How to Create a New Google Analytics 4 Account & Set it Up

Creating and setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) on your website provides valuable insights into your audience, their behavior, and the performance of your content, products and services. And you may already know that GA4 is now the default version of Google Analytics after UA or GA3 was sunsetted as of July 2023. So if you plan on doing any tracking of your website or you were currently tracking your site using GA3 then you’ll need to either create a GA4 property or migrate to GA4.

 

One of the biggest questions we get from print companies is how to set one up.

So we put together a list of the steps to create a GA4 account and property as well as a few other tips and a link to our Free course on creating / setting up Google Analytics 4.

 

Quick Introduction to Google Analytics 4

GA4 is the latest version of Google Analytics, offering more sophisticated tracking and analysis capabilities compared to its predecessor, Universal Analytics (or GA3). It’s designed to provide a more comprehensive view of customer data across platforms and devices.

Listed below are steps to get you going with GA4.

 

Step 1 – Creating a Google Analytics Account

If you don’t already have a Google Analytics account, you’ll need to create one. Visit the Google Analytics website and sign up using your Google account. Follow the prompts to set up your account.

If you have a Google Analytics UA account (or GA3) you can follow the prompts to finish setting up your migrated property. *Almost all UA accounts were automatically migrated to some degree into a GA4 property. You just need to finish the setup.

 

Step 2 – Setting Up a GA4 Property

Once you have a Google Analytics account Follow the instructions below:

• Navigate to the Admin section: In your Analytics account, click on the ‘Admin’ button at the bottom left corner.
• Create a new property: Click on ‘Create Property’ and enter the details for your website or app. (we recommend using your domain name) Choose ‘GA4’ as the property type.

 

Step 3 – Configuring Your Property

Enter property details: Provide information such as property name, time zone, and currency.

Next is the Data Stream: Add a data stream to start collecting data. For websites, choose ‘Web’, and for apps, select the appropriate platform.

Finally Configure your data stream: Enter your website URL and stream name. This will generate a unique measurement ID.

 

Step 4 – Adding the Tracking Code to Your Website

Access the tracking code: Under your data stream details, find your ‘Measurement ID’ or ‘Global Site Tag (gtag.js)’.

Implement the tracking code: Add the provided script to the header of your website. For CMS platforms like WordPress, use plugins or built-in options to add the tracking code.

 

We recommend adding the GA4 code to Tag Manager and installing Tag Manager on your website instead of the Google Analytics code being directly placed in your code. But that is ultimately up to you.

 

Step 5 – Verifying Your Setup

Real-time data check: Go to your GA4 dashboard and navigate to the ‘Realtime’ report. Browse your site in a new tab to see if the data appears in the report.

DebugView tool: Use the DebugView tool in GA4 for more in-depth verification and to check if specific events are being captured correctly.

 

Step 6 – Configuring Events and Conversions

GA4 automatically tracks some events, but you can set up additional custom events:

 

Use the ‘Events’ section: In GA4, navigate to the ‘Events’ section to view automatically collected events, and add new custom events as needed.

Mark conversions: Identify critical events as conversions to track important actions like purchases, sign-ups, etc.

 

Step 7 – Exploring Reports and Insights

GA4 offers a range of reports and insights:

 

Utilize standard reports: Explore reports under ‘Life cycle’ and ‘User’ categories for insights on user acquisition, engagement, monetization, and retention.

Custom reports: Create custom reports for tailored insights.

 

Step 8 – Setting Up Audiences

GA4 allows you to create audiences for targeted analysis and remarketing:

 

Audience builder: Use the audience builder to create audiences based on user behavior, demographics, and other criteria.

Application: Apply these audiences in your reporting, analysis, or for use in Google Ads campaigns.

For a more detailed course on how to set up GA4 we created a free course that has a video walk through of every step to make this as easy as possible for you. You can access that course here: https://pryntbase.com/master-print-courses/