Google Analytics 4 — Google's current analytics platform (replaced Universal Analytics July 2023). Setup involves installing the tag, configuring conversion events, linking Search Console + Ads, and setting up custom reports.
**What changed when GA4 replaced Universal Analytics:**
- **Event-based, not session-based.** Everything is now an event (page_view, scroll, click, form_submit, purchase). More flexible but a steeper learning curve. - **Cross-platform tracking** built in (web + iOS + Android in one property). - **Privacy-first design** — no IP storage, modeled metrics fill gaps from blocked tracking, consent-mode integration. - **Different data structure** — old reports from UA don't directly translate. Many businesses lost reporting continuity in the transition.
**The proper setup checklist:**
**1. Install the GA4 tag correctly.** Best practice: install via Google Tag Manager rather than directly in your site code. GTM gives you flexibility to add other tags later without developer time. The GA4 measurement ID looks like `G-XXXXXXXXXX`.
**2. Configure data streams.** Each platform (web, iOS, Android) gets its own data stream within the same GA4 property. Cross-platform analysis happens automatically.
**3. Set up enhanced measurement.** Toggle on in the data stream settings. This auto-tracks scroll depth, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, and file downloads — useful baseline events you'd otherwise have to set up manually.
**4. Mark conversion events.** Identify the 3–8 events that represent real business value (form_submit, purchase, sign_up, lead_generated, phone_click). Mark them as conversions so they appear in conversion reports and can be used as goals in Google Ads.
**5. Link Google Search Console.** Property settings > Search Console links. Brings organic search query data into GA4.
**6. Link Google Ads.** Property settings > Google Ads links. Enables import of GA4 conversions into Google Ads for bidding optimization.
**7. Set up filters to exclude internal traffic.** Filter by your office IP or internal domain so your own visits don't pollute the data.
**8. Configure data retention.** Default is 2 months for "user-level" data; bump to 14 months in Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention. Standard reports are unaffected; this only matters for explorations and custom analysis.
**9. Set up audiences.** Define audiences for retargeting (e.g., "viewed pricing page in last 30 days but didn't convert") that can be used in Google Ads.
**10. Build custom reports for the metrics you actually use.** GA4's default reports often hide what you need. Use the Explore section to build saved reports for traffic by source/medium, conversion paths, top landing pages, etc.
**The most common GA4 setup mistakes:**
**1. Forgetting to mark conversions.** Without marked conversions, you have no goals — and you can't optimize anything.
**2. Tracking too many "conversions."** Marking page_view as conversion makes the conversion report meaningless. Be selective.
**3. Not setting up cross-domain tracking.** If your site spans multiple domains (yourbusiness.com + booking.yourbusiness.io), users get fragmented across domains without explicit cross-domain config.
**4. Confusing GA4 with attribution.** GA4 attributes to last non-direct click by default. For multi-touch journeys (most B2B, most considered purchases), this hides the role of awareness channels. Use the attribution reports + first-touch / linear / data-driven models to see the full picture.
**5. Skipping consent management.** If you serve EU/UK/CA users, you need a consent management platform (CMP) that integrates with Google Consent Mode v2. Failing to implement this in 2024+ means GA4 stops collecting data from non-consenting users.
**Useful add-ons:** GA4 BigQuery export (free tier — gives you raw event data for SQL analysis), Looker Studio (free dashboards), Microsoft Clarity (free heatmaps + session recording — pairs well with GA4).
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