
What is SEO and why is tracking my website data important?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of including content and relevant keywords to increase traffic by improving your site's visisbility to search engines. SEO can help your site appear more often in relevant searches. It's a good idea to include key terms like "school", "admissions", and "teacher"; as well as your school/district's name, city, and state.
You can manage SEO in Page Options.
Google Analytics is the leading website tracking tool. Tracking allows you to see the number of website visits, which pages your site visitors are loading on your website, types of engagement, audience information, and much more. Tracking will come in handy when you're campaigning for school enrollments, fundraisers, and special events. It also gives you insight into what type of content your audience is engaging with the most.
Find out more about the value of digital analytics.