What Is GA4?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a free tool
for tracking visits to websites and apps. And the interactions that happen on
these.
The tool provides insights into traffic
numbers, user demographics, most-visited pages, and more.
Google is the developer of GA4—and its
predecessor, Universal Analytics (UA).
In this guide, we’ll explore how GA4
differs from UA and how to set up GA4.
And how to use it to track your
website’s performance.
How GA4 Tracking Differs from UA
UA is the previous version of Google
Analytics before Google launched GA4 in October 2020.
GA4 differs from UA in ways like:
Terminology for user interactions: UA
(Universal Analytics) calls user interactions “hits.” With different hit types
for page views, events, and other interactions. In contrast, GA4 calls all user
interactions “events.”
Changes to the Google Analytics account
structure: UA accounts could contain multiple properties. Which could, in turn,
contain multiple views for creating filtered data segments. GA4 accounts can
still contain multiple properties, but they cannot contain views. And
unlike UA properties, GA4 properties can receive multiple data streams from
websites and apps. Instead of tracking data from only one source.
Standard UA accounts stopped processing
data on July 1, 2023. So, if you want to track your website performance using
Google Analytics, you will need to set up GA4.
How to Set up GA4
Setting up GA4 involves five main steps:
Create a GA4 Account
Create a GA4 Property
Provide Your Business Details
Provide Your Business Objectives
Create a Data Stream
1. Create a GA4
Account
You will need a Google Analytics account
to set up GA4. If you don’t already have a GA4 account, create one by going
to https://analytics.google.com/ and logging in to your Google
account.
Note
If you don’t have a Google account,
click “Create account” on the login screen to create one.
Once you’ve logged in, click the gear
icon on the left sidebar to access the “Admin” settings.
Then, on the Admin dashboard, click “+
Create” > “Account” to create your Google Analytics account.
Give your account a name in the “Account
name” field. And use the “Account Data Sharing Settings” to select the purposes
for which you’re willing to share your data with Google.
Click “Next” when you’re done.
2. Create a GA4
Property
The next step is to create a property in
your GA4 account.
A property is a collection of data from
a website and/or app. A simple GA4 property example is a property that contains
data from just one website. Or one app.
But if you have more advanced reporting
needs, set up a property to comprise data from multiple sources.
To create a GA4 property, give your
property a name using the “Property name” field. The name needs to contain at
least four characters.
Next, provide your preferred time zone
and currency for your reports.
Click “Next.”
3. Provide Your
Business Details
Fill out the “Industry category” and
“Business size” fields.
Click “Next.”
4. Provide Your
Business Objectives
Select at least one of the business
objectives shown on the screen. This is to help GA4 customize its default
reports to meet your needs.
If you select “Get baseline reports,”
GA4 will provide a collection of reports for activity across the customer
life cycle. Instead of providing reports tailored to a specific business
objective.
Then, click “Create.”
The Google Analytics terms of service
agreement will appear on the screen. Adjust the country setting to view the
appropriate agreement for your geographical region if you need to.
Review the terms of service. If you
accept them, click “I Accept” to proceed to the next step.
Note
If your business is subject to the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you’ll also need to select the “I
also accept the Data Processing Terms as required by GDPR” checkbox.
5. Create a Data
Stream
The final step is to create a data
stream. Which will send data from your website or app to your GA4 property.
The steps for creating a data stream
differ depending on whether your data source is a website, iOS app, or Android
app.
To create a data stream from a website,
click “Web.”
Type your domain into the “Website URL”
field. And use the “Stream name” field to name your data stream.
Then click “Create stream.”
A window will slide in, showing your
data stream’s measurement ID and other details.
Save the measurement ID to a text file
for convenient reference—you may need it later.
Importance of analytics in digital marketing
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