This article applies to REC+ users who use Google Analytics to track their website metrics. 

If you do not use Google Analytics then you do not need to take any action.


On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will stop processing new hits and you will need to move to Google Analytics 4, their next-generation measurement solution to record your website metrics.  Read more from Google


UPDATED: JUNE 2023

Please review your site set up to ensure all latest changes have been applied such as Data Retention, Google Signals, & Reporting changes via your REC+ admin area. 



Until July 1, 2023, you can continue to use and collect new data in your existing Universal Analytics properties.


After July 1, 2023, you'll be able to access your previously processed data in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months. Google strongly encourage you to export your historical reports during this time.


Google Setup Assistant & Updating REC+ 

If you haven't already created a new Google Analytics 4 property before early 2023, the Google Setup Assistant will create one for you, but you will still need to enter GA4 details into REC+

For ecommerce sites there are additional steps needed for REC+ as we send some data such as conversions and download events to GA directly through their API. 

Want Us To Do It For You?
If you prefer us to set this up or need any help then please raise a support ticket with us quoting GA4 upgrade. You will need to have access to your GA account login. The charge is £95+VAT. 


Setup Process Part 1 - all sites


Locate the existing UA profile in your GA Admin account. 


Under the property, click GA4 Setup Assistant > I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property > “Get Started”. 



Click “Create and continue”.



That’s then created the new account, and to continue setup click “Go to your GA4 property”. 


This will take you to the GA4 property, which you will need to add to your REC+ website to start sending its own events directly to GA4. 


To do this, in GA Admin for the new GA4 property, click Data Streams. 




On the next screen it will list a single Data Stream, click this and a modal window should appear: 


Find and copy the Measurement ID:


Go to your REC+ website Admin > Connect > SEO / Analytics > Google Analytics v4 > “Measurement ID” and paste in the Measurement ID from GA4


Save & then at this point, the website will now send page views and other on page events to Google Analytics v4. 


REC+ Admin Reporting

In order to have your REC+ site show reporting data, such as on the Dashboard, Pages and Report Builder, you’ll need to have the site connected to Google Analytics via your account. 

Click the Connect with Google Analytics button in Admin > Connect > SEO / Analytics. 

You need to connect it to a Google account who has admin access over the GA4 account. 

Next, you’ll need to fill in the GA4 Property ID which is under the Measurement ID you filled in above. 

You can find this in Google Analytics > Admin > Property > Property Settings > PROPERTY ID (shown in the top right)


Part 1 is now complete.


Setup Process Part 2 - ecommerce & events tracking


This step is for ecommerce sites recording conversions or CMS sites which track form completions and download data events which the website sends to Google via their Measurement Protocol API. If this does not apply to you skip to Part 3.


We will now set up the Measurement Protocol API that makes this extra tracking work.


Go to your GA4 account > Data Streams > modal window appears.


Click the Measurement Protocol API secrets. 




The first time you load this you’ll need to click to “Review terms” from Google. 





Click “I acknowledge” on the terms popup and then you need to create the API secret. 


To the top right, click the white Create button. 


It will prompt for a nickname, enter “Website”. 


Then click Create again to the top right to submit the nickname. This will then reveal the Secret value:



Copy the secret value and paste it in REC+ Admin > Connect > SEO/Analytics > Measurement Protocol API Secret then save. 


At this point, all events and conversions are now hooked up for GA4. If you are not an ecommerce site you can skip to Part 3.


Stop Tracking 'Referrals' From Payment Processors


For ecommerce sites only, you need to tell Google not to record a few traffic sources as “referrals” such as payment processors who send users back from payment screens to the thanks page. 


Return to Google Analytics > Data Streams details modal and click to “Configure tag settings”. 



Reveal the full settings list which can be done by clicking “Show all”. 



A new option for “List unwanted referrals” should now appear. 




Add in each of the following payment processor sites as individual conditions, where in use. 

Click “Add condition” after each one.

  • checkout.stripe.com

  • paypal.com

  • checkout.sagepay.com 

  • klarna

  • any other payment processors listed in your Analytics account > Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals



Save and close each of the modals and return to the Setup Assistant page. 


You can now mark the “Collect website and app data” step as complete. 



It will likely show as green but with text of “DATA NOT FLOWING” at first but after a while this will update. You’ll need to check back on this later to make sure it shows 'DATA FLOWING"


Data Retention

We next want to tell Google to keep detailed data for 14 months rather than the default 2 months. Primary & secondary aggregate reports are unaffected but this applies to user level data and details when exploring through deeper into reports. 


In the Admin > Property > Data Settings > Data Retention > change the Event data retention from the default 2 months to the max of 14 months:



Google Signals


With Google Signals they can use a variety of factors to better detect the same users across multiple browsers and devices, tying their flow together better in analytics and improves Ads performance. 


Back in Admin > Property > Data Settings > Data Collection > Google signals data collection > click “Get started”. 

On the next screen it gives a little info about Google Signals, click “Continue”. 

It then shows further details about  how this affects user data and sharing. If you’re happy with this, click to “Activate”. (screenshots below)

Then go back to the Setup assistant and mark the Google signals step as Complete. 




If you are not running Google Ads then you have finished the setup.



Setup Process Part 3 - connect GA4 to Google Ads


Next, you need to connect the new GA4 account to Google Ads if you are running paid ad campaigns.


In GA4 Setup Assistant you’ll find a “Link to Google Ads” option:



Click the arrow on the right and select “Import from Universal Analytics”. 

It will list the account currently connected for you to confirm. 


The best way to check here is to have Google Ads open as well and check that the “Google Ads Account ID” shown is the same as the one you have for them in Google Ads. This also ensures you have the right Google Ads page open as you’ll need to set up conversions here next. 


If you’re happy the IDs match, click “Import selected Ads links” to the top right.


 

Then click Import on the following confirmation popup. 

The modal will close and initially it may show the Link to Google Ads is still “not connected” but if you reload the page it should then show as “1 ADS LINK”. 


You now need to add the conversions directly in Google Ads. 


Inside Google Ads, navigate to the account for the site you’re on and click Tools and Settings > Measurement > Conversions. 


You’ll find there’s a single purchase conversion action set currently, similar to this:



Add GA4 as a new one, Google will filter these so they don’t duplicate though. 


Click to add a “+ New conversion action”: 



Then click to Import data from Google Analytics:


Select GA4 web data to be imported:

Click Continue.


Tick to import the purchase events as the conversions then click to Import and continue:



If no purchase event shows, do a quick hard refresh in Google Ads as that can resolve it.
(Hard refresh: ctrl+shift+r or in another window or try again after an hour)


It will then confirm this has been done and that as the site will now use both UA conversion and GA4 conversions, the GA4 one will be marked as secondary for now. 

It also prompts to say to try this for 2 weeks and if everything works to switch to have GA4 as the primary source instead. Once that’s working you can remove the old one entirely to ensure nothing is doubled up. 


After a few more days, check that orders coming in are getting the correct traffic sources in UA compared to GA4. The previous “DATA NOT FLOWING” under Data Collection should now show as “DATA FLOWING”.



Setup Process Part 4 - make GA4 the primary source in Google Ads


At the same time check that Ads data also looks correct and if the counts of conversions match, then switch the GA4 conversion in Ads to be the Primary, and set the old UA one to be the secondary via:


Ads > Tools & Settings > Conversions > click the conversion to edit > edit settings > Goal and action optimization > save > done.



Everything is now set up and data should be flowing correctly and recording conversions.


Note: 'Not Connected' / Dashboard Stats
The REC+ Admin dashboard, Report Builder and page stats in Page Manager will use the original UA data up until it switches in July to GA4. For new REC+ sites using GA4 accounts, the data will not show in the Dashboard nor show as connected until a further release is made closer to the July switchover. You can still access the metrics available in Analytics.