9.1 Google Analytics (GA4)
Step-by-Step
Create your GA4 property
Go to analytics.google.com:
- Click Admin (gear icon) > Create Property
- Enter your business name, select Australia as country, AUD as currency
- Choose "Web" as platform and enter your website URL
- You'll receive a Measurement ID (starts with G-). Copy this -- you need it for installation.
Install via Google Tag Manager
If you set up GTM in section 8.1 (recommended):
- In GTM: New Tag > Google Tag > enter your GA4 Measurement ID
- Trigger: All Pages
- Submit/Publish the container
- Remove any direct GA4 code from your website (having both causes double-counting)
If you're not using GTM: paste the GA4 code snippet directly in your website's head section on every page.
Configure essential settings
In GA4 Admin, configure these immediately:
- Data retention: Admin > Data Settings > Data Retention > set to 14 months (default is 2 months)
- Internal traffic filter: Admin > Data Streams > Configure tag settings > Define internal traffic > add your office IP address.
- Google Signals: Admin > Data Settings > Data Collection > enable Google Signals for cross-device tracking
- Link to Search Console: Admin > Product Links > Search Console > link your GSC property.
- Link to Google Ads: Admin > Product Links > Google Ads > link your account for conversion import.
Set up key events (conversions)
Tell GA4 what counts as a conversion:
- Admin > Events > Create event
- Create events for: form submissions (thank-you page view), booking completions, phone clicks, lead magnet downloads
- After creating, go to Admin > Events > toggle "Mark as key event" for each conversion event
- These key events appear in your reports and can be imported into Google Ads
Learn the reports that matter
GA4 has dozens of reports. Focus on these four:
- Acquisition overview: Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition. Shows where visitors come from. Check weekly.
- Engagement overview: Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens. Shows which pages get the most views and engagement.
- Conversions: Reports > Engagement > Key events. Shows conversion counts by source. This is the money report.
- Real-time: Reports > Real-time. Shows who's on your site right now. Useful for verifying tracking is working.
If GA4 shows "No data received from your website yet" days after setup, your tracking code is probably not actually on the site. Common causes:
- The tag isn't on the live site. View your page source and search for your Measurement ID.
- WordPress plugin not activated or Measurement ID not entered.
- GTM container not published. Preview mode does not count.
- Wrong Measurement ID. Check in GA4 Admin > Data Streams.
- Caching. Purge the cache and check again.
The fix is always the same: View Page Source on the live site, search for your G- code. If it's not in the HTML, the tag is not installed.
After installing GA4, open your website in one browser and GA4 Real-time report in another. You should see yourself as an active user within 30 seconds. If not: check GTM is published, check the Measurement ID is correct, check your ad blocker isn't blocking GA4.
You're Done When
- GA4 property created and installed (via GTM or direct)
- Data retention set to 14 months
- Internal traffic filtered
- Search Console and Google Ads linked
- Key events created for your main conversions
- Real-time report showing your visits correctly