Getting Started with GA4 Property: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Are you struggling to understand the ins and outs of GA4 property? Do terms like events, conversions, and audiences make your head spin? Fear not! In this step-by-step guide for beginners, we'll break down everything you need to know about getting started with GA4 property. From setting up your account to tracking important metrics, we've got you covered. Get ready to unlock the power of Google Analytics 4 and take your data analysis game to the next level!

Introduction to GA4 Property

When it comes to Google Analytics (GA) property, there are two types: Universal Analytics (UA) properties and GA4 properties. In this blog post, we'll be focusing on GA4 properties.

GA4 properties are the newest type of GA property and offer several advantages over UA properties, including:

- More accurate data collection: GA4 properties use machine learning to collect and interpret data.

- Enhanced data privacy: GA4 properties allow you to control how your data is collected and used, giving you greater control over your privacy.

- Simplified setup: GA4 properties can be set up in just a few clicks, without having to add code to your website.

If you're just getting started with GA property, we recommend using a GA4 property. In this blog post, we'll show you how to set up a GA4 property for your website.

Setting up a GA4 Property

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics. GA4 offers a number of advantages over the earlier versions, including increased data accuracy, improved user interface, and more.

If you're just getting started with GA4, this guide will walk you through the process of setting up a GA4 property. We'll cover everything from creating your account to adding tracking code to your website.

Creating Your Account

The first step is to create a Google Analytics account. You can do this by visiting the Google Analytics page and clicking "Sign up for free".

Once you've signed up for an account, you'll need to create a GA4 property. A property is essentially a collection of data associated with your website or app. To create a property, click on the "Admin" tab in your Google Analytics account and select "Create Property" from the drop-down menu.

On the next page, you'll be asked to provide some basic information about your website or app, such as its name and URL. Once you've entered this information, click "Create".

Adding Tracking Code to Your Website

Now that you've created a GA4 property, it's time to add tracking code to your website so that Google Analytics can collect data about your visitors. Tracking code is a snippet of JavaScript that needs to be added to every page on your website. The good news is that if you're using WordPress, there are plugins

Tracking Events and Conversions

To get started with tracking events and conversions in GA, you'll need to first set up a GA property. Once you have your GA property set up, you can then add tracking code to your website or mobile app. This tracking code will allow GA to collect data about the events and conversions that occur on your website or app.

Once you have your tracking code set up, you can begin creating events and conversions in GA. To do this, you'll need to define what constitutes an event or conversion on your website or app. For example, you may want to track when a user views a product page on your website or when a user completes a purchase on your app.

Once you've defined what events and conversions you want to track, you can then create goals in GA. Goals allow you to track specific events and conversions and see how well your website or app is performing in relation to these goals. You can create goals for each event or conversion that you're tracking, or you can create goals that encompass multiple events or conversions.

Creating goals in GA is just the first step in tracking events and conversions. Once you've created goals, you can then start to analyse the data that's being collected by GA. This data will help you understand how users are interacting with your website or app and whether or not they're completing the events and conversions that you're tracking.

Understanding User Behaviour in GA4

One of the most important aspects of Google Analytics 4 is understanding how users interact with your site or app. By understanding user behaviour, you can make better decisions about how to improve your site or app and make it more successful.

There are several ways to understand user behaviour in GA4. The first is to look at the User Explorer report. This report shows you information about individual users, such as how many times they've visited your site, what pages they've viewed, and what actions they've taken.

You can also use the Behaviour Flow report to see how users move through your site or app. This report shows you the most popular paths that users take, as well as where they drop off.

You can use event tracking to track specific interactions that users have with your site or app. Event tracking can be used to track things like button clicks, video plays, and form submissions. By understanding how users interact with your site or app, you can make better decisions about how to improve your site or app and make it more successful.

Integrating with Other Google Products

If you’re already using other Google products, such as AdWords or Analytics, you can link your accounts to get even more insights into how people are finding and interacting with your website. Linking your accounts is optional, but we recommend it if you want to get the most out of Google Analytics.

To link your Analytics and AdWords accounts:

Sign in to your Analytics account. Click Admin. In the Property column, select the property that you want to link to AdWords. Under PROPERTY, click +Create new property. In the dialog box that appears, click Link with AdWords. A new browser tab opens and takes you to the Sign in page for AdWords. Enter your AdWords login credentials and click Sign in. On the Allow access? page, click Accept. You're taken back to the Admin page in Analytics, where a message appears confirming that the linking is complete. Close the Accounts window.

Now that your accounts are linked, you can see data from both products side-by-side in reports like Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels and Campaigns > All Campaigns.

Benefits of Using GA4 Property

There are many benefits of using GA4 Property over other types of Google Analytics tracking. GA4 Property provides more accurate and granular data, making it easier to troubleshoot issues and identify areas of improvement. Additionally, GA4 Property integrates with Google BigQuery, allowing for near real-time analysis of your website data. GA4 Property offers a host of features not available in other versions of Google Analytics, including advanced conversion tracking, user ID tracking, and cross-device reporting.

Challenges of Using GA4 Property

If you're just getting started with GA4 properties, there are a few challenges you may encounter. Firstly, GA4 properties are still in beta, so there may be some bugs or incomplete features. Secondly, GA4 properties don't yet support all the features of Universal Analytics properties, so you may need to use both types of properties for certain features (e.g.,cross-domain tracking). GA4 property setup is slightly different from Universal Analytics properties, so you'll need to take some time to learn the new interface and options.

Conclusion

With this step-by-step guide, you should now know the basics of getting started with GA4 Property. We have gone over how to set up your property, what data you can collect and analyze with it, and how to customize your reports so that they are more informative for you. This is just the beginning as there are many more features and possibilities available in GA4 Property that you can explore further when ready. With a little research and practice, you will soon be an expert on Google Analytics 4!