July 8, 2023

Where to find GA Universal Analytics (UA) options in GA4?

This is a ready reference for those exploring migration to GA 4 for their analytics. This blog shares a 1-on-1 mapping between options in GA UA and corresponding options in GA4.

NOTE: Not all GA-UA options are available in GA4. This blog is not a substitute for full-scale GA4 migration training. 

Use it for your analytics migration and share it with your colleagues or friends who might need it. 

GA – UA Options Available in GA4

Acquisition in GA – UA vs GA4

Acquisition Overview in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Acquisition > Overview

GA UA Acquisition Overview
GA UA Acquisition Overview

GA4: Reports > LifeCycle > Acquisition > Acquisition Overview

GA4 Acquisition Overview
GA4 Acquisition Overview
GA4 Acquisition Overview
GA4 Acquisition Overview

Channel-wise Traffic Acquisition in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels

GA UA – Channel-wise Traffic Acquisition
GA UA – Channel-wise Traffic Acquisition

GA4: Reports > LifeCycle > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition: Session default channel group

GA4 – Channel-wise Traffic Acquisition

Scroll down below these blocks to see a tabulated channel-wise (horizontal multi-fold) report which will contain the following fields of data.

  • Users
  • Sessions
  • Engaged sessions
  • Average engagement time per session
  • Engaged sessions per user
  • Events per session
  • Engagement rate
  • Event count
  • Conversions
  • Total revenue

Source/Medium Traffic in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Acquisition > All Traffic > Source/Medium

GA UA – Source Medium Traffic Acquisition
GA UA – Source Medium Traffic Acquisition

GA4: LifeCycle > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition: Session default channel group (Change Primary Dimension to Source/Medium)

GA4 – Source Medium Traffic Acquisition
GA4 – Source Medium Traffic Acquisition

Scroll right to see all fields of data.

  • Users
  • Sessions
  • Engaged sessions
  • Average engagement time per session
  • Engaged sessions per user
  • Events per session
  • Engagement rate
  • Event count
  • Conversions
  • Total revenue

Referral traffic

GA – UA: Acquisition > All Traffic > Referrals

GA UA – Referral Traffic Acquisition
GA UA – Referral Traffic Acquisition

GA4: Reports > LifeCycle > Acquisition > Acquisition Overview > Scroll to Sessions and Click “View traffic acquisition”

GA4 – Referral Traffic Acquisition
GA4 – Referral Traffic Acquisition
GA4 – Referral Traffic Acquisition

Search Console Integration with GA – UA and GA 4

The steps here are mostly the same across all categories. For a deeper understanding of GA integration with the search console, refer to this page.

All search console reports in GA4

GA4 – Search Console Integration
GA4 – Search Console Integration

No data is shown here as we don’t have search console visibility for this GA 4 demo account. Here are the full steps when you get data on this screen:

  1. Admin > Property > Product Links > Search Console Links
  2. Click Link
  3. Choose Search Console property
  4. Select and Click Next
  5. Select Web Stream
  6. Select and Click Next
  7. Review and submit
  8. Click Submit
  9. Reports > Library > Collections
  10. Publish Search Console

Landing pages in Search Console Data in GA – UA

GA – UA: Acquisition > Search Console > Landing Pages

GA UA – Search Console Landing Pages
GA UA – Search Console Landing Pages

Country-wise Search Console Report in GA – UA

GA – UA: Acquisition > Search Console > Countries

GA UA – Search Console Country-wise
GA UA – Search Console Country-wise

Device-wise Search Console Report in GA – UA

GA – UA: Acquisition > Search Console > Devices

GA UA – Search Console Device-wise
GA UA – Search Console Device-wise

Query-wise Search Console Report in GA – UA

GA – UA: Acquisition > Search Console > Queries

GA UA – Search Console Query-wise
GA UA – Search Console Query-wise

Behavior reports in GA – UA vs GA4

Behavior flow report in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Behaviour Flow

GA UA – Behavior Flow Report

GA4: Explore > (new) Path Exploration

GA4 – Search Console Device-wise

All page behavior reports in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Site Content > All Pages

GA UA – All Page Behavior Report
GA UA – All Page Behavior Report

GA4: Reports > Lifecycle > Engagement > Pages and Screens

GA4 – All Page Behavior Report
GA4 – All Page Behavior Report

Landing page-wise behavior reports in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Site Content > Landing Pages



GA UA Landing Page Behavior Report

GA UA Landing Page Behavior Report



GA4: Reports > Lifecycle > Engagement > Landing Page

GA4 Landing Page Behavior Report
GA4 Landing Page Behavior Report

Events-wise behavior reports in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Events > Overview

GA UA – Events-wise Behavior Report
GA UA – Events-wise Behavior Report

GA4: Reports > Lifecycle > Engagement > Conversions

GA4 – Events-wise Behavior Report
GA4 – Events-wise Behavior Report

Page-wise Events report in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Events > Pages

GA UA – Page-wise Events Report
GA UA – Page-wise Events Report

GA4: Behaviour > Events > Pages

Steps: Explore > Blank > Add  Dimensions (Hostname, Page Location) > Add metrics (event count, event count per user) > Add dimensions to rows > Add metrics to values

GA4 – Page-wise Events Report

Events flow report in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Behaviour > Events > Events Flow

GA UA – Events Flow Report


GA4: Behaviour > Events > Events Flow

The default version of the report: “Explore > Path Exploration” template

Conversion in GA – UA vs GA4

Conversion goals overview in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Conversion > Goals > Overview

GA UA – Conversion Goals Overview
GA UA – Conversion Goals Overview

GA4: Reports > Lifecycle > Engagement > Conversions

GA4 – Conversions Overview
GA4 – Conversions Overview

Conversion goal URLs in GA – UA vs GA4

GA – UA: Conversion > Goals > Goal URLs

GA UA – Conversion Goal URLs
GA UA – Conversion Goal URLs

GA4: Lifecycle > Engagement. > Conversions (Select Secondary dimension as page_location)

GA4 – Conversion Goal URLs
GA4 – Conversion Goal URLs
GA4 – Conversion Goal URLs
GA4 – Conversion Goal URLs

Reverse goal path in conversion goals

GA – UA: Conversion > Goals > Reverse Goal Path

GA UA – Reverse Conversion Goal Path

GA4: Conversion > Goals > Reverse Goal Path

Steps: Explore > Path explorer > Start Again > Select an event as an ending point > Click specific events for reverse path exploration

Here is a sample reverse path exploration for the “top spenders” event.

GA4 – Reverse Conversion Goal Path

Goals flow in conversions

GA – UA: Conversion > Goals > Goals Flow

GA UA – Conversion Goal Flow
GA UA – Conversion Goal Flow

GA4: Reports > Behaviour > Behaviour Flow

Steps: Explore > Path explorer > Start Again > Select an event as starting point > Click specific events for behavior flow (forward path exploration)

Here is a sample screenshot of (forward) path exploration for “add to cart” event to see how many people are adding item to cart but not completing the sale.

GA4 – Conversion Goal Flow

Multi-channel funnels

GA – UA: Conversion > Multi-channel funnels > Overview

GA UA – Multi-channel Funnels
GA UA – Multi-channel Funnels
GA UA – Multi-channel Funnels

GA4: Advertising > Attribution > Model Attribution

GA4 – Conversion Model Attribution

GA4: Advertising > Attribution > Conversion Paths

GA4 – Conversion Path Attribution

Cohort analysis

GA – UA: Audience > Cohort Analysis

GA UA – Cohort Analysis
GA UA – Cohort Analysis

GA4: Reports > Lifecycle > Retention

GA4 – Lifecycle Retention
GA4 – Lifecycle Retention

Demographics data with GA – UA and GA 4

Demographics (overview)

GA – UA: Audience > Demographics > Overview

GA UA – Demographics Overview

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview

GA4 – Demographics Overview
GA4 – Demographics Overview
GA4 – Demographics Overview
GA4 – Demographics Overview
GA4 – Demographics Overview

Demographics (age)

GA – UA: Audience > Demographics > Age

GA UA – Demographics Age
GA UA – Demographics Age

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Age Ranges

GA4 – Demographics Age
GA4 – Demographics Age

Demographics (gender)

GA – UA: Audience > Demographics > Gender

GA UA – Demographics Gender
GA UA – Demographics Gender

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Genders

GA4 – Demographics Gender
GA4 – Demographics Gender

Audience analysis with GA – UA and GA 4

Audience affinity

GA – UA: Audience > Interests > Affinity Categories

GA UA – Audience Affinity
GA UA – Audience Affinity

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Interests

GA4 – Audience Interests
GA4 – Audience Interests

Audience language

GA – UA: Audience > Geo > Language

GA UA – Audience Language
GA UA – Audience Language

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Languages

GA4 – Audience Language
GA4 – Audience Language

Audience location

GA – UA: Audience > Geo > Location

GA UA – Audience Location
GA UA – Audience Location

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Cities

GA4 – Audience Cities
GA4 – Audience Cities

GA4: Reports > User > User Details > Demographics > Overview > View Countries

GA4 – Audience Countries
GA4 – Audience Countries

Analysis of tech in GA – UA vs GA4

Browser & OS details

GA – UA: Audience > Technology > Browser & OS

GA UA – Browser and OS
GA UA – Page-wise Events Report

GA4: User > Tech > Details

GA4 – Browser and OS
GA4 – Browser and OS

Mobile overview

GA – UA: Audience > Mobile > Overview

GA UA – Mobile Overview
GA UA – Mobile Overview

GA4: User > Tech > Overview > View Platform Devices

GA4 – Mobile Overview
GA4 – Mobile Overview

GA4: User > Tech > Overview > View Device Categories

GA4 – Device Overview
GA4 – Device Overview

GA4: User > Tech > Overview > View Operating Systems

GA4 – OS Overview
GA4 – OS Overview

GA – UA Options Not Available in GA4

  • Acquisition
    • Treemaps (Acquisition > All Traffic > Treemaps)
    • Google Ads (Acquisition > Google Ads)
    • Socials (Overview, Network Referrals, Landing Pages, Conversions, Plugins, User Flows)
    • Campaigns
  • Behavior
    • Content Drilldown (Behaviour > Site Content > Content Drilldown)
    • Exit pages (Behaviour > Site Content > Exit Pages)
    • Site speed (Behaviour > Site Speed)
    • Site search (Behaviour > Site Search)
    • Publisher (Behaviour > Publisher)
    • Experiments (Behaviour > Experiments)
  • Conversion Goals
    • Funnel visualization (Conversion > Goals > Funnel Visualization)
    • Smart goals (Conversion > Goals > Smart Goals)
    • E-commerce (Conversion > E-Commerce)
  • Audience
    • Active users (Audience > Active Users)
    • Lifetime value (Audience > Lifetime Value)
    • Interests
      • Overview (Audience > Interests > Overview)
      • In-market segments (Audience > Interests > In-market segments)
      • Other categories (Audience > Interests > Other Categories)
    • Behavior
      • User id coverage (Audience > Behaviour > User-Id Coverage)
    • Technology
      • Network (Audience > Technology > Network)
    • Mobile
      • Devices report (Audience > Mobile > Devices)
      • Cross-device analysis (Audience > Cross Device)
    • Custom  (Audience > Custom)
    • Benchmarking (Audience > Benchmarking)

Contributors

Niranjan Bala profile pic
Author
Niranjan Bala
Tech Enabler for B2B SaaS

Niranjan Bala has ~4 years of experience in MarTech implementations, pure-play tech experience of  ~18 years, and a soaring track record of helping SaaS companies in efficient implementations of various tools and helping them strategically to achieve their goals.

Navin Israni profile pic
Co-author
Navin Israni
SEO Strategist & Content Editor

Navin has 14 years of cumulative writing experience and 5 years of dedicated experience as a freelance B2B SaaS Writer. At Spear Growth, Navin is responsible for maintaining the highest-possible content quality, managing the process of all long-form content initiatives, and creating SEO strategy for Spear Growth’s clients.

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