Sustrans

Setting Sustrans on the right track with GA4.

A custom Universal Analytics to GA4 migration across nine data accounts for the custodians of the National Cycle Network, completed before Google's deadline with training and a custom dashboard.

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The numbers

Data accounts migrated seamlessly

150K

Sessions per month reported and tracked

Bespoke data dashboard created

Team members trained on GA4

02 / 06

The challenge

A hard deadline, nine accounts and no room for gaps in the data.

Sustrans is the non-profit custodian of the National Cycle Network, making it easier for everyone to walk, wheel and cycle since 1977. It works across the UK to rally volunteers, fundraise and advocate for policy change.

Google Analytics underpins a marketing team's decisions, from traffic acquisition to how users engage with the site and the impact of any changes. When Sustrans came to us, Google had announced that standard Universal Analytics properties would stop processing new data from 1 July 2023, and encouraged users to adopt GA4 by June 2023 at the latest.

Sustrans needed its three main websites, online store and several microsites moved to GA4 before the switch-over: nine data accounts on a tight deadline, with specialist insight behind a smooth transition, consistent tracking and uninterrupted reporting.

An automatic transition was not guaranteed. GA4 stores data as events and parameters rather than sessions and pageviews, so each property had to be migrated manually to keep data discrepancies to a minimum and collect the right data accurately. Cookie banners and policies also had to keep up with the latest rules on tracking user data.

Sector

Charity & public sector

Services

CRO

DIGITAL MARKETING

Audience

Sustrans' marketing team and content writers

Nine analytics accounts and a fixed deadline
A large main site with complex tracking
A different data model in GA4
Cookie policies to keep compliant

03 / 06

The B2B lead generation system

The parts of the system we used.

This project focused on one part of the system: CRM and data. Analytics underpins every marketing decision, so the migration had to keep Sustrans' tracking consistent and its reporting accurate through the switch.

The system diagram is drawn here by the page script, lighting the parts that have copy below.

Platform

The heart

CRM & data

The brain

Nine Analytics accounts rebuilt in GA4 with key metrics and conversions tracked, UA and GA4 views brought under the same property for comparison, cookie banners updated to match, and a custom dashboard to visualise performance.

Reactive

Availability

Proactive

Broadcast

Thought leaders

Personal brand

Citations

Third-party proof

04 / 06

What we did

Migrated on time, with a team ready to use it.

Square 1:1

Step 01

Audit the tracking

Our Data Science team reviewed every account's existing tracking and goal set-up to scope the job. That meant key metrics, and the places conversions happened on site, could be replicated in GA4 for each account. The main Sustrans site was the most complex, because of its size.

Tracking audit
Goal mapping

Square 1:1

Step 02

Migrate and stay compliant

We set up each GA4 property to collect the data Sustrans would need to report on, and wrote technical documentation so its team could add hard-coded tracking where needed.

A crawl of every site checked that each cookie banner and policy covered the new cookies GA4 required.

GA4
Technical documentation
Cookie compliance

Square 1:1

Step 03

Train the team

A workshop and GA4 training for Sustrans' marketing team and content writers included a run-through, a practical demonstration and learning packs. A dozen team members can now manage GA4 and their performance data with confidence.

As a final measure, we created a custom data dashboard so Sustrans can better visualise its overall performance. Our experts stayed on hand remotely afterwards, so the team could call on us whenever they needed.

GA4 training
Data dashboard
Remote support

05 / 06

In their words

The level and extensive nature of Ascensor’s expertise is exactly what Sustrans required during the project, and we were not let down at all, the collaborative approach meant that not only did we achieve completion within an aggressive timeframe, but we were left with significantly greater insight and capability to manage our website performance moving forward. A great example of joined up, unified working across both our organisations, very much looking forward to working alongside Ascensor again in the future.

Barrie Grimshaw

Chief Information Officer

Sustrans

06 / 06

The results

What changed for

Sustrans

Sustrans moved to GA4 within an aggressive timeframe, in a smooth transition that followed GDPR guidelines. It now reports on nearly 150,000 sessions a month across 500 locations nationwide, saving time, improving reporting efficiency and keeping to its customer data policies. We continue to provide regular insights across its domains.

R01

Data accounts migrated seamlessly

Three main websites, an online store and several microsites moved across nine data accounts, with UA and GA4 views kept under the same property for easy comparison.

R02

150K

Sessions per month reported and tracked

Nearly 150,000 sessions a month are now reported and tracked across 500 locations nationwide, data that helps inform Sustrans' marketing strategy.

R03

Bespoke data dashboard created

A bespoke dashboard now visualises Sustrans' overall performance. A dozen team members were trained, so they can manage performance data going forward.

In short

Nine accounts, one hard deadline, *a smooth switch to GA4.*

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