If you’re responsible for your company’s website and analytics, you probably started receiving Google notices like this:
This is the final step in the year-long sunset of Universal Analytics. We know this process is confusing to some of our clients. In this blog post, we address the questions we’ve received and explain why it’s important to download your Universal Analytics data. Here, we discuss some options to help you download your data. You can read more about Google’s timeline here.
But We Switched Over to Google Analytics 4!
That’s great! Google Analytics 4 started compiling new data on July 1, 2023. However, your Universal Analytics stopped collecting data on July 1, 2023! You can still access your Universal Analytics data—but only until July 1, 2024.
Doesn’t My Universal Analytics connect with GA4?
Universal Analytics data does not integrate or transfer To GA4.
On July 1st, 2024, you will lose access to all Universal Analytics properties, API, and data—it will not be archived; it will be deleted! Simply put, all the data you collected up until you installed GA4 will be lost.
Do I Really Need My Old Analytics Data?
That is entirely up to you and your company. As a company, you might feel you don’t need any or all of your past data. To help you make that decision, we thought we would list why keeping your past analytics data can be beneficial to your company:
- Your Customer: Your past data can help you understand your customers' search behavior and decisions on your website.
- Website Rebuilds or Development: Understanding customer flow and interactions with your web pages, content, and overall user experience can help with current or future plans to rebuild or scale your website or app.
- E-Commerce Trends: Past data tracks what’s hot, product life cycles, what strategies worked, and track trends to make better future decisions.
- Future Proofing: Historical data provides insight into website page and section performance, demographics, cost of acquisition, cost of conversion, and more. Past data is crucial to eliminating future questions and guessing when making strategic business decisions.
Make better Data-Driven Decisions
One thing to keep in mind is that GA4 data and Universal Analytics data are collected and labeled differently. It will be important to understand your Universal Analytics data and see how it compares to GA4 data. The differences are not significant, but the way the data is collected and classified is different from your UA analytics. Understanding similarities will help you make more accurate data-driven decisions.
How Do I Download My UA Data?
Here are free and paid options to help you download and archive your Universal Analytics. Don’t fret—depending on your needs—there are various options to obtain your data, as well as companies that can help archive your data through their platforms. See you in the next blog.
