Flatlined?

Hi @deeveearr,

Thanks for getting in touch. The figures you see within Site Kit are pulled directly from users Search Console and Analytics accounts, so the figures should be similar. When you mention the figures have flatlined after switching to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), do you mean your Analytics traffic has dropped?

I ask as switching Google Analytics properties shouldn’t impact Search Console rankings, with this is a different service to Google Analytics. If you want to share a recording of what you’re seeing, in particular if you’re seeing a different in what Site Kit is displaying to what you’re seeing from Search Console or Analytics. You can use the product click through links to check for the same statistics. You can use this form to share a recording privately if preferred, while using a service such as Loom or RecordIt to create a recording.

Note also that the data you view for Analytics within Site Kit refers to the connected Universal Type (UA) property, and not the connected GA4 property. This could be why you’re not seeing any traffic on the Site Kit dashboard (if you’ve chosen to not use Site Kit to insert a UA snippet).

Once we have a recording of what you’re viewing, or some additional insights, we can troubleshoot this further.

Hi @jamesosborne

Google really ought to get their forms updated, as it’s the same instance that is used by scammers, which is why I refuse to fill one in.

From your message above, it would seem that Site Kit is not compatible yet with GA4 – is that correct?

What happens when I start to delete all of my UA accounts – one of which is a Domain Account.

Will that affect my figures?

Anyway, a couple of screenshots to prove my original point:

This First One shows the flatline effect.

This second one looks quite normal until you realise that the ‘unique visitors from search’ has dropped 45%

The point is that Google should be encouraging users to upgrade to GA4 as UA is being sunsetted in a couple of months – yet Site Kit and indeed Google itself seems to be going against any encouragement.

Hi @deeveearr,

Sorry to hear you’re not comfortable using the form. I appreciate your position.

With regards your query on Site Kit with GA4, we will be switching over to showing GA4 data within the Site Kit dashboards before the Universal Analytics (UA) sunset period. At present Site Kit can place a GA4 snippet on your site, as it does a UA snippet. To view GA4 data you will need to view from analytics.google.com at present.

What happens when I start to delete all of my UA accounts – one of which is a Domain Account.

Great question! I would suggest placing both a UA and a GA4 snippet on these sites. That way, when the time comes, you’ll have some legacy data when you migrate in full to GA4. Both property types do differ, so the sooner you start collecting GA4 data the better.

I also took a look at your screenshots, many thanks for sharing. You are correct, your UA traffic did drop. This is likely due to no UA snippet placed on your site, and only GA4 data being collected. You can ensure both snippets appear if you wish to collect data for both.

The point is that Google should be encouraging users to upgrade to GA4 as UA is being sunsetted in a couple of months – yet Site Kit and indeed Google itself seems to be going against any encouragement.

This is true, and we have been planning for for a while. As many users remain using UA, without having migrated, we have a notice placed within the plugin and a requirement to configure both a UA and a GA4 snippet on users sites when connecting the Analytics module within Site Kit. I’ll also pass on your very valid feedback.

We have more information on how Site Kit works with a GA4 snippet over on the plugin website. Let me know if you have any more questions on this. I’m also happy to check that your site is recording both UA and GA4 traffic if you wish (should you enable both within Site Kit). For that I need to know your site URL.

Hi @jamesosborne

According to the Analytics settings within Site kit, it now says that:

Universal Analytics Code Snippet
Snippet is not inserted

Whereas a few days/weeks ago the UA snippet WAS inserted.

Looks like Site Kit is prioritising GA4 snippets, even though it doesn’t recognise them yet.

**Edit**

Ah, so you add it within the Site Kit Settings, yes?

I’ve just re-activated the UA settings within Site Kit so we’ll see how it goes.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by deeveearr.

That’s correct @deeveearr, you add it within the Site Kit settings. Apologies for not making that clearer.

With regards prioritizing GA4 over UA, it’s advisable for the moment to allow Site Kit to insert both a UA and a GA4 snippet, so you’re ready for when your UA snippet will no longer collect data. Site Kit will display data based on the connected GA4 property in advance of that time.

I’ve just re-activated the UA settings within Site Kit so we’ll see how it goes.

Great! I can keep this support topic open and check back with you later if you wish, to ensure that data on the connected UA property is reporting.

Ok @jamesosborne so I’ve been checking my new statistics and they now appear to be working fine.

However I’ve still had to ‘Rollback’ Site-Kit to version 1.90.1 as it’s playing havoc with my version of Analytics Insights with the latest version.

This has been mentioned in another thread (I remember as I posted in it) so a fix for that issue would be much appreciated.

Glad to hear that your traffic is not reporting based on the UA snippet being active once more @deeveearr. Thanks for the update.

However I’ve still had to ‘Rollback’ Site-Kit to version 1.90.1 as it’s playing havoc with my version of Analytics Insights with the latest version.

If you’d like to share more details on this I’d be happy to assist where possible. If this is only on the Analytics platform, and not within the main Site Kit dashboard, the product experts over at the Analytics Help Center should be able to assist further on this.

No, I’m referring to the ‘Analytics Insights’ plugin, which I just use for reporting purposes in my dashboard, as this plugin also has a front-end widget so that my customers can view.

When the latest version of Site Kit (used for tracking) is activated, it wipes out Analytics Insights’ weekly views until I ‘rollback’ Site Kit to version 1.90.1 where they both play nicely together.

Appreciate the update @deeveearr! That unfortunately is a known conflict, with both plugins requesting Google Library scripts on the main WordPress dashboard.

We’re discussing this with the team at present, to investigate different options. I’ll take a look at that particular conflict you mentioned and report back to you here.

@deeveearr Thanks for your patience on this. Just to let you know that we’ll have a fix out for this with the next version of Site Kit, due early next week. At that stage you won’t encounter any such conflict, with more details on this on the related GitHub issue. Thanks for reporting this also.

I’ll keep this support topic open until the release is out, at which point we can notify you. Have a great weekend.

@deeveearr just to let you know that version 1.93.0 of Site Kit has now been released which should contain a fix for your issue. please update and let us know if you have any issues.

Thanks @adamdunnage I updated to the latest version, and it seems to work properly again (until the next update?)

Unfortunately, I’ve now switched over to Monster Insights for my analytics figures, at least until UA is sunsetted in June, so that no more errors or flatlining occurs.