Understanding how to set up Google Analytics will enable you to access a range of information regarding the users of your website.
Need of Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a strong and effective tool that offers important data on your website and visitors.
Google Analytics is one of the most popular tools available for digital marketers, and for good reason: more than 56% of all websites use it. You have access to a lot of data on the visitors to your site thanks to the tool.
Data you get from Google Analytics
- Information on the visitors’ demographics (e.g. where they live)
- Whether your site’s visitors are from desktop or mobile
- The overall amount of traffic to your site
- The websites where you got your leads
What is GA3?
In the form of hits, a GA3 property records how users interact with your website. A user’s interaction with your website creates a hit that transmits information to the Google Analytics server. A pageview, event, social media interaction, transaction, screen view, etc., are examples of hits.
How to Setup Universal Analytics (GA3) for a Website
It can be challenging to set up Google Analytics. Once it’s set up, then, you can quickly get a tonne of invaluable information.
Step 1: Create an account
Create an Analytics account. If you don’t want to make a separate account for this website, go straight to creating a property. For example, if this website is operated by a different company, you might wish to create a different account.
Click Create Account in the Account column of Admin.
Give your account name. You may choose which information you share with Google by configuring the data-sharing settings.
Now, click next to add the first property
Step 2: Create a Property
To confirm that you have selected the correct account in Admin, check the Account column. Click Create Property next in the Property column.
Specify the property’s name (such as “My Business, Inc. website”), reporting time zone, and currency. The visit is logged as having happened on Monday if a visitor accesses your website on a Tuesday in their time zone but a Monday in yours.
- Analytics will adapt to time changes if you select a time zone that observes Daylight Savings Time. If you don’t want to change to Daylight Savings Time, use Greenwich Mean Time.
- Only future data is affected by changing the time zone.
- If you switch a property’s time zone, you can notice a flat area or a spike in your data as a result of the time shift, which might be either forward or backward. After you modify your settings, report data can still use the previous time zone for a short while as Analytics servers digest the change.
Click Show advanced options (below the property-setup fields)
Turn on the switch for Create a Universal Analytics property.
Enter the website URL. Select the protocol (http or https).
The majority of domain hosts only allow UTF-8 characters in URLs. For symbols and any other non-UTF-8 characters (including Cyrillic characters), use either UTF-8 characters or Punycode. For assistance with this, use a Punycode translator.
At this stage, choose to create both a Google Analytics 4 property and a Universal Analytics property.
- Create a second Google Analytics 4 property that runs in parallel and gathers information alongside your Universal Analytics property.
- As you apply the Google Analytics 4 property data to your website data will be sent to both properties. Using the property selector or the admin panel, you can alternate between properties.
- Create a link between the two properties so you may later migrate configuration settings from your Universal Analytics property to your Google Analytics 4 property.
Only a Universal Analytics property (Choose this option if you only want a Universal Analytics property)
- How to identify each property: If you named your property “Example” in step 2, your Universal Analytics property will be named “Example (UA-1234567)” and your Google Analytics 4 property will be named “Example – GA4 (98765432)”.
About Your Business:-
Click next and provide information about your business
Click Create
Now click, I Accept the Analytics Terms of Service and the Data Processing Amendment if prompted
Click Finish
Step: 3 Add the Google tag Manager to your site
Add the Google tag manager to a website builder or CMS-hosted website.
Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
Click Admin.
At the top of the Property column, select your property
In the Property column, click Data streams > Web
Click the data stream for your website.
Under Google tag, click View tag instructions
On the Installation instructions page, select Install manually
What is GA4?
GA4 is the most recent version of Google’s reporting platform, Google Analytics. Website owners can measure and monitor traffic to their site, where users are coming from, and what they do while they’re using this free platform (although there is also a paid version).
The revised Google Analytics dashboard is known as Google Analytics 4. It’s about time the software was completely updated since GA was initially introduced in 2005 and has not received a major update since.
The previous version, GA3 or Universal Analytics, does the same thing but with significant differences. However, Google has announced that they would be sunsetting Universal Analytics as of July 1, 2023.
If you’re interested in learning more about the data by analyzing it, you should set up GA4 and start getting used to it.
How to Setup Google Analytics 4 property to a Website
Create a new GA4 property that collects data parallel with your current Universal Analytics property using the GA4 Setup Assistant. Your Universal Analytics property is unchanged and continues to collect data as usual. Both properties are accessible through the admin screen or property selector.
The GA4 setup assistance
Creates a new GA4 property
Copies your Universal Analytics property’s name, website address, time zone, and currency settings In your GA4 property, activate enhanced measurement.
Connects your GA4 properties to your Universal Analytics account.
With the use of this connection, use Setup Assistant in your Google Analytics 4 property to transfer configurations from your Universal Analytics property to your GA4 property.
If you choose to reuse an existing site tag, sets the GA4 property to receive data from your existing Google tag.
The Google Analytics Setup Assistant wizard doesn’t backfill historical data into your new GA4 property. Your GA4 property only collects data for the future. Use the reports in your Universal Analytics property to view historical data.
Upgrade Your GA4 property from existing Universal Analytics Property
You need the Editor role for the account to use the GA4 Setup Assistant. To create your GA4 property, follow to the directions below. You can use this wizard regardless of whether your website pages contain a Google Tag Manager container. Google Analytics tag (gtag.js or analytics.js), or a Google Ads tag (gtag.js).
In Google Analytics, click Admin (lower left)
In the Account column, make sure that your desired account is selected. (If you only have one Google Analytics account, it’s already selected.)
In the Property column, select the Universal Analytics property that currently collects data for your website.
In the Property column, click GA4 Setup Assistant. It’s the first option in the Property column.
Click Get started under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property.
In the Create a new Google Analytics 4 property pop-up screen, you’ll have one of the following options, depending on how your site is currently tagged
- Create and continue. Click this button to continue to the Set up a Google tag page (step 7)
- Create a property. If you see this option, it indicates Analytics can use the Universal Analytics tagging you currently have for your GA4 property. Between your Universal Analytics and GA4 properties, Analytics will create a connected site tag. If you choose this, you can skip to the section titled “Next steps with your new GA4 property” (below).
- Choose the option that best describes your situation on the Set up a Google tag page, then follow to the directions to finish creating your new GA4 property:
What to do next with your new GA4 property?
At the top of your Google Analytics 4 Property Setup Assistant page, you’ll see “You have successfully connected your properties” once the process is complete.
Make a note of the name of your GA4 property so you can find it in later. If your GA4 property name is “Example property – GA4 (xxxxxxx)”, it will be “Example property – GA4 (nnnnnn)” if your Universal Analytics property name is “Example property (UA-nnnnnn)”. xxxxxxx is a new property number.
Click To start Setup Assistant in your new GA4 property, go to your GA4 property. In Google Analytics 4 properties, the Setup Assistant helps you navigate through suggested features and settings so you can complete setting up your Google Analytics 4 property.
The data in your new GA4 property may take up to 30 minutes to start appearing.
Browse your website and choose Realtime from the report navigation to see if data is being collected. The Realtime report should show activity.
You can connect this GA4 property to an existing Firebase project.
Add GA4 to the Website Using Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager can support two Google Analytics 4 tags.
- Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration
- Google Analytics: GA4 Event
Follow these steps to use Google Tag Manager to build Google Analytics 4
Log in to your Google account and visit https://tagmanager.google.com/
Click the “Add a new tag” option under “New Tag
Choose “Tag Configuration”
Choose “Google Analytics: GA4 Configuration” from the “Choose Tag Type” window.
Enter GA4 “Measurement ID”
Select the “Triggering” option
Choose “All Pages” from the “Choose a trigger” window.
Rename this tag from “Untitled Tag” to “GA4 Configuration Tag” or the name of your choice.
Click the “SAVE” button to save this tag.
You can preview the changes by clicking the “Preview” button
Click the “Start” option after entering the website’s URL
Check if the “GA4 Configuration Tag” appears under “Tags Fired”
Click on the “Submit” option on Google Tab Manager Tab
You can update the “Version Name” and include a detailed description of the changes made in this version.
Click Publish.
Every digital marketer needs Google Analytics. You can use it to keep track of all your digital marketing activities and the performance of your website.