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Upgrading to Google Analytics 4

Posted on by Stephen

Do you need help upgrading to Google Analytics 4? Contact me.

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4 is necessary for most of us. Google will stop processing data through Universal Analytics (Google Analytics 3) and has been sending email reminders to anyone using UA to upgrade to Google Analytics 4. UA will be replaced by GA4 on July 1, 2023 (less than a month from now). The shock to many is that UA data does NOT import into the new GA4 system. You will only be able to access your old UA dashboard for about 6 months after July 1, 2023 and then some time after December 2023, your UA data will be deleted! I’m here to remind you, and you have options.

If you decide to do it yourself, here is “a how to” from a web designer. There are several ways to do this, I’m showing the approach that works for small businesses needing simple analytics to track their website traffic.

Exporting Universal Analytics

The good news is that you can export and backup data from Universal Analytics, but the bad news is you can’t import it into Google Analytics 4. All instructions are best applied while on a desktop.

  1. To export UA data, start in the main UA dashboard. Click on Behavior > Site Content > All Pages in the left column.
  2. Change the Data Range in the upper right and corner to fit your needs, I suggest selecting the current year to have data for that year, then repeat this procedure to create a report for each of the preceding years.
  3. Scroll to the bottom of this data and choose the amount of Rows you want in the report.
  4. Now choose Export in the upper right hand corner, and the type of export. I’ll suggest Google Sheets, Excel, or CSV because you can clean up and modify the spreadsheet.
  5. There is so much more you can do customizing reports, there are several experts on Google Analytics you can refer to. I like Loves Data.

GA4 Migration and Setup

If you are still using Universal Analytics in June, 2023, you have less than a month to migrate to Google Analytics 4. Universal Analytics stops collecting data July 1, 2023. When going to Google Analytics, while in Universal Analytics, you will see a count down to the time remaining that UA collects data. You will have the option of “Go to setup assistant“, accepting the auto install of GA4 by clicking the button, or choosing “no thanks“. Either choice is fine, but I get far more articles I’ve read saying it is better to set it up yourself, so choose “no thanks“. The biggest reason I can come up confirming why so many articles suggest setting it up yourself is the auto setup uses your old Universal Analytics tag (script) on your website which has been known to cause problems loosing or reading certain kinds of data. One may never notice the problems, but I’m taking the advice from the experts. You want to have a new GA4 tag (script) on your site. Even better, you want to use Google Tag Manager to implement your tracking tag.

Using the Set Up Assistant

There are two ways to set up GA4. First, lets do this using the GA4 Set Up Assistant. Start in Universal Analytics. You know you are in Universal Analytics when there are 3 columns (GA4 has two).

  • Click on GA4 set up assistant in the top middle column.
  • Click on the Get Started button to create a new GA4 property.
  • Uncheck the “enable data collection...” button so that you have a new (and better) tag on your website. Whether you keep or remove the old UA tag on your website has no importance because data collection stops July 1st, 2023.
  • Click “create and continue“.
  • Select install manually and copy your new GA4 Google Tag (script).
  • Place this tag in all of your pages on your website in the <head> similarly as you did for Universal Analytics. Now, or after July 1, 2023, you can remove your old UA tag on your website pages.
  • While still looking at the Tag code in Google Analytics, click the “confirm” button in the upper right hand corner.
  • Then, click “Go to your GA4 property“, this takes you to the GA4 area of Google Analytics.
  • Select “Data Streams”. If you just have a website, you will see your one website data stream.
  • This completes the GA4 set up process using the assistant.

GA4 Setup Using the Google Tag Manager

  • While in your GA4 property, select the “data streams” tab in the second column.
  • Select the data stream that was created for us.
  • Copy the “measurement id“.
  • Go to Google Tag Manager (essentially a different site)
  • Click on “Tags” on the left
  • You will probably see a Universal Analytics tag. Whether you do or not, you will be creating a new tag. Click on the “new tag” button on the top right.
  • Name it “GA4 Tag” or whatever you plan on tracking.
  • Select “Tag Configuration“.
  • Choose “GA4 configuration” as the tag type.
  • Paste the measurement id we copied from our data stream in Google Analytics.
  • Select “Triggering” and choose the “initialization – all pages” trigger. this will fire the tag on all the pages of our website (as long as the new GA4 script successfully embeds on the website).
  • Save the tag.
  • You can “Preview” the tag to make sure all pages are firing on the the website.
  • Click “Submit“.
  • Give your update a name and click “Publish” changes.

GA4 Wrap Up and Clean Up

  • Head back to Google Analytics in the GA4 property.
  • In the data stream, look at enhanced measurement. This area has options worth researching and apply to the data stream. For example, select the configuration icon (the gear) in enhanced measurements. Enable features that apply to your tracking needs.
  • Save your enhanced measurements.
  • Go back to the set up assistant, and look through the Property Settings. This is another area that you could research and choose the settings that you need.
  • There is also an area to set up your connection to Google Ads.
  • There are so many options for customization and set up of GA4, that I recommend going to someone like Loves Data for a GA4 checklist.

Cleaning up the setup of GA4

  • Head back to Universal Analytics.
  • In the GA4 Setup Assistant, deselect “automatically set up a basic GA4 property“.
  • Head forward to GA4. In order to get the alert to be removed saying the setup is not complete (0/7 marked complete), mark all the items in the setup assistant as complete. Click the arrow of an item and mark as complete. Once you have marked all items complete, update warnings will be removed.

Conclusions about the separate GA4 Property

As we’ve mentioned Google can set up a GA4 property automatically for you, but most of my research from data experts says not to. You do not want to connect your new GA4 property with your old Universal Analytics tag. Google may have already created a GA4 property for you and connected it to your old UA tag. You may want to remove it, and start fresh. But, if you just look at page views and basic information from your data, the automatic setup Google does is fine. Most important is to know that these two options exist and to choose the best option for you and your business.

7 Search Engine Optimization Tasks for Small Websites

Posted on by Stephen

My current web design client Eleanor Bell, PhD came to me recently asking if I did Search Engine Optimization. Eleanor is a life coach specializing in internal family Systems and Hakomi. Eleanor mentioned that her site was not appearing when searching for her main coaching approach – internal family systems.

For large companies, SEO is a tedious, highly complex discipline, but sole proprietor and small business websites just need about 10 completed tasks to get 90% of their SEO goals accomplished. Depending on your business type these 10 tasks are slightly different. For example, if you your personality is a big part of your service, having a video bio of you is important. Eleanor has not done this yet, and we are in discussion, about creating one. Other businesses may not need a video.

Here are those 7 tasks:

  • Great content containing your relevant keywords. While writing the content for you pages or blog, think of what people are searching for in relation to your services. In Eleanor’s case, she knows people are searching for internal family systems therapy. The content she writes should highlight that keyword term in the titles and paragraphs of her pages and blog. How do you know what people are searching related to your business? Simply type in Google’s search bar and wait for suggestions. These suggestions will also be the most highly searched terms. Take it one step further by using Google Trends and research the volume these terms are being searched. For your most important keyword phrases, make a page or blog entry dedicated to that keyword phrase.
  • Have external sites link to your site using your relevant keywords. Link internally from page to page those important keywords. It’s easy to link out to external websites and think that helps your SEO, but it does not, because Google and other search engines know that can be misused. Instead, find colleagues with similar businesses as you to write about you, and link to you. Even though I do not do coaching, it is still a big plus for Eleanor’s business for me to link to her using her most important coaching term internal family systems therapy. Although, this too short not be overdone, because the all knowing search engines may see this as artificially manipulated. Less effective, but still a good supplemental strategy is to link from one page to another within your site. In the case of Eleanor’s site, she may mention Hakomi on the home page. To link Hakomi to an internal page that talks more about Hakomi helps the reader better understand the term, and slightly improves SEO.
  • Link these Google services to your site. You need to have a site map cataloged in the Google search engines. To best do that, if you don’t have a gmail email, get one. This is your easiest gateway to signing up with Google Console. Next create your Google Analytics account and put the provided code in to your website to track visitors. Finally, create a Google My Business account, and create a profile. This will be yet another way for people to find your website. There are many tutorials on how to do these three tasks.
  • Take out an ad in print or online. In the beginning of having a website for your new business, you are not getting much traffic, if any. Traffic to your site boosts your SEO. To give the visits to your site a little kick, try taking an ad out on Google, or your social media platform of choice, or newspaper or magazine relevant to your business or location.
  • Create a bio video. Creating a video is essentially is a pitch for you and your business. For many businesses, people like to see how you look and hear how you talk. Especially, if you are a big part of the service. Even though this article has been referencing many Google products, I’m not an affiliate of any. These free Google products simply help you with your business, not just SEO. From my research, Google rewards your business with good search results when you use YouTube and link it to your site. So, to complete the video making process, start a YouTube Channel, and upload the video to that channel. Who knows, you may like doing it so much, you might start creating others.
  • Start a blog to encourage dynamic content. I was skeptical of this tactic because I was often judging the short term effects. But, for my clients like CBT Westport, their blog has increased their visitors 5 fold! They consistently wrote an article twice a month. In two years, their 20 visits a day went up to 100 a day! I only recommend starting a blog if you like to write. Those my clients who did not like to write, may have started a blog, but they didn’t follow through and consistently write.
  • Write custom title tags, page urls, and image alt tags. Title tags are what you see when you hover over the browser tab for your site. Your page urls are the few words that follow the forward slash after your domain name. And, your image alt tags are the descriptions of your images for accessibility. These is the one time you are entering content that most people will not notice, but the search engines do. Especially your title tags. Make sure those do not just say “home” or “about”. They should contain those crucial keywords that people are searching.

Search Engine Optimization is not a one size fits all discipline. But, if you start with these 7 tasks, with you do it, or hire someone, it will be the foundation for you getting successful search engine results.

2023 Rebranding of Schildbach Design

Posted on by Stephen

At this time, Schildbach Design is a sole proprietorship. I, Stephen Schildbach, own and operate Schildbach Design. I do almost all the branding and marketing, and only outsource if I’m over booked or my client needs a skill I can’t provide. Those revisiting the site, you probably noticed a completely new design.

Schildbach Design’s Business Identity from 2015-2022

Rebranding my own business in 2023 had a couple of core reasons:

These are arguably more serious times, with our society going through many layers of change during what is hopefully the tail end to COVID. In my personal life, I enjoy iconoclastic imagery, but it hasn’t felt right these past couple of years for my business to project that personality. I also have a serious side, and have decided to match the present times and send out a more serious mood in my branding.

My new logo is clear and direct, yet still shows my love for unique design

The other reason for my rebranding is people want clarity. In the last decade, websites, and even businesses, could be design and art experiences in and of themselves with no clear portfolios or branding message. This was attractive to a certain client, but now, because of the increased instability in our day to day lives, this kind of elusive branding seems to confuse and turn off clients. More than ever we are image-saturated and time-deficient. People increasingly want clarity, with a “show me the work” attitude.

Client Showcase: Keith B. Wong Orthodontist

Posted on by Stephen

Dr. Keith B. Wong is a leading orthodontist in Seattle, WA for children and adults. One of the main technologies he and his team uses is Invisalign. Although, his practice covers all major orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics.

Schildbach Design has worked with Dr. Keith B. Wong on most of their branding and marketing since 2010. Projects span from WordPress web design to office environmental graphics.

Keith B. Wong

The largest quantity and most diverse of projects Schildbach Design has done for any client is Dr. Keith B. Wong.

  • Logo Design
  • WordPress Web Design
  • Web Development
  • Facebook and Instagram Marketing
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Graphic Design for Print, Digital, and Animated Environmental Ads
  • Environmental Graphics
  • Print Collateral Graphic Design: Business Cards, Holiday Cards, Thank You Cards, Catalogs, Brochures, Appointment Card, Referral Pads, Exam Packet
  • Graphic Design for Sandwich Boards and Halloween Candy Buyback Posters
  • Photo retouching
  • Graphic Design for T-Shirts and Bags

WordPress 6.1 in 2023

Posted on by Stephen

More than ever before, I would recommend WordPress as your platform of choice for most website solutions. As we all know, new technologies are continually rendering old technologies obsolete. For several years there was a time when I was thinking Squarespace would put WordPress out of business. I was concerned about Squarespace’s popularity because, as a designer, Squarespace takes all the design choices out of the equation, making the work nothing but sliding boxes around on the screen. WordPress had the accurate reputation for being “complicated”, while Squarespace’s drag and drop builder was easy to use by even novice web users. It also did not help that WordPress is a prime target of attack from hackers due to it’s popularity.

In 2022 I saw a shift where WordPress’ beta visual editor was “catching up” to the ease of use that Squarespace provides. And, plugins like Wordfence were doing an excellent job warding off hackers, and technologies like Google’s recaptcha was stopping spam.

In 2023, I was confirmed that I had made the right choice continuing to double down on WordPress. Their new user interface and editor allows me to design anything, while still making it easy for me to had the maintenance over to clients if they choose to do the maintenance themselves. More often than not, I’ve found it to be better for me to continue maintaining the site, because most of my clients are too busy with their own business to add web maintenance to their montly tasks.

The new core of WordPress comes with a theme that can essentially replace most any other theme. Even though I feel badly for all the designers who made themes for WordPress anticipating this to be a never ending source of income, I was finding that this saturation of theme options was missing the point of design entirely. You don’t need thousands of design options to pick from, you need a designer who with a few key choices builds a design from the same provided “theme”. The 2023 theme does just that. I will be able to use this theme to build any design. It is essentially the scaffolding for a house, of a skeleton theme. I’ve built my 2023 redesign with this theme.

See how Schildbach Design can design your new site with this theme.