Unprepared for the transition from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)? GA4 is coming and is here to stay July 1, 2023. Don’t panic! Even though everything will change, some things will seem familiar, and with preparation the change can go more smoothly. Here are the top 5 UA reports carrying over to GA4, what they look like, where they are, and how to use them. Get to know these in advance to better understand what’s happening with your advertising, ecommerce PPC efforts, the mediums you use, and your Google presence.
Top Conversion Paths/Path Lengths Report/Time Lag Report
In GA4, these three reports are combined into one called Conversion Paths. The Conversion Paths report shows the average number of touchpoints to a conversion, and where a specific channel, medium, or source is employed for those customer journeys. To locate the Conversion Paths report, select Advertising on the left navigation pane, then click Conversion Paths in the sub-navigation pane.
See below how both Touchpoint to Conversion (Path Lengths) and Days to Conversion (Time Lag) are combined with the Top Conversion Paths.
Shopping Behavior Report
Looking for UA’s Shopping Behavior Report? It’s folded into GA4’s Funnel Exploration reports. Funnel Exploration reports offer more options to refine the report. Find it by clicking Explore on the left navigation pane, then select the Funnel Exploration template in the main navigation frame. To create the report and search for a particular event, refer to and add the below steps. Other steps can be added or removed depending on your funnel and goal with this report, but if events are unavailable, additional tagging may be required.
- Session Start—session_start
- Add To Cart—add_to_cart
- Checkout—begin_checkout
- Payment Information—add_payment_info
- Purchase—purchase
After the events are all added, it should look something like this:
Source/Medium Report
Used to working with the Source/Medium Report in UA? It’s now in the Traffic Acquisition report in GA4. However, there is a similar report called User Acquisition that filters by user instead of traffic. Find the report and the basic functionality it provides by selecting Reports on the left navigation pane, followed by Acquisition in the sub-navigation pane. Next, choose Traffic Acquisition in the dropdown. You can also find the User Acquisition Report here as well, under acquisition. Make sure to change the “Session default channel group” to “Session source / medium” to get a similar report to UA’s default.
Product Performance Report
Accustomed to using the Product Performance Report in UA? Now it’s represented by GA4’s Ecommerce Purchases: Item Name report. Ecommerce Purchases delineates the products purchased from the website within a specific time frame. Segment the report by Item ID, name, and category, and filter it by source, medium, or campaign, just like in UA. Find it by selecting Reports in the left navigation pane, clicking the Monetization dropdown, then choosing Ecommerce Purchases: Item name in the sub-navigation pane.
Interests Report
UA’s Affinity Audiences, In-Market Segments, and Other Categories reports have coalesced in GA4’s Interests Report under Demographic Details. Compare and evaluate the best audiences to target and observe within ads under one report. Choose User Data Collection Acknowledgement under the Data Collection setting in order to acquire insights on audience interests. Find the Interests Report in the left navigation pane by clicking on Reports, and clicking Demographic details under Demographics. Be sure to change the dropdown highlighted below from Country which is the default, to Interests.
Playing in the Sandbox
Those are the top 5 UA reports carrying over to GA4, but there’s more to GA4 than that. Change is coming July 1, 2023, and we need to be ready for it. The best way to prepare for the switch is to get in the sandbox, so to speak, and start “playing.” Explore the available tools GA4 has to offer, and make sure you import your conversions, audiences, and events in the GA4 set-up assistant in UA. Unlike UA’s automatic reporting, much of the reporting in GA4 is customized and requires greater input. Play around with GA4 now and be more familiar with what it can do when fully implemented.
Need help getting a grip on GA4? Reach out to Logical Position, We’re an experienced ecommerce PPC consultant and we’ve been on top of the switch from the beginning. Contact us today!
