Is it Universal Analytics or GA4 of Your Website?
In June 2023, Google added summport of Google Analytics data collection usging Universal Analytics code snippet. It automatically created GA4 properties to collect that data. If you have a single UA tag snippet installed on your site, and don’t recall creating a GA4 property, you are likely collecting GA4 data through the UA tag.
In Google Analytics
In Google Analytics, choose the view of all of your account’s properties.
Based on the code of the property, you can tell if the property is Universal Analytics or GA4. Universal Analytics properties start with UA.
If you have a GA4 property set up in Google Analytics, choose this property to see if it is live and collecting the data. You can either simply look at the reports to see if the data has been collected, or you can choose Admin (bottom left) -> Data Streams (under Property).
In your website page source
On a page of your website, right-click on any text or empty space, and choose View page source.
In the page source, search for Google using Ctrl+F or Cmd+F. You should see one or more code snippets that look like one of the four options below.
1. Old Universal Analytics tag setup. Its key elements are analytics.js reference and UA- property number. You have UA set up on your website.
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i[‘GoogleAnalyticsObject’]=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
})(window,document,’script’,’//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js‘,’ga’);
ga(‘create’, ‘UA-9999999-1’, ‘yourwebsite.com’);
ga(‘send’, ‘pageview’);
2. Universal analytics global tag or g-tag. This tag will include gtag and your universal analytics UA- property number.
<!– Google tag (gtag.js) –>
<script async src=”https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-99999999-1“></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag(‘js’, new Date());
gtag(‘config’, ‘UA-99999999-1‘);
</script>
3. Global tag that sends data to a GA4 property. This tag will reference gtag, but the property name will start with G- followed by alphanumeric characters. In addition to a GA4 property, this tag also may send data to a Universal Analytics property.
<!– Google tag (gtag.js) –>
<script async src=”https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-A1PHAN0M3R1C“></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag(‘js’, new Date());
gtag(‘config’, ‘G-A1PHAN0M3R1C‘);
</script>
4. If you see one or both of the setups below, referencing gtm.js and ‘GTM-‘ followed by a short alphanumeric code, you have Google Tag Manager. GTM which makes it impossible to tell whether the tag sends a signal to a Universal Analytics property, GA4, or both.
Most websites with this setup have a GA4 property. However, the timing of the code installation is also important. Generally, tags installed after October 2020 will send the data to GA4.
<!– Google Tag Manager –>
<script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({‘gtm.start’:
new Date().getTime(),event:’gtm.js’});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],
j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!=’dataLayer’?’&l=’+l:”;j.async=true;j.src=
‘https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=’+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);
})(window,document,’script’,’dataLayer’,’GTM-WG2VLX‘);</script>
<!– End Google Tag Manager –>
<!– Google Tag Manager (noscript) –>
<noscript><iframe
height=”0″ width=”0″ style=”display:none;visibility:hidden”
data-src=”https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-WG2VLX”
class=”lazyload” src=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==”>
</iframe></noscript>
<!– End Google Tag Manager (noscript) –>
Have more than one GA tag?
Google Analytics may have multiple UA and GA4 properties fed by multiple tags. It is not unusual to install an additional tag during GA4 migration without the old tag being removed. A clean setup should have one tag feeding either your GA4 property or both UA and GA properties.
If you want to understand your website setup better, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.
If I have a properly set up GA4 property, do I need to do anything?
Your GA4 property is already active and collecting data. You do not need to do anything regarding the migration.
If you have had a Universal Analytics property that you used for analysis, you may want to consider saving the data for future use, such as year-over-year comparisons to historical data.
What do I need to do if I have a Universal Analytics only?
If you had your GA4 conversion handled automatically by Google, you may consider switching from UA tag to Global tag (GTAG) snippet on your site. Follow these instructions starting with Step 3.
Your other option is to install a GTM tag on your site, which you can cofigure to send the data to your existing GA4 property. A Google Tag Manager (GTM) tag is more powerful and flexible, but the initial setup is more complicated. GTAG is simpler to install and it offers basic GA4 functionality. My guide to tags will help you decide which one is better for you.
If you decide to accomplish this project on your own, follow my GA4 Installation Instructions which are tailored to a variety of situations.
Google published a handy GA4 transition guide that you can use to understand and implement the process. It shows the steps that you need to set up a GA4 property and add a simple GTAG to your website.
Contact us for a free consultation if you would like to talk about GA4 migration or your digital reporting needs. If you found this article helpful, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn.
What account log-ins do I need to complete the migration?
You should be able to log on to your Google Analytics dashboard. If you are using Google Tag Manager, check access to your account, too. The last piece is access to the backend of your website, such as a WordPress or Wix login.