Is your practice ready for the Google Analytics GA4 migration in 2023?

Chiropractic clinics that have not already converted to Google Analytics 4 are lagging behind when it comes to marketing and the GA4 migration

The recommended deadline for setting up for Google Analytics 4 (GA4) was July of 2022. If you haven’t set up already, or made the GA4 migration, your clinic is behind the eight ball, so to speak, in terms of tracking website performance and measuring the impact of your digital marketing.

“We think switching on GA4 in summer 2022 is the most logical timeframe for all businesses who rely on monitoring website traffic, conversions and user behavior,” writes the search company Varn. “This will mean that you will have year-on-year data available when Universal Analytics [UA, or the currently active Google Analytics platform] gets switched off the following summer. Setting up Google Analytics 4 in July 2022 will mean that you can run both UA and GA4 in parallel for a year while you get trained-up on how to use the new platform and move your regular reporting to GA4.”

On July 1, 2023, UA will stop receiving data. You will be able to access your old UA data, but no new data will be added. This is when GA4 will be your only analytics platform for Google, and when you will need to have GA4 fully configured.

“For those who are still only just learning about the GA4 July 2023 deadline and haven’t set up their new Google Analytics 4 properties yet, the time to act is now,” write Benoit Weber, head of analytics for InMarketingWeTrust.com. “Even though there still appears to be plenty of time left, migrating to GA4 now will enable you to build up data for key metrics, so that historical data is there when you need to refer to it in your GA4 property.”

On Jan. 1, 2024, UA properties and data will be deleted. By this time, you will have had to make the GA4 migration by exporting your clinic’s historic data from your account. Not sure how to do that? Read on for services to your chiropractic clinic, even if you’re behind the eight ball on updating your Google Analytics, to make the GA4 migration and best utilize your data and preserve your historical digital marketing data.

What is Google Analytics 4?

With the current Google Universal Analytics, you learn how many repeat and unique visitors came to your website, their geographic location, how long a time they spent on your pages and more. GA4 is an updated version supplying even more data — data you can use to better understand whether your marketing campaigns are working.

This data can also tell you if the people interacting with you online are fully engaging with your chiropractic practice, campaigns, blogs, etc.

GA4 migration offers more enhanced data

One of the major differences between GA4 and Universal Analytics is that GA4 provides more data ¾ much more. For instance, GA4 includes data collected from both your website and app, if you have one.

This provides more insight into the customer journey, such as whether they may start with your website, then transition to the app or vice versa. It also gives you a better big-picture view of how people are interacting online with your practice.

To assist with this process, GA4 utilizes both machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). This creates the ability to provide more predictive analytics based on what others have done in the past.

Providing events-based analytics

Another difference is that while Universal Analytics provided session-based data, GA4 gives you event-based data. Events are sequences of actions that someone may take when visiting your online pages. Some events are collected automatically by Google, and you can customize others based on what you want to know.

One event that would tell you more about conversion would involve collecting data on how many people come to your website, load the services page, then click a link to schedule an appointment. If you sell dietary supplements, topicals or other types of products, another event might involve noting when a website visitor loads the products page, clicks on a product link, then completes a purchase.

Improved reports

Universal Analytics offered many different reports, each one providing different information about your site’s visitors and their level of engagement. After the GA4 migration, these new reports will give you even more data. Information you can collect with GA4 reports includes:

• top-selling products
• top events
• how new users get to your site (expanded data)
• activity trends on your site (expanded data)
• site visitor detention rate (expanded data)
• which pages on your site get the most views (expanded data)

Life cycle analytics

With GA4, you can also separate the data based on the stage that the person interacting with your site (and app) is in:

• For those in the acquisition phase, you can learn how many sessions were a result of Google Ads campaigns, and the visitor’s lifetime value.
• For those in the engagement phase, you can see data related to events, conversions and which pages they visit most. For the latter, it will tell you how many new users visited each page, the number of views per user and the amount of time they spent engaging.

Monetization data includes purchases your site’s visitors have made online, including the items they’ve viewed and added to their carts. If you have an app that enables e-commerce purchases, this data is provided too. You can also view data related to publisher ads, which includes revenue from ads in mobile apps.

Retention data is separated by new and returning users, cohort (which involves the number of people who return to your site each day) and lifetime value.

If you’ve not yet transitioned to GA4

For those still using Universal Analytics, you can continue to do so until July 1, 2023. However, the longer you wait to make the GA4 migration, the less comparative data you will have to work with on the new platform, and this analytics service won’t work after that date, making the transition to GA4 critical if you want access to enough data on the new platform.

“More custom configuration is required,” Varn writes. “However, Google Analytics 4 is the future of website analytics, so it is important not to be caught by surprise or left behind.”

For more information on making sure your data is protected and your analytics program is structured for data continuity, cookie-less measurement, behavioral and conversion modeling and minimizing your data loss, check with the health care analytics experts at Wellness Pro Media Solutions: email info@wellnesspromediasolutions.com or go to wellnesspromediasolutions.com.

CHRISTINA DEBUSK is a freelance writer who specializes in content related to natural health and wellness, personal development and small-business marketing. She can be contacted through ChristinaMDeBusk.com.