Google is currently rolling out a conversion migration tool that will help you achieve your existing goals from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. You can access this in your GA4 settings screen under the Setup Assistant tab under the Conversions section.
How it works. The Goal Migration Tool allows you to quickly re-create eligible goals from your connected Universal Analytics property as conversion events in your Google Analytics 4 property. I personally don’t see it yet, but I suspect I’ll see the import tool soon. Charles Farina posted screenshots of his surgery on Twitter:
This is what it looks like. It’s all about capturing targets from the whole linked property (so all your views, even staging/sandbox views) so you have to be very careful when using it. pic.twitter.com/RqsAPLegKU
— Charles Farina (@CharlesFarina) April 15, 2022
tool operation.
For each eligible Universal Analytics target you select, the target migration tool will automatically do the following in your connected Google Analytics 4 property:
Universal Analytics properties can have different types of purpose properties. These two types of targets can be migrated with the tool:
- target target: When a user lands on a specific page, e.g. B. a thank you or confirmation page
- goal of the event: When a user triggers a specific event, e.g. B. a social recommendation, a video playback or a click on an ad
The following types of goals cannot be migrated automatically and will not be shown in the tool: Pages/Screens per Session Goals Persistent goals Smart goals and any goals that use regular expressions.
You can create up to 30 custom conversion events per standard Google Analytics 4 property.
How to use it: To use the Lens migration tool, you need the Publisher role in your account.
A confirmation message will appear in the bottom left of your screen when your selected goals have been successfully recreated as conversion events in your Google Analytics 4 property.
For more information about this import tool, see this help document.
Why we care. You can use this tool to potentially save time without having to set your goals from scratch in GA4. However, read the help document carefully to see what this tool does and doesn’t import.
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About the author
Barry Schwartz is the editor of Search Engine Land and a member of the SMX events programming team. He owns RustyBrick, a New York-based web consulting firm. He also leads the Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be tracked on Twitter here.