Distribution of data between UA and GA4

  • Resolved sophiaknows

    (@sophiaknows)


    2 years, 3 months ago

    Hello dear Google Site Kit team,
    I have a question about the data collected for Analytics by the plugin. I created a WordPress site to replace a site based on simple html pages (it’s the same domain name). Using the Google Site Kit plugin created the GA4 version in addition to the UA version I was using. Since then, the data is split between UA and GA4 properties: I have fewer users, page views, etc. on the UA version, but what is in GA4 does not make up for the difference at all (except for a big loss of traffic due to the redesign of the site, but the Search Console or Adsense data does not bear this out).
    Here are some tweaks I made to try to fix this:
    – I checked that both properties have their own tags on my site,
    – I found the http setting in the UA version was http not https, I fixed it,
    – I set up redirects so that the html pages of the old site link to the corresponding pages of the “new site” (/contact.html = /contact/),
    My question would be: how to configure GA4 (since it will become the standard) so that it includes all the data that was in UA before the creation of the GA4 version by Google Site Kit? If this is not possible, can we turn off the GA4 version while we learn how it works and find all the data in the UA version and therefore in the Google Site Kit dashboard?
    Thanks for your help !

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    Hi @sophiaknows,

    Thanks for reaching out. When using Site Kit the plugin by default will insert both a Universal Analytics (UA) and a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) snippet on your site. Data is not split between these different property types, data is collected on both. It’s also suitable to collect data on both, so that when the time comes you have legacy data for the connected GA4 property (after UA stops processing).

    Note also that the data you see between the connected GA and UA property won’t always be like for like. If you’re comparing the Site Kit dashboards “All users” metric this comes from your UA property’s “Total Users” metric from analytics.google.com, where they highlight this simply as “Users“.

    If you then view your GA4 data from analytics.google.com the “Users” metric which is highlighted refers to “Active Users“, which can differ from the “Total Users” metric, depending on how frequently your users return to your website. To summarize, GA4 highlights your “Active Users” whereas UA highlights the “Total Users”. This may be where some confusion lies.

    When you mention you “have fewer page visits” Site Kit only inserts the snippets, so any queries regarding less site visits can be queries with the product experts over at the Analytics Help Center. This could also be due to your cookie policy.

    My question would be: how to configure GA4 (since it will become the standard) so that it includes all the data that was in UA before the creation of the GA4 version by Google Site Kit?

    Unfortunately data cannot be migrated from UA to GA4. That’s one of the reasons it’s useful to have a GA4 property alongside a UA property. I’ve checked your site and you have a UA and GA4 property tracking, so all looks good and as recommended with your set up. I did have to accept your cookie policy before Analytics tracking applied.

    If this is not possible, can we turn off the GA4 version while we learn how it works and find all the data in the UA version and therefore in the Google Site Kit dashboard?

    You can switch off GA4 by removing the Site Kit placed GA4 snippet if you wish. I don’t recommend this however, as a GA4 snippet does not impact a UA snippet, and you may wish to start collecting data before the sunset period for UA.

    Let me know if you have any questions with the above!

    Thread Starter sophiaknows

    (@sophiaknows)

    Hi @jamesosborne
    Thank you very much for these explanations, I understand that I have to leave GA4 active and I won’t have too many 6 months to learn ><
    I see better where the difference for users can come from. I’m going to have to explain to my boss that these numbers are more or less returning visitors, that’s the difference I’ve seen ??
    As for pages, I’ll dig deeper into GA4 and make sure there are no issues. Thanks again and have a nice day!

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by sophiaknows.
    Plugin Support James Osborne

    (@jamesosborne)

    That’s a good way to describe it returning visitors/active users! You can view the other metrics also from the GA4 dashboard, over at analytics.google.com.

    If you have any further queries be sure to get in touch. Best of luck!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
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