Google Analytics 4 Setup Process and Tutorial

Google Analytics 4 is a game-changer for tracking website and app data. It's a unified analytics solution that combines web and app data into a single platform.

To set up Google Analytics 4, you'll need to create a new property in the Google Analytics platform. This involves selecting a property name, time zone, and reporting time zone.

Google Analytics 4 uses a new data model that's based on events, rather than sessions. This means you'll need to set up events in your tracking code to capture user interactions on your website or app.

Start by installing the Google Tag Manager container on your website or app. This will allow you to easily manage your tracking codes and events.

You can create a new Google Analytics 4 property from scratch by giving your account a name and selecting data sharing options. Alternatively, you can use Google's Setup Assistant within the platform for a hands-on tutorial. To create a new GA4 property, give your property a name, choose the most relevant time zone and currency, and click Create stream.

If you already have a Google Analytics account, you can create a new GA4 property by clicking Admin → + Create Property. Note that your account can host several different properties, and you can create up to 50 different data streams for each property, which can come from either mobile apps or websites.

To start setting up Google Analytics 4, you'll first need to configure your Google Analytics 4 property. This involves giving your account a name and selecting data sharing options, which can be done by clicking "Admin" and then "+ Create Property".

You can also use Google's Setup Assistant within the platform for a hands-on tutorial. This feature will guide you through the process of setting up your GA4 property.

If you want to start a new GA4 property from scratch, you can give your account a name and select the most relevant time zone and currency. This is usually based on where your server and clients are located.

You can create a new GA4 property by clicking "Admin" and then "+ Create Property". You'll then be asked to give your property a name, choose a time zone, and select a currency.

Before creating your GA4 property, you might want to consider whether you want to create a Universal Analytics property instead. If so, you can do this by clicking on "Show advanced options" during the first step, "Property Setup".

Here's a brief overview of the steps involved in creating a new GA4 property:

1. Click "Admin" and then "+ Create Property".

2. Give your property a name.

3. Choose the most relevant time zone and currency.

4. Click "Create stream".

Note that if you already have a Google Analytics account, you can get to the "Create Property" page by clicking "Admin" and then "+ Create Property".

Google Analytics 4 is a completely redesigned system, unlike Universal Analytics. It's not just an "upgraded" version, but a new approach to event and conversion tracking.

In Google Analytics 4, events are tracked as a single type, whereas Universal Analytics tracked them as different "hit" types, such as page views and events. This means you'll need to do some additional configuration for accurate data collection.

You can't just copy-paste your Universal Analytics properties into Google Analytics 4 and expect everything to work as usual. Some common examples of setup differences include setting up additional parameters for your events and changing default settings.

Here are some specific areas where Google Analytics 4 differs from Universal Analytics:

To get the most out of Google Analytics 4, you'll need a thorough understanding of the platform. Check out Google's complete guide or our infographic below for more information.

Linking your existing accounts is a crucial step in setting up Google Analytics 4. You'll need to link your Google Ads accounts to take advantage of GA4's advanced cross-platform data integration and reporting capabilities.

Linking BigQuery is also necessary, but we'll get to that later. For now, let's focus on Google Ads. You can link your Google Ads accounts to enable features like Predictive Audiences.

This integration will give you a more comprehensive view of your business's performance across different platforms. It's a game-changer for marketers who want to make data-driven decisions.

Note that linking your existing accounts won't affect your existing Universal Analytics property. Your new GA4 property will be unaffected and won't be populated with any historical data from your UA property.

If you're using a Google Tag Manager or gtag.js implementation, you can import tracking configurations from your UA property, making the setup process much easier.

Configuring Google Analytics 4 involves creating a GA4 configuration tag through Google Tag Manager (GTM) or using the GA4 Setup Assistant.

To create a GA4 configuration tag in GTM, navigate to the Google Tag Manager interface and click on the "New" button to create a new tag. Then, select the "Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration" tag type and follow the prompts to set up the tag. This should have an all-page trigger to capture all areas of your website.

If you're using Google Tag Manager, you'll need to add the gtag.js tag on your own using custom HTML when moving to Google Analytics 4.

Alternatively, you can use the GA4 Setup Assistant to configure Google Analytics 4. This assistant makes the configuration process more straightforward, especially for existing Google Analytics account owners. To use the GA4 Setup Assistant, navigate to your Google Analytics dashboard, go to Admin, and select the Universal Analytics property you want to migrate from the dropdown menu. Then, click the GA4 Setup Assistant and follow the prompts to create a new GA4 property.

Here are the four types of events in Google Analytics 4:

You can use Google Tag Manager (GTM) to configure Google Analytics 4. To do this, you'll need to add a GA4 configuration tag to your GTM container. Conveniently, GTM has a native Google Analytics 4 tag type that can be used for this setup.

To create the GA4 configuration tag, copy your Measurement ID from Google Analytics 4 and then create the tag within Google Tag Manager. This should have an all page trigger, ensuring that you capture all areas of your website.

You can also use the GA4 Setup Assistant to configure your Google Analytics 4 property. This assistant makes the configuration process more straightforward by allowing you to create a new GA4 property without changing your Universal Analytics account.

If you're using Google Tag Manager, you'll need to add the gtag.js tag on your own using custom HTML when moving to Google Analytics 4. This is because you won't be able to use your existing tags.

To add the gtag.js tag, you'll need to download a GTM container, import it, and configure it in a few steps. You'll find your unique measurement ID in Google Analytics 4, which you'll need to add to the container.

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a GA4 configuration tag through GTM:

Once you've created the tag, you can preview it in Google Tag Manager to ensure it's firing correctly. This will help you troubleshoot any issues and ensure that your data is being collected correctly.

User lifetime analysis is a powerful tool for understanding your users' behavior over time.

You can analyze user behavior over their lifetime as customers of your website and apps. This technique also lets you track previous campaigns generating users with the highest lifetime revenue.

With user lifetime analysis, you can identify the purchase probability of your active campaigns. This helps you make informed decisions about which campaigns to prioritize.

By tracking user behavior over their lifetime, you can gain valuable insights into unique user behavior. This can inform your marketing strategy and improve user engagement.

Previous campaigns generating users with the highest lifetime revenue are a key area of focus for user lifetime analysis.

If your business owns a website and mobile app, you can now stream data to the same Google Analytics 4 instance.

This means you can collect data from multiple sources in one place, giving you a more complete view of your customers' behavior.

Google Analytics 4 allows you to collect data from iOS and Android apps, in addition to your website.

This is a key difference between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics.

Here are some key features of Google Analytics 4 that make it easier to collect and analyze data from your website and mobile app:

Google Analytics 4 is a significant upgrade from Universal Analytics. If you have an App + Web property, you already have access to a GA4 property, which means you can start using it right away.

App + Web was essentially the beta version of Google Analytics 4, so you don't need to set up new parallel tracking or make any changes for this property to continue tracking. Your fully-functioning GA4 property will have simply replaced the old Universal Analytics interface.

Google Analytics 4 is now available as a replacement for Universal Analytics, so you can expect to see a new interface when you open your property. You should keep your eyes peeled for incoming updates and new features.

To set up Google Analytics 4, you can simply go to your Google Analytics account and open your property, or start from scratch by logging into your Google account at analytics.google.com/analytics/web/.

In Google Analytics 4, real-time reports display user activities on your site and mobile apps as they happen. This includes data such as the number of active users in the last 30 minutes, referral information, and event count by its name.

To get this report, navigate to your sidebar and click Reports -> Realtime. You can also exclude your internal traffic and increase data retention to 14 months to get a more accurate view of your users' behavior.

Life cycle reporting is another powerful feature in Google Analytics 4, which provides user activity data at each step of the customer journey. This includes four types of reports: Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization, and Retention. You can find the life cycle report by clicking Reports on your GA4 sidebar, then selecting the Life cycle dropdown list with Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization, and Retention options.

To track events with Google Analytics 4, you can use the Event parameter column and click Add row. There are four types of events in Google Analytics 4: Navigate to the Event parameter column and click Add row.

Real-Time Reports are a powerful feature in Google Analytics 4 that allows you to see user activities on your site and mobile apps as they happen.

You can access the Real-Time Report by navigating to your sidebar and clicking Reports -> Realtime. This report displays user activities such as the number of active users in the last 30 minutes, referral information, page title your users engage with, event count by its name, and conversions.

To get the most out of your Real-Time Report, exclude your internal traffic to avoid skewing your data. You can also increase data retention to 14 months, which is higher than the default of two months for most data.

Here are some key things to consider when setting up your Real-Time Report:

By following these steps, you can get a more accurate picture of your user activities in real-time.

In Google Analytics 4, life cycle reporting is a default feature that helps you examine user activity at each step of the customer journey.

The life cycle collection includes four types of reports: Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization, and Retention. These reports are easily accessible by clicking on the "Reports" tab on your GA4 sidebar and then selecting "Life cycle" from the dropdown list.

Acquisition reports show how a user reaches your website or app and its traffic data, letting you see whether your marketing strategy to drive traffic works. Default acquisition reports typically include the overview, user acquisition, and Google ads campaigns.

Engagement reports display the pages and screens with the most user engagement, giving you insights into your visitors' behavior.

Monetization reports reveal your revenue from eCommerce purchases, publisher ads, and in-app purchases. You can also see how many customers view your products and impression data from apps.

Retention reports collect data on your most frequent users and how long they spent on your site or app. This enables you to compare how these users generate additional revenue after their first visit.

Here are the four types of life cycle reports, summarized:

The User Collection Report in Google Analytics 4 is a powerful tool that helps you learn more about your visitor profiles.

You can find detailed information about your visitors under the Demographics and Tech categories.

Demographics gives you insights into the age, location, language, gender, and interests of your visitors.

The Tech category shows you the devices your visitors use, including mobile, tablet, and desktop.

This information is crucial in understanding your audience and tailoring your content to meet their needs.

Google Analytics 4 offers an advanced Explorations feature that lets you use different analysis techniques to gain deeper insights into your data.

The Explorations feature provides six analysis techniques you can access through your Analytics sidebar.

To enable this feature, click Explore -> Template gallery.

Each of these analysis techniques offers a unique way to analyze your data, giving you a more comprehensive understanding of your website or app's performance.

Google Analytics 4 has improved the Analysis hub, which was previously available in Universal Analytics, by providing more advanced analysis techniques.

You can access the Template gallery by clicking Explore -> Template gallery in your Analytics sidebar.

The six analysis techniques available in the Template gallery are a game-changer for anyone looking to dive deeper into their data.

Creating a web data stream in Google Analytics 4 is a crucial step in setting up your tracking and reporting system. This process allows you to collect data from your website and send it to your Google Analytics 4 property.

To create a web data stream, you'll need to enter your website's URL, which should include the protocol (https). You can also enable or disable Enhanced Measurement, which automatically tracks events such as page views, scroll, and outbound link clicks.

By default, Enhanced Measurement is enabled and tracks the following events: page view, scroll, outbound link click, site search, video engagement, file download, and form events. You can disable or enable these events individually by clicking the gear icon in the Enhanced Measurement section.

To install GA4 on your website, you have three options: installing a Google Analytics plugin/integration, installing with GTAG (Google Tag), or installing with Google Tag Manager.

Here are the three installation options:

You can have up to 50 data streams or 30 app data streams, allowing you to collect data from multiple sources and websites.

You can upload various types of data to Google Analytics 4 using the data import feature.

Item data, cost data, offline events, and user data are all supported data types that can be uploaded.

This allows you to connect external information with your data and gain valuable insights, as seen in the example of a digital marketer using customer segment data from a CRM tool.

Data import is a powerful feature that can help you measure and analyze your data in new ways.

Here are the supported data types you can upload to Google Analytics 4 using this feature:

Importing data to Google Analytics 4 is a powerful feature that allows you to connect external information with your data.

You can upload item data, which is a type of data that can help you measure and analyze specific items, such as products or services.

Cost data can also be uploaded, providing valuable insights into the costs associated with your business or campaigns.

Offline events can be imported, allowing you to measure and analyze events that occur outside of your website or app.

User data can be uploaded to gain a deeper understanding of your customers and their behavior.

To start importing data, you'll need to choose the type of data you want to upload, which can be item data, cost data, offline events, or user data.

User Exploration is a powerful technique that lets you understand a customer's individual behavior when interacting with your website or app. This analysis technique is useful for learning more about your user segments.

To get started with User Exploration, you can use the Funnel Exploration technique to visualize the customer journey and learn how they interact with your site and apps to complete an event. Breaking down the steps can help you identify new buyers and returning customers to optimize the user experience and retain customers.

User Exploration also involves analyzing user behavior over time, which can be done using the User Lifetime technique. This allows you to analyze your user behavior over their lifetime as customers of your website and apps.

Here are some key things to look for when exploring user behavior:

By analyzing user behavior, you can identify patterns and trends that can help you improve the user experience and increase engagement. This can be done using techniques like Path Exploration, which allows you to create a tree graph that visualizes your users' steps when interacting with your site and apps.

BigQuery Integration is a powerful feature that allows you to stream data to Google's cloud-based data warehouse.

You can now stream data from Google Analytics 4 to BigQuery, even if you have a free account. This means you can take advantage of BigQuery's scalable storage and powerful querying capabilities without any additional costs.

There are some limits to be aware of, but overall, this integration is a game-changer for businesses looking to gain deeper insights from their data.

With this integration, you can easily export your data to BigQuery and start analyzing it in a matter of minutes.