The ultimate Google Analytics 4 guide for the beginners
Google Analytics 4 is a powerful, free platform that provides data on how users interact with your website/app. Learn the basics here.
Imagine that you have just spent hours designing the ideal website for your online business. Each and every element, including the color scheme and font size, has been meticulously created by you. Products, blog posts, and even a few clever jokes here and there have all been added.
Next, then you realized: how do you know if anyone is actually visiting your website? Do your clever jokes have no effect? Do your products have virtual shelves that are just covered with dust?
Explore Google Analytics 4 (GA4), the knight in shining armor for all your website analytics requirements. But let’s face it, GA4 can be just as puzzling for most newbies as trying to read Shakespeare in Klingon.
Fear not, as I am here to lead you through the perilous GA4 waters. We’ll go over everything you need to know about GA4 and how to use it to expand your online business in this comprehensive guide. So let’s get started by grabbing a cup of coffee (or tea, juice, or whatever your preference may be).
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a web analytics service that provides statistics and basic analytical tools for search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing purposes. The service is part of the Google Marketing Platform and is available for free to anyone with a Google account.
With more than 56% of all websites using Google Analytics, it’s one of the most popular tools out there for digital marketers — and for good reason. The tool allows you to access a wealth of information regarding your site’s visitors.
Here are just a few pieces of data you can get from Google Analytics:
- Amount of traffic your site gets overall
- The websites your traffic came from
- Individual page traffic
- Amount of leads converted
- The websites your leads came from
- Demographic information of visitors (e.g. where they live)
- Whether your traffic comes from mobile or desktop
How to set up Google Analytics
Setting up Google Analytics contains 3 major steps:
1. Creation
Create a Google Analytics account
At first, you’ll have to create a Google Analytics account. Or, sign in to your current account. Then follow a few steps to connect your email account to Google Analytics.
2. Customization
Add the name, URL, and industry of the website you want to track:
Following the below step-by-step activities will complete your GA account setup:
- Click the Admin button on the bottom left sidebar of your dashboard
- Select an account or create an account.
- Click on the drop-down menu to create a property.
- Click on Website and add your site’s name and URL.
- Choose your time zone.
- Choose your industry.
- Click on Data Streams, then click Add Stream.
- Your Measurement ID will appear in the top right corner.
3. Integration
Add the Google Analytics tracking code to your website/app
When you create a property, you’ll have access to a unique ID for tracking and a global site tag (code you need to add to each site page you want to measure). This is how you’ll be able to collect data on your property. Then, paste your global site tag right after the opening <head> tag on each site page you plan on measuring.
Visit your GA portal and verify the code is working
Lastly, verify your code is working. You can do this by looking at the Real-Time reports section while clicking around on your site in a different tab or on your phone. The report should show at least one visitor to the site (that’s you!)
Understanding Google Analytics Hierarchy
Here’s a look at the GA hierarchy. Remember, Data Stream is just the counterpart of Views, which is available for UA.
Report Management
The Reports tab shows the Reports Snapshot first which includes the same information from the Home tab in this example:
You can also switch to other reports listed below:
- Reports Snapshot
- Realtime
- Life Cycle
- User
Creating Custom Reports
As you get a handle on following your website’s metrics, you may find you need custom Google Analytics reports. Custom reports can help you check specific metrics more efficiently, using apples-to-apples comparisons between periods, campaigns, and more.
These custom reports may help when presenting information to your department, organization, leadership, or investors thanks to the hard numbers you can compare and the visual reports you can run. Of course, not everyone may fully understand what you do, but many are likely to understand the basics of what these numbers and graphs mean.
How to Create Custom Reports from Scratch in Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 makes it easy to create custom reports for your own use or presentations.
Step 1: Instead of starting from a report, we’ll start in the Library section by clicking Create new reportand choosing Create detail report.
Step 2: Next, choose a template to start from, or choose blank.
Step 3: Now from the customize report section, change the dimensions as needed.
Then save it as a new report with a relevant name.
That’s it. These are simple examples, but you can use custom reports to build out exactly the views of data you need.
Features that are new in Google Analytics 4:
- Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools
- Deeper integration with Google Ads
- Customer-centric reporting designed around lifecycle data
- Additional code-less tracking features that can provide data with less latency and
- Enhanced data control features for regulatory compliance and data management.
Final Words
Google Analytics is a must-have for any digital marketer. It’ll help you track the performance of your website along with all your digital marketing campaigns.
With it, you’ll be able to determine ROI and learn more about your audience. Without it, you’ll practically be sailing on an ocean without a compass and a map (which is to say, very lost).
For any of your GA support (GA Configuration, GTM Management, Reporting and Insights, and GA Consultancy), feel free to reach sales@brainstation-23.com.
