Google Analytics 4 Implementation for Websites and Apps

Google Analytics 4 is a game-changer for website and app owners. It provides more accurate and comprehensive data than its predecessor, Universal Analytics.

To start using Google Analytics 4, you'll need to set up a new property in the Google Analytics dashboard. This involves creating a new account and setting up the tracking code on your website or app.

The new measurement protocol in Google Analytics 4 allows for more flexible and automated data collection. This means you can collect data from a wider range of sources, including mobile apps and IoT devices.

To implement Google Analytics 4 on your website, you'll need to add the new tracking code to your website's HTML. This code is available in the Google Analytics dashboard, and you can find step-by-step instructions in the Google Analytics setup guide.

If you've had a Universal Analytics account, you already have a pre-generated GA4 property, unless you've opted out.

Google automatically added GA4 properties to existing accounts when Universal Analytics was phased out.

To set up GA4, you'll start by creating a new account if you haven't used Universal Analytics before.

Creating a new account is all you need to do to set up Google Analytics and Universal Analytics from scratch.

To create a new account, go to the "Admin" section on the left side.

You'll need to enter a Property Name, choose the Reporting Time Zone, and select the Currency in the Property setup section.

Click on "Show Advanced Options" to create Universal Analytics Property along with Google Analytics 4 property.

Switch the toggle from off to on, write down a website URL, and choose the option to create both a Google Analytics 4 and a Universal Analytics property or only a Universal Analytics property.

Enter the details "About Your Business" that include industry category, business size, and how you intend to use Google Analytics with your business.

Click on "Create" to create GA4 and Universal Analytics Property, and tick the checkbox for accepting the Data Processing Terms and Conditions that are required by GDPR.

To implement Google Analytics 4, start by clicking the "Start measuring" button in the window that follows. This will initiate the setup process.

Next, tick the data you want to share with Google and click "All accounts" at the top left corner of the GA4 interface. You'll then see a 8-step process, with a progress bar to track your progress, once you access the GA4 setup assistant.

To connect your old Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4, click on the "Go to Setup Assistant" and follow the steps to set up a data stream for each platform you're using. This will allow GA4 to handle the heavy lifting by pulling all that different data together for you.

The login event is a crucial part of tracking user activity in Google Analytics 4. For this event, the utag.link call sends data to Tealium iQ with a specific format.

The login event is one of the GA4 recommended events, and it has one parameter: method. This parameter indicates how the user logged in.

To configure the GA4 tag, you'll need to use the mapping toolbox to map the tealium_event and signin_method variables. Here's how:

For more information on mapping variables, see Data Mappings.

Tracking and Measurement is a crucial part of Google Analytics 4 implementation. You can enable enhanced measurement options to measure interactions with your content without requiring configuration in Tealium iQ.

Enhanced measurement events automatically track user interactions, including file downloads and searches. These events are sent in addition to the default page view events and can provide more detailed insights into user behavior.

You can track the following events with enhanced measurement: page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, video engagement, and file downloads. These events are collected using different parameters, such as the percent scrolled dimension for scroll events.

Here are some of the events you can track with enhanced measurement:

These events can be used to track user interactions on your website or mobile app.

Google Analytics 4 has replaced hits with events, giving you more flexibility in collecting data. This means you can track anything you like, rather than being limited to predefined hit types.

In Universal Analytics, there were six types of hits: pageview hits, event hits, ecommerce hits, social interactions hits, exception hits, and user timing hits. For apps, there was also a screen hit.

With Google Analytics 4, you can collect data for anything you like, including user interactions on your website and iOS or Android apps as events. This includes actions, details about your users, and other information about your website.

To track events in Google Analytics 4, navigate to the Event parameter column and click Add row. This will allow you to set up your event parameter like this: Navigate to the Event parameter column and click Add row.

Here are the six types of hits in Universal Analytics, compared to the types of events in Google Analytics 4:

To ensure Google Analytics 4 collects the data, navigate to Google Analytics 4 and click Configure -> DebugView.

You can track a wide range of events and metrics in Google Analytics 4, including automatically collected events, enhanced measurement events, and custom events.

Automatically collected events include page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, video engagement, and file downloads. These events are collected by default and provide valuable insights into user behavior.

Enhanced measurement events can be enabled to track additional interactions, such as site searches and file downloads. These events provide more detailed information about user behavior and can be used to optimize website and app performance.

Custom events can be created to track specific actions or behaviors that are not covered by automatically collected or enhanced measurement events. This allows you to track any action or piece of information you like, from pages people view to button clicks or information collected in another platform.

Here are some examples of what you can track with events:

You can also track conversions, such as purchases, sign-ups, and other desired actions. Conversions can be tracked using automatic event tracking, enhanced measurement events, or custom events.

Event batching is a feature in Google Universal Analytics that allows multiple hits to be sent in a single network call. This is in contrast to GA4, which batches events that occur within a few seconds into a single call.

In GA4, multiple events may be sent with a single network request. This can make it more challenging to investigate network calls to validate the implementation.

Reporting latency can take a while to show up in your GA4 reports, so be patient. It can take 24-48 hours after the call is made for GA4 reports to be generated.

If you want to verify that data is being sent to your GA4 property, you can use Realtime reports and Debug View in GA4.

Data may not show up as expected, but there's a way to check if the tracking code is correctly installed on your website. Use the Google Tag Assistant for this.

If data isn't showing up as expected, don't worry, it's a common issue. Use GA4's DebugView feature to flag any errors with event tracking.

Sometimes, you might be using Google Tag Manager, and that's okay. Verify that your GA4 configuration tag is properly set up to ensure everything is working smoothly.

Data typically appears in GA4 reports outside of the Real-time section within 24 – 48 hours, so be patient.

Here are some troubleshooting steps to help you resolve issues:

Reporting and Customization in Google Analytics 4 is a game-changer. You can create custom reports to display only the data you need, making it easier to analyze and understand your website or app traffic. This is a significant improvement over Universal Analytics.

The "Exploration" feature allows you to combine, segment, and analyze data to craft custom reports. You can also use custom dimensions and metrics to further customize your reports. For example, if you want to see the values of the parameters you've sent with your events, you'll need to register them in Google Analytics.

To register a parameter, navigate to 'Custom Definitions', choose either 'Custom Dimensions' or 'Custom Metrics', and then select 'Create'. Custom dimensions are generally used to report text-based information, while custom metrics are used to report numerical values.

One of the main features of GA4 is its highly customizable reports. You can tailor them to display only the data you need. You can also use the "Customize Report" icon to adjust the default dimensions and create a specific report for your SEO analysis.

Here's a step-by-step guide to customizing a report:

1. Click the "Customize Report" icon at the top right.

2. Choose "Dimensions" and set "Session source/medium" as the default dimension.

3. Click "Apply" to refresh the report.

4. Save the report by clicking "Save" at the top right and then "Save as a new report".

5. Name the report and click "Save".

6. Drag the report to the "Acquisition" card on the left and click "Save" to update your menu.

By following these steps, you can create custom reports that meet your specific needs and provide valuable insights into your website or app traffic.

By linking Google Ads to Google Analytics 4, you can get a clear picture of the performance of your ads. This section provides insights into the impact of all your ads, including search ads.

With GA4, you can track which campaigns drive traffic and conversions to your site, helping you pinpoint what's working and what's not. This information can then inform your advertising strategy.

Here are some key metrics to track in your advertising efforts:

By keeping an eye on these metrics, you can optimize your advertising strategy and improve your overall performance.

Informing your SEO strategy is a crucial step in optimizing your online presence. By linking Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with Google Search Console, you can discover which keywords are bringing people to your site and see what visitors do once they arrive.

This data can answer questions like whether visitors are sticking around or bouncing off, and what actions they're taking on your site, such as clicking on affiliate links or downloading an ebook.

You can use this information to create more content around popular keywords and optimize internal linking structures to improve visitor journeys.

For example, if a piece of content gets a lot of traffic and engagement, you can create more content around that keyword.

You can also track visitor journeys to understand the path from initial visit to conversion.

To get started, you'll need to establish a connection with your Google Search Console account to analyze search queries in GA4.

In Google Analytics 4, you can link Google Ads to get a clear picture of your ad performance.

This helps you understand the impact of all your ads, including search ads.

Linking Google Ads to GA4 shows you which campaigns drive traffic and conversions to your site.

You can pinpoint what's working and what's not, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your ad spend.

Tracking e-commerce with Google Analytics 4 is a game-changer. You can automatically capture standard events, which means less manual setup and more intuitive tracking.

GA4 simplifies the process by replacing old ecommerce events with new ones. The checkout_step and checkout_options events have been replaced with the view_cart, begin_checkout, add_shipping_info, and add_payment_info events. The product_click and select_content events have been replaced with the select_item event. And the promotion_click and select_content events have been replaced with the select_promotion event.

With GA4's ecommerce tracking, you can have a clearer understanding of user transactions, revenue, and product performance. You'll find a comprehensive view of the revenue generated by your website or app in the Monetization section, including ecommerce purchases, purchase journey, checkout journey, in-app purchases, publisher ads, and promotions.

Here are the default conversion events for ecommerce websites:

By tracking these events, you'll be able to optimize your ecommerce performance and make data-driven decisions to improve your website or app.

Google Analytics 4 offers a range of advanced analysis techniques, including funnel exploration and path exploration. These techniques allow you to visualize customer journeys and identify areas for improvement.

The "Explore" section is where you can create custom reports, including funnel exploration and path exploration. You can also use the template gallery to access ready-made reports, such as free-form, funnel exploration, path exploration, and segment overlap.

With GA4, you can capture user journeys more comprehensively and have an uninterrupted view of user interactions across your website. This is a significant improvement over Universal Analytics, which only had sessions and pageviews.

Customers today are constantly jumping between different devices and platforms, making it challenging to understand their behavior.

You can get a complete understanding of this chaos with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which offers cross-device and cross-platform tracking capabilities.

GA4 gives you an integrated view of the entire journey, allowing you to see how your audience engages with each channel and moves between them on their way to a conversion.

This comprehensive view enables you to optimize your marketing across the whole ecosystem of touchpoints, rather than just individual channels in isolation.

With GA4, you can capture user journeys more comprehensively, providing an uninterrupted view of user interactions across your website.

This means you can analyze a user's journey through your site without having to stitch together separate sessions like you did with Universal Analytics (UA).

The Explore section in Google Analytics 4 is where you create custom reports. You can start a custom report from scratch or use the template gallery, which includes ready-made reports like Free-form for customizable, ad-hoc analysis, Funnel exploration for visualizing journeys, Path exploration to track and display the routes users take on your site, and Segment overlap to compare different segments.

In the Explore section, you can combine, segment, and analyze data to craft custom reports. This is a huge improvement over Universal Analytics, where customization was limited.

You can access the Explore feature by clicking Explore -> Template gallery on your Analytics sidebar. From there, you can choose from various analysis techniques, including Funnel exploration, Path exploration, and Segment overlap.

Here are some key features of the Explore section:

• Funnel exploration: Visualize customer journeys to learn how users interact with your site and apps to complete an event.

• Path exploration: Create a tree graph that visualizes users' steps when interacting with your site and apps, identifying how their behaviors trigger events and see users' previous and following actions when completing an event.

• Segment overlap: Compare different segments to gain deeper insights into your data.

These analysis techniques can help you gain a deeper understanding of your users' behavior and optimize your marketing strategies accordingly.

If you're already using event tracking with Universal Analytics, you'll want to document the current events to make the transition to Google Analytics 4 smoother.

To get started, check the events reports in your Universal Analytics property by navigating to 'Behavior', then 'Events', and then 'Top Events'. This will give you an idea of the events you're currently tracking.

You should then check to see if any of these events will be replaced by the automatic tracking available in Google Analytics 4. Enhanced Measurement will automatically track events like embedded YouTube videos.

If all of your events from Universal Analytics are automatically tracked, then you'll be good to go. However, if there are events that won't be tracked automatically, you'll need to create a recommended event or a custom event.

It's essential to spend time thinking about how you translate your events from Universal Analytics to events in Google Analytics 4. For example, you might have implemented events to track a chat widget on your website.

Here's a comparison of how you might have named an event in Universal Analytics versus Google Analytics 4:

As you can see, Google Analytics 4 offers greater flexibility in event naming and parameterization. This allows you to collect richer insights about the actions people take and their experience on your website.