Good morning!
I haven’t sent an email for a while, but I’ve been thinking a lot about past and future clients and growing this little community so I can better look after you.
You may have received an email from Google about the sunset of Universal Analytics (UA) encouraging you to transition to Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible. UA is a free tool that supports visitor tracking, and I’ve been adding it to the sites I build for a while. If I added UA for you and you haven’t made changes, I recommend you start this process by installing the SiteKit WordPress plugin and integrating it with your Google account. Google’s tools require authorization steps, so this will be easiest for you to do on your own or for us to do together.
With that in mind, I want to invite you to a free water-cooler Zoom on Wednesday, January 18 between 1-3 PM PT. I’d love to say hi and show you how to transition your website to Google Analytics 4. If time allows, I’m also happy to answer any WordPress or design-related questions. We’ll also have special guest Amy Wright, Content Marketing Expert extraordinaire, stopping by! She knows much more about Google’s tools and SEO, so this will be a great time to pick her brain if you are interested in learning more about attracting visitors to your site.
An RSVP form is below. If you can’t make it, please check out the DIY How To’s. If you RSVP yes, I’ll send a Zoom meeting link in advance. Please bring your logins for your website’s WordPress backend and your Google account so we can walk through the setup in real-time. It will also be very helpful if you run all WordPress, plugin, and theme upgrades in advance.
I look forward to seeing you soon. In the meantime, please do take good care!
xo,
RSVP
Free Google Analytics 4 Water-Cooler Session
Wednesday, January 18, 2022 • 1-3 PM PT
I’ll send a Zoom meeting link in advance. Please bring your logins for your website’s WordPress backend and your Google account so we can walk through the setup in real-time. It will also be very helpful if you run all WordPress, plugin, and theme upgrades in advance (instructions on how to do this will be in your website’s training handbook).
DIY How To's
Update to Google Analytics 4
Please note: Google Analytics 4 is a new analytics platform with new data collection methodologies. The data should be close to what you see in Universal Analytics but will not be exactly the same. The steps below will not remove Universal Analytics from your website. Instead, they will add Google Analytics 4, which will run simultaneously, gathering data in the background until Google’s Site Kit plugin is ready to migrate officially. In the meantime, the Google Analytics 4 data will only be visible by logging directly into Google Analytics.
- Run all WordPress, plugin, and theme upgrades (instructions on how to do this will be in your website’s training handbook).
- Login to Google Analytics and see that you have an active account for your website. If not, follow Google’s steps to create an account. Alternatively, this can be something we schedule to do together.
- Go to your website’s WordPress backend > Plugins. Remove any old plugins used for Google Analytics integration (like Monster Insights) by hovering over a plugin and clicking Deactivate then Delete.
- Go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search “Google Analytics.”
- Next to the result titled “Site Kit by Google – Analytics, Search Console, AdSense, Speed” click “Install Now” then “Activate.”
- Go to the Site Kit panel and click “Connect Google Analytics as part of your set up” and the data sharing option if desired. Click “Sign in with Google.”
- Choose your Google account, select “Continue,” then select the blue buttons to proceed through the setup process.
- When you are directed back to the Site Kit panel, select the correct Account/Property/View (you will likely only have one option), then click “Configure.”
- Proceed with additional permissions, select your account again, and click “Continue.”
- Go to Site Kit > Settings to see that Search Console, Analytics, and Page Speed are connected. If not, this can be something we look into together.
- If your site has WP Rocket, go to Settings > WP Rocket > File Optimization. Under Excluded Javascript Files enter
/wp-content/plugins/google-site-kit/dist/assets/js/(.*).js - If your site uses a cookie consent plugin (like iubenda), we may need to look at alternate cookie consent approaches.
- Clear all site caches, including WP Rocket and Flywheel. (Instructions on cache clearing will be in your handbook.)
Google Analytics Settings
These are some simple configurations Amy Wright recommends, but feel free to customize to address your needs.
- In Google Analytics, select the new non-UA property from the top drop menu.
- Go to Admin > Data Streams (under Property) > select stream > turn all “enhanced measurement” options on (presuming it is legal for you to do so). This adds additional event tracking, like clicks, site search, etc.
- Go to Data Settings > Data Collection and turn on Google Signals to enable cross-device/platform tracking for signed-in Google users who have consented to ad personalization.
- Go to Data Settings > Data Retention and increase data retention to 14 months.