Why & How to Save Historical Google Analytic Data

This coming July, Google will transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Last July we posted an article to help our marketing partners understand and prepare for that. Below are the opening paragraphs from that article.

Google has formally announced that Universal Google Analytics (UA), the old version, will no longer process hits as of July 1, 2023. Moving forward, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the new version, will measure Website and App activity and performance.

Though this may come as a surprise to some, GA4 has been around for a while and fortunately UA will still be available for an unspecified time after it stops collecting hits in 2023. Google’s transition GA4 is designed to be all about the consumer, addressing privacy concerns, the world without cookies and improved functionality including machine learning (AI) that automatically identifies trends.

CAUTION: DON’T LOSE YOUR IMPORTANT DATA

Universal Analytics will only be available for six months after July 1^st, 2023.

Click HERE to read the entire article about the transition to Google Analytics 4.

With the transition to GA4, MediaOne.digital is recommending that businesses and organizations create a strategic plan for backing up their existing Universal Analytics and historical data. Here are some things to consider to ensure you are using best practices during the transition.

• Have you fully setup GA4 yet?
• Have you started data collection or enhanced your data collection settings?
• Are your property settings customized according to your goals?
• Speaking of goals, have you created them yet in GA4?

It’s best to get started on this now as you have less than 2 months to start capturing this data.

Bottom line. GA4 isn’t as turnkey out of the box and requires setup to keep your data consistent with what you’re used to.

In a perfect world, you would be able to migrate existing Universal Analytics into the new GA4. Unfortunately, the two platforms use a completely different set of data models that cannot be integrated. So, to keep historical data you will need to export it for future reference.

Here are some reasons why it is so important to save your historical data and some options you can use to make it happen.

The Power of Information

Information is power and the information your analytics collected over time provides critical insights about how your website has performed and the consumers who used it. Having historical data will provide the information you need to create an effective strategic marketing plan for the future.

Historical Analytic Data will provide information about your:

• Web traffic and where it comes from
• User behavior and segmentation
• Site and page performance
• Conversions
• SEO
• Content performance
• And much more……..

Secure Your Historical Data Today

To prevent your loss of data, MediaOne.digital is offering a data preservation package to store your historical Universal Google Analytics data to enable you to retain access to this valuable information for your marketing needs.  This will ensure that your goals and conversions are enabled for tracking purposes and give your business access to a live, custom-built dashboard to utlilize the data.

Summing it up

The transition to Google Analytics 4 will soon become a reality.  Though there is still time, MediaOne.digital is encouraging all businesses to take action as quickly as possible to prepare for the transition and backup historical analytics before it is too late.  As always, MediaOne.digital is ready and able to help you back up your data and make the transition to GA4 easy and successful.

Sources:

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ga4-historical-data/447519/

https://www.nabler.com/google-analytics-training/articles/the-benefits-of-a-google-analytics-training-course/