How to Set Up Google Analytics 4?

The difference between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics

Google Analytics 4 tracks both web and app data within the same property, while Universal Analytics tracks screen views within separate mobile-specific properties.

If you track both web and app data in a Google Analytics 4 property, make sure to account for the additional app traffic when comparing the two page view metrics.

Google Analytics 4 features increased measurement capabilities – a system that can measure automatically and monitor advanced operations. Google Analytics Universal can also measure these actions, but additional performance is required.

Create your property on GA4

Start with the setup. There are two options to start with Google Analytics 4:
1. Create a new property U
2. Upgrade an existing property.

In this article, I will be focusing on creating a new property, so we will choose the option of “Create property” -> “Get started.”

After creating the property, connect GA4 to the Google Ads account and the Tag manager. Next, click “Setup assistant” -> “Linking” and then click “Link to Google Ads.”

After linking your Google Ads account, go to “Property settings” and copy the Property ID. Open the Google Tag Manager and create a new tag – “Tags” -> “New” -> “Tag Configuration” -> “Google Analytics:GA4 Configuration”.

Copy the Property ID to the Measurement ID tab and then click “Triggering” -> “All Pages.” Then, save and submit.

Now, GA4 is connected to your Google Tag Manager and Google Ads accounts.

Enhanced measurement

As mentioned before, Google Analytics 4 includes Enhanced Measurement – a system that allows you to automatically measure and monitor the advanced operations, such as Pageviews, Outbound clicks, Scrolls, etc.

Enhanced measurement screen settings are in the data stream tab. After you click on “WEB,” the settings will appear, and you will be required to define which adjustments you would like to make according to your business needs.

Once you have set “Enhanced Measurements,” click on “Data Retention,” and select how long you want to save the data, the options are 2 to 14 months.

With the new Google Analytics, events are collected automatically by default. However, each event is enabled to send parameters with it.

Google added the data deletion request to test data or any irrelevant data to the account, which means that data parameters, dates, etc., can be deleted at any time.

How to set up conversions on Google Analytics 4?

Setting up conversions on Google Analytics 4 is simpler than on Universal analytics. First, click the “Configuration” button on the left menu. Then, click “Events.”

If you want to set an event as a conversion, click the toggle on the right. Once this is enabled, every time Google Analytics collects the event, a conversion will be counted in your reports.

It is perfect if you want to track people watching videos or see them scrolling, but if you want to enable the page view event as a conversion, then every time someone views a page on your website, a conversion will be counted.

However, this doesn’t work if you only want to track a “thank you” page or confirmation page as a conversion in Google Analytics. If you want to track a specific page as a conversion, like your “thank you page,” you will need to track that individual page as a unique event first.

There are two ways to do this: The first option is to create a new event inside Google Analytics based on an existing event. The second option is to configure a new tag in google tag manager that will send an event every time someone views the “thank you page.”