Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a data collection service that enables you to measure traffic and engagement across your band website. Accessing your site traffic reports through Google Analytics gives you detailed data on user behavior.

As of July 1, 2023, Google has made the change from Universal Analytics (UA) to Google Analytics 4. You can read more about Google Analytics and the reasons for this change here: Universal Analytics is going away

This Help article outlines how to set up, or re-connect, your Reports tab to draw stats from your new Google Analytics property. Check out our video, or see the steps below to update your Reports tab.

This Help article includes:

  • How to connect your Google Analytics 4 property to your Bandzoogle account
  • How to create a new Google Analytics 4 property in Google Analytics
  • How to convert your existing Universal Analytics property to Google Analytics 4
  • Exporting the data from your old Universal Analytics property
  • FAQs about Google Analytics 4

How to connect your GA4 Google Analytics property to your Bandzoogle account

To connect your Google Analytics property and record your site traffic data, follow these steps:

  1. In your Bandzoogle account, click on your ‘Reports’ tab
  2. In your ‘Reports’ tab, click ‘Settings’ in the list of options on the left
  3. Click ‘Sign in with Google’ You’ll be redirected to Google and prompted to log in to your Google account

In Google:

  1. Choose the Google account you wish to connect
  2. On the next screen, you’ll see ‘Sitezoogle wants to access your Google Account’ - click ‘Allow’ to continue
  3. You’ll be redirected back to your Bandzoogle ‘Reports’ tab with the following options:
  4. If you’ve already created your GA4 property in your Google Analytics account, you will see it listed here. Select the GA4 property from the listed Google Analytics properties and click ‘Save’
  5. If you haven’t created your GA4 property, or if you don’t want to use a profile listed, click ‘Add another profile’ and follow the steps in the next section

How to create a new GA4 property in Google Analytics

If you are creating a new Google Analytics 4 property, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your Google Analytics account, then click on the cog icon in the bottom left of your side panel
  2. In your ‘Admin’ options, click ‘Create Property’ at the top of the second column
  3. Enter a name for your property and adjust the reporting time zone and currency
  4. Click ‘Next’
  5. On the next screen, choose your ‘Business’ size (business can mean your band or music project size)
  6. For ‘How do you intend to use Google Analytics with your Business,’ choose from all that apply. The ‘Examine User Behavior’ choice is a great place to start
  7. On the ‘Start Collecting Data’ screen click ‘Skip for now’
  8. Click ‘Continue to Home’
  9. Next, head to your Bandzoogle ‘Reports’ settings tab and refresh the page
  10. Choose the profile you’d like to use and click ‘Save’

How to convert your existing Universal Analytics (UA) property to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

If you were using a Universal Analytics property to track site traffic data, you’ll need to update your existing Google Analytics property from UA to GA4 to start recording data going forward.

If you don’t create a new Google Analytics 4 property, Google will create one for you around July 1, 2023, and start recording data on that date.

Here are the steps you’ll need to follow to get this done:

  1. In your Google Analytics account, click on the cog icon in the bottom left of your side panel
  2. In the ‘Property’ column, select the UA property that you would like to update
  3. Click ‘GA4 Setup Assistant’ and follow the prompts to complete the setup
  4. Once complete, return to your Bandzoogle ‘Reports’ tab and click ‘Settings’ on the left
  5. Click the ‘Reset Connection’ button Click ‘Sign in with Google’ and select the Google account you’d like to connect, or login if prompted
  6. Click ‘Allow’ to grant Bandzoogle access to your Google site traffic data
  7. Select your GA4 property from the list and click ‘Save’

NOTE: It can take up to 48 hours for data to start showing in your Reports tab here, so you may need to give it some time before data begins to display.

Exporting the data from your old UA property

Google will not be migrating data from the old UA properties to GA4, which means the site traffic stats you gathered up to now will no longer show in your Reports tab here. Sales data collected before July 1st will still show however.

Google will be holding onto this data for 6 months as of July 1st, 2023. If you’d like to retain your data, we recommend that users export this data from your Google Analytics account.

Here’s how to export site traffic stats from your old UA property:

  1. In Google Analytics, open the report you'd like to export by selecting one of the data categories on the left of the screen. (For example to find visitor locations, click Audience > Geo > Location.)

    Note: Analytics exports the report as it is currently displayed on your screen, so make sure that you've applied your desired date range and report settings.

  2. Click ‘Export’ (across from the report title)
  3. Select one of the export formats:
    • CSV
    • TSV
    • TSV for Excel
    • Excel (XLSX)
    • Google Sheets
    • PDF

FAQs about Google Analytics 4

Wondering what has changed with Google Analytics 4, or need more help setting it up? Here are some answers on how this change relates to your website:

Why can’t I see my stats in my Bandzoogle ‘Reports’ tab before a certain date?

Google has decided to discontinue showing historical data for your website. This means your visitor information will not display prior to the date you set up Google Analytics 4, only the information going forward.

However, while we can’t show both Universal and GA4 information in your Reports tab at the same time, your older data is available in your Google Analytics account directly for at least the next 6 months.

If you’d like to access it, or save it for future reference, log into your Analytics account at https://analytics.google.com then next to the Analytics logo in the top left tap the 'property' dropdown.

You can then click the old 'UA-' property you had connected to your reports here before in your properties list, and you’ll be able to view that previous data there.

Can I still see my Sales / Fans information?

Because sales and fans data recorded through your website were tracked separately, those will continue to display back to the time of your first sale, even if you switch over to GA4.

I just updated / connected GA4 in my reports tab - why am I not seeing my stats?

Google collects data for your site stats in real time, but it does take them a little while to ‘compile’ that information to display in Analytics, and in your reports tab here. If you’ve connected your Google GA4 property, it usually takes Google 24-48 hours to compile all your new results, so you should see stats in your Reports tab soon.

I think I connected reports, but I don’t know if it’s working - can I test that?

You can test the connection by first navigating to a page or two on your website directly. Next, log into Analytics and click the ‘reports’ button, then select ‘realtime’.

'Realtime’ stats in Google will show visits within the last 30 minutes - so you should see your test visit listed here as a result within a minute or two after visiting your pages. If you see the visits there, then you’re connected.

Google used to have a 'search terms' option in Analytics. Can I see search terms in my Reports still?

Google no longer passes search term data like with their old Universal properties - however, this data is still available if you have set up your domain with Google 'Search Console'.

Log into Search Console at https://search.google.com/search-console. Click the 'Performance' option there, then scroll down and you'll see a list of 'queries' terms there, that were used in a Google result for your site.

I have my new GA4 connected to my reports tab in my site, but I really need to see 'plays' data from before I made the switch. How do I do that?

To access the plays information prior to your change over to GA4 here, log into Google analytics at https://analytics.google.com, switch to view your old UA property, then in the property stats click ‘Behaviour’ > Events > Top Events.

You will see links to view full, partial, skips, previews, downloads. If you click the event action there you'll be able to view the specific data for each track on your site.

How do I see 'location' data from before I made the switch to GA4?

To access the plays information prior to your change over to GA4 here, log into Google analytics at https://analytics.google.com, switch to view your old UA property, then in the property stats click ‘Audience’ > Geo > Location.

You will see links to view Country, City, Continent etc. there. If you click the event action there you'll be able to view the specific location data for your visitors.