Beginners guide to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Are you ready to unlock the power of data-driven insights to improve your website?
Whether you run a purpose-led business or a charity, this no-nonsense guide is designed to help you harness the potential of Google Analytics 4. Let’s dive in and thrive together!
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is an analytics service that enables you to measure traffic and engagement across your websites and apps. It replaces Universal Analytics (UA), which will be discontinued July 1st 2023.
To make best use of this guide, you should already have GA4 tracking installed on your website and some data to interpret. Need help setting up your analytics? Book a Power Hour
GA4 vs Universal Analytics
If you have previously used Google Analytics Universal, I would encourage you to approach this GA4 with a completely fresh perspective.
As you transition from UA to GA4, remember that GA4 tracks website data differently. Some aspects may have similar names, but GA4 operates with its own unique approach.
Although there are some cross-overs in terms, there are some things that share the same name but are actually completely different.
A focus on engagement statistics
GA4 cares about a different set of measurables than UA. It has some amazing features, especially its emphasis on tracking engagement. From scrolling and video watches to file downloads and form fills, GA4 captures more user interactions than ever before.
Some great things GA4 tracks automatically
GA4 tracks much more as default that Universal Analytics did:
- Scrolling
- Video watches
- File downloads
- Form fills
- E-commerce measurements such as Add to cart, checkout starts and completions
- External link clicks
Tracking conversions
Tracking conversions has got a whole lot easier!
Say goodbye to “Bounce Rate”
Bounce rate is now gone as a stand-alone metric in GA4. Instead, GA4 prefers you to report on “engagement rate”, intended to show you the percentage of quality site visits.
Customisable dashboards
GA4 is all about building your own reports so you can make the most of it. Personalise your reports with GA4’s customisable collections and tailor your analytics experience to suit your needs.
How to set up GA4
Before diving into reporting, it’s essential to understand how GA4 collects data about your website through events tracking.
Admin > Under the Property Column, Click Events
Events
GA4 collects all user actions on your website as “Events”. Events measure user interactions on your website, and uses the data to create reports.
Automatically Collected Events
| Event | Triggered by… |
| first_visit | the first time a user visits a website or launches an Android instant app with Analytics enabled |
| session_start | when a user engages the app or website |
| scroll | the first time a user reaches the bottom of each page (i.e., when a 90% vertical depth becomes visible) |
click (web) | each time a user clicks a link that leads away from the current domain |
file_download (web) | when a user clicks a link leading to a file (with a common file extension) of the following types:
|
| form_start | the first time a user interacts with a form in a session |
| form_submit | when the user submits a form |
| video_start | when the video starts playing (only for embedded YouTube videos that have JS API support enabled) |
| video_progress | when the video progresses past 10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% duration time (only for embedded YouTube videos that have JS API support enabled) |
| video_complete | when the video ends (only for embedded YouTube videos that have JS API support enabled) |
| view_search_results | each time a user performs a site search, indicated by the presence of a URL query parameter |
Ecommerce Events
| Event | Triggered by… |
| Add to carts | Items added to cart |
| Checkouts | Items checked out |
| Item-list click events | Items clicked in list |
| Item-list view events | Items viewed in list |
| Item view events | Items viewed |
| Promotion clicks | Items clicked in promotion |
| Promotion views | Items viewed in promotion |
| Purchases | Items purchased |
| Quantity | Item quantity |
| Refunds | Item refund |
Other Events
You may also notice other Events not listed above. This can be if you have integrated third-party code or software, such as embedded forms, chat widgets and more.
Creating your own Events
You can create a your own events based on an existing event and then trigger it on specific conditions.
Conversions
A conversion is any user action that’s valuable to your business; for example, a user purchasing from your store, filling out a form, or booking a consultation.
The primary way to measure a Google Analytics conversion is to create or identify an event that measures the important user interaction and then mark the event as a conversion.
Too mark events as a conversion follow this guide:
GA4 Dashboard: Home
Your homepage shows an overview of your analytics based on what Google thinks you want to see. It isn’t particularly customisable but can be useful to get a snapshot of your website stats.
Things you can do on this page:
- Change the time period on each graph by clicking the “Last…days” label
- Click on each individual stat to show it on the graph
- Change what is being measured by clicking on the labels such as “Users” or “Average engagement time”
GA4 Dashboard: Get insights quickly
GA4 has “Insights” which can help you get answers to specific questions quickly. It uses something it refers to as “Analytics Intelligence”.
Access pre-set insights
This will bring up a panel to the right of your screen to explore stats about your website.
Here you can access quick information about your site with pre-set questions Google Intelligence.
Ask Google a question
Click on the search bar at the top of google analytics and you can ask a question. Try and be as specific as possible.
For example:
“What countries do my users come from?”
“How many users came from organic search in the last 30 days?”
“Compare conversions from organic vs direct channels”
Google will then bring up the “Insights” Panel on the right of your screen and try to answer your question.
GA4 Dashboard: Reports
For help working out your goals, why not download our workbook
Reports are where all the magic happens!
GA4 has a set of pre-built reports, but the key here is to build the reports that you want to see.
Reports snapshot
When getting started with Google Analytics, you will see a Reports Snapsnot report, a Realtime report, and a number of predefined reports that Google thinks are right for you.
Everyone with access to your analytics account will see the same set of reports on the left.
Build your own report collections
Reports can be organised into Collections that will then appear on the left of your Report Dashboard screen.
You can make use of the existing collections or create your own
Using the customise collection screen you can:
- Create your own topics to arrange collections into
- Drag and drop reports from the right column to the left column.
Recommended collections for GA4 beginners
1. Audience
Create a brand new blank collection and name it “1. Audience”. Use the ‘Customise collection’ tool to add the following Topics and Reports
| Topic name | Reports to add |
| User Attributes |
|
| Retention |
|
| Tech |
|
2. Acquisition
Create a brand new blank collection and name it “2. Acquisition”. Use the ‘Customise collection’ tool to add the following Topics and Reports
| Topic name | Reports to add |
| Overview |
|
| Search |
|
3. Engagement
Create a brand new blank collection and name it “3. Engagement”. Use the ‘Customise collection’ tool to add the following Topics and Reports
| Topic name | Reports to add |
| Overview |
|
| Content |
|
4. Conversions
Create a brand new blank collection and name it “4. Conversions”. Use the ‘Customise collection’ tool to add the following Topics and Reports
For businesses without e-commerce features
| Topic name | Reports to add |
| Overview |
|
For businesses with e-commerce functions
| Topic name | Reports to add |
| Overview |
|
Customise and build your own reports
To customise your report collections even further, you can edit and build your own reports based on your Google data. You can then save these to collections.
In the Library screen scroll down to the reports section. Here you will see all the available reports that you can currently add to Collections.
You can then edit your report with the right-hand panel by adding data, filters, charts and cards.
You can either ‘save changes to existing report’, which will overwrite your existing report seen in collections. Alternatively, you can save this as a new report.
Need help setting up custom reports? Book a consultation
Explorations
Explorations is a collection of advanced techniques that go beyond standard reports to help you uncover deeper insights about your customer’s behaviour.
There is a template gallery to make use of, or you can create a report from scratch.
Things you can do with Explorations:
- Create complex data tables and filters
- Create funnels
- See the paths users are taking across your website
- Analyse audience behaviour in depth
- Explore individual user activity
… and MUCH MUCH MORE.
Need help setting up custom Explorations? Book a consultation
Conclusion
Google Analytics 4 is an indispensable tool for understanding website performance and user behaviour when customised properly.
Implement the tips shared in this blog post and start leveraging the power of Google Analytics to make informed decisions that drive growth and success for your website.
As you embark on your Google Analytics 4 journey, remember to embrace experimentation and continuous improvement. Don’t be afraid to explore different features and track metrics that align with your specific goals.
We’d love to hear about your experiences and successes with Google Analytics. Share your thoughts and any questions you may have in the comments below or drop us a message.
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Happy tracking!
Emily Jones
Founder of Two Shoes Creative
Helping ethical businesses and charities grow through powerful branding and websites.
If there was a way to see more sales from Google, without having to go through yet another course, learn a complicated tool, or have your enthusiasm quickly fizzle out, would you do it?
