How to Set Up Google Analytics 4
A step-by-step walkthrough for installing Google Analytics 4 on a business website, the settings to change first, and the handful of reports worth reading.
Google Analytics 4 is Google's free tool for measuring what visitors do on your website. It tells you how many people came, where they came from, which pages they looked at and whether they did the things you wanted them to do.
Setup takes under an hour. Google changes the interface from time to time, so if a menu name here does not match what you see, check Google's own setup guide.
Before you start
You need a Google account and the ability to add a small piece of code to your website, either yourself or through whoever manages it.
Use an account that belongs to the business, not an employee's personal one. Analytics accounts created by former staff or agencies are a common source of lost data.
Step 1: Create an account and property
- Go to analytics.google.com and sign in.
- Choose Start measuring.
- Enter an account name, normally your business name.
- Create a property. Name it after your website, and set your time zone and currency.
- Answer the questions about your industry and business size.
An account can hold several properties. One website generally means one property.
Step 2: Create a data stream
A data stream is the source of the data.
- Choose Web.
- Enter your website address and a name for the stream.
- Leave Enhanced measurement switched on. It automatically records scrolls, outbound clicks, site searches, file downloads and similar actions.
- Create the stream.
You will be shown a Measurement ID starting with G-. This is what connects your site to the property.
Step 3: Install the tag
There are three common ways.
Through your website platform. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and most WordPress setups have a field where you paste the Measurement ID. This is the easiest route.
With the Google tag. Copy the code snippet Google provides and add it to the <head> of every page.
With Google Tag Manager. A separate free tool for managing tracking codes. It is more flexible and worth the effort if you expect to add other tags later.
Install it once. Having two copies of the tag doubles your numbers.
Step 4: Check it is working
- Open your website in another tab.
- In Analytics, go to Reports, then Realtime.
- You should see yourself as an active user within a minute.
If nothing appears, the tag is missing, mistyped or blocked. An ad blocker on your own browser can also hide your visit, so test in a private window with extensions off.
Step 5: Change these settings first
Extend data retention. Under Admin, Data collection and modification, Data retention, the default for detailed data is two months. Change it to fourteen months.
Exclude your own visits. Under the data stream's tag settings, define internal traffic using your office's IP address, then activate the filter. Otherwise your own browsing inflates the figures.
Link Google Search Console. Under Admin, Product links. This brings search query data into Analytics. Set up Search Console first if you have not.
Link Google Ads, if you advertise.
Step 6: Tell it what matters
By default, Analytics counts visits. You want it to count results. In GA4, important actions are called key events.
Decide which actions represent real value:
- A contact form submitted
- A phone number tapped
- A booking made
- A purchase completed
To set one up, the action first needs to be recorded as an event. Some are captured automatically; others need configuring, often through Google Tag Manager or your website platform. Then, under Admin, Events, mark the event as a key event.
A simple, reliable approach for forms: send people to a "thank you" page after submitting, and count views of that page.
Step 7: Consider privacy and consent
Analytics collects data about visitors. Depending on where they are, you may need to say so in a privacy policy and obtain consent before setting analytics cookies. This applies in the EU and UK and in a growing number of other places. Google provides a framework called Consent Mode for honouring visitors' choices. If your visitors include people in those regions, set this up properly or get advice.
The reports worth reading
GA4 offers a great deal. For a small business, four views cover most needs.
| Report | Question it answers |
|---|---|
| Acquisition, Traffic acquisition | Where do visitors come from? |
| Engagement, Pages and screens | Which pages do people look at? |
| Engagement, Events | How often do the key actions happen? |
| Realtime | Is tracking working right now? |
Look monthly, not daily. Daily figures for a small site jump around too much to mean anything.
What to do with the data
Ask specific questions:
- Which sources bring visitors who take action, not just visitors?
- Which pages do people land on, and do those pages make the next step clear?
- Is traffic growing compared with the same month last year?
- Are key events rising or falling?
If you have plenty of visitors and few key events, read why your website gets traffic but no leads.
Common mistakes
- Installing the tag twice.
- Never setting up key events, so you can see traffic but not results.
- Leaving data retention at two months.
- Using a personal account that leaves with the employee.
- Checking obsessively and reacting to normal daily variation.
