Making the Move From Google Analytics to Heap

A step-by-step migration guide.

You can also download this guide as a 2-page pdf.

By now you know Google has sunsetted GA3 (aka Universal Analytics) as it heads towards a complete shutdown in January 2024. That means if you've been a Google Analytics user, it's time to switch analytics providers. 

Moving to GA4, with its promise to give you greater flexibility in its event tracking capabilities, may sound simple, like shifting from 3rd gear to 4th. But it’s critical to note that Google Analytics 4 is not an upgrade—it’s an entirely new architecture.

The truth is, cross-platform implementation for enterprise and ecommerce business is likely to be costly and time-consuming. Several large institutions have quoted anywhere between one to three years for replicating what they’ve built in UA.

On top of that, GA4 is still plagued with the old problems: missing data and shallow insights. So before you dive into the hassle of retagging your site, see how easy it is to migrate off GA to Heap, and supercharge your data without the slowdown. 

Step-by-Step Migration Plan

Make the move in less than a day!

Step 1: Install the Heap snippet

Installation is a breeze. Sign up for an account (start for free!), drop the Heap tracking code into the header of your website, and you're good to go. Heap’s capture technology will start auto-capturing data from every event on your website immediately -- no engineering needed. Anytime a user clicks, swipes, fills in a form, visits a page, adds an item to a cart, runs a report or anything else, Heap captures it.

Step 2: Enrich data with APIs

To build a complete 360-degree behavioral view, our customers enrich their user profile via our APIs. Our APIs allow developers to capture additional data about user interactions outside of what Heap autocaptures out-of-the-box, manage identity across sessions and devices, and more. A list of APIs we recommend setting up along with use cases is available in the Enrich Your Dataset Via APIs page of the Setting Up Heap Guide.

Step 3: Set up events

Heap's user-friendly UI makes it easy to label the key events to track your business KPIs. With Visual Labeling, anyone on your team (and across your company) can quickly access the data they need, organize it with flexibility, and leverage it to build a powerful digital experience.

Say you're interested in tracking the CTA button on your site. Using visual labeling, you go into your site, click on the button you care about, then give that button a name. That's it! Because Heap has collected all the event data from your site, once you give that button a name, you can immediately see everything about it. Who clicked it, when they clicked it, what they did before and after clicking, and much more.

With out-of-the-box labeling frameworks (Homepage, Click, Sign Up button), you can quickly replicate the events you had tagged in GA.

Step 4: Use our pre-built dashboards

Because data starts flowing in the minute you add the Heap snippet, you can start analyzing user behavior immediately for instant insight on critical metrics. With Dashboards, your teams can align on core business metrics and coordinate insights-driven action across the organization. 

Dashboard templates automate the creation of dashboards by pre-populating useful charts based on your use case. Heap’s pre-built dashboards include:

• Acquisition 

Acquisition dashboards give you an in-depth understanding of your acquisition drivers. Heap's advanced data science digs through your data to automatically spotlight key insights, even from events you haven't been tracking.

• Activation

With Heap, you not only spot where users are dropping off in your application funnel, but also get a list of those exact users for targeted follow-up. Dive deep into user journeys to pinpoint roadblocks that keep people from completing sign-up.

• Conversion Rate Optimization 

Detailed funnel analysis helps you identify exactly where users are dropping off. Journeys shows you every path users take on the way to conversion, and the relative conversion rates for each. Use this information to create custom segments for targeted outreach, empowering your marketing and sales teams. 

Step 5: Say farewell to GA

GA4 is the right product for the wrong era. Had it come out seven years ago, we could see how many teams might have gotten excited. Now, however, it’s a relic of an old, misguided approach to insights.

With limited insights, data thresholding, manual tagging, no qualitative tools (like Session Replay and Heatmaps), poor data governance, zero automated insights, and difficult implementation, it’s just not worth it anymore. Time to embrace a better, easier future.

Conclusion: The Future is Heap

Heap is not just another analytics tool. It's an analytical powerhouse designed to give you complete, easy-to-access insights. Whether you're looking to optimize your website, discover untapped revenue streams, or coordinate better across teams, Heap is the way to go. Make the switch today and empower your business with actionable insights for a smarter tomorrow.

To learn more about how Heap helps teams get the insights they need to move their businesses forward, see it in action with a free demo.