Overview of the setup and configuration of GA4 on websites.

1. LAURA LEE DOOLEY
NAVIGATING
GOOGLE GA4 ANALYTICS
27 June 2023

2. GA4 PROPERTY NAMING CONVENTION
Name of Project – GA4 –
website.org
• Example: Urban Shift –
GA4 – shiftcities.org
• Search by URL, project
name, GA4
• May realign properties
under different accounts

3. GTM IMPLEMENTATION
Google Tag Manager
allows you to set up and
manage GA4 events all
in one place.
Name of Project –
website.org
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

4. WEBSITE, TAG MANAGER, GA4, LOOKER
WEBSITE
GTM Container
GOOGLE TAG
MANAGER
GA4 Configuration
Custom Tags
GDPR Compliance
GA4 GOOGLE
ANALYTICS
Enhanced Measurement
Custom Events
Search Console
Google Ads
Machine Learning Insights
WRI DIGITAL
DASHBOARDS
GA4, Social & Email
Automatic Updates
Configure for
Archiving Data

5. TAKEAWAY # 1
You will never have
100% accurate data.
• Privacy regulations
• Browser privacy
settings
• AdBlockers

6. INTEGRATION # 1
Linking Google Ads
account(s) provides the
full user cycle and
remarketing
opportunities.
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

7. INTEGRATION # 2
Google Search
Console allows you to
analyze organic search
results in GA4.
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

8. INTEGRATION # 3
Google Signals
unlocks session data
from users who have
signed into their Google
accounts.
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

9. INTEGRATION # 4
GA4 retains data for 14
months. Daily exports of
raw event data to
Google Big Query
ensures we don’t lose
data going forward.
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

10. Dimensions
(Descriptions)
Metrics
(Numbers)
Hostname
Page title
Page path
Link URL
Country
City
Campaign
Source
Medium
Active users
New users
Total users
Views
Sessions
Engaged sessions
Engagement rate
User engagement
Event count

11. GA4 SCOPES
GA4 organizes traffic source dimensions in the
following hierarchy:
• User – a person who interacts with your website or
app.
• Session - the period from when a user visits to
when they leave.
• Event - a distinct user interaction within a
session.
support.google.com/analytics/answer/9143382

12. GA4 SCOPES
User scoped Session scoped Event scoped
Dimension Prefix “First user” “Session” none
Reports User
acquisition
Traffic
acquisition
Model comparison
Conversion paths
Liam 1st visit Liam google / organic first_visit
session_start
view
Liam 2nd visit newsletter / email session_start
view
click
Liam 3rd visit partner / affiliate session_start
view
signup

13. TAKEAWAY # 2
When viewing GA4
data, select the correct
scope.

14. support.google.com/analytics/answer/6171863
NEW: ACTIVE USERS
Primary user metric in GA4: Number of distinct users
who visited your website or application. A website user is
defined as active if: they have an engaged session or
when GA4 collects the first_visit event or the
engagement_time_msec event.
Tracks via “Identity spaces"
1. Logged-in User ID
2. Google Signals
3. Device ID
Replaces UA Users.

15. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12798876
NEW: ENGAGED SESSIONS
An engaged session is a session that:
• lasts longer than 10 seconds,
• has a conversion event, or
• has at least 2 pageviews or screenviews
Replaces UA Avg.Sesson Duration and Pages/Session

16. support.google.com/analytics/answer/9322688
NEW: EVENT COUNT
Events measure a specific interaction or occurrence
on your website or app. For example, you can use an
event to measure when someone loads a page, clicks a
link, or to measure system behavior, such as when an app
crashes or an impression is served. Event name
dimension examples:
• click
• file_download
• scroll
Replaces UA Total Events. Event Name “page_view” is
also “Views” dimension

17. GA4 WALKTHROUGH
wri.org

18. support.google.com/analytics/answer/11197963
The Home page surfaces information that's relevant to you based on
your behavior in Analytics.
You can use the page to monitor traffic, navigate around Analytics, and
get insights about your websites and mobile apps.
The Home page provides more personalized content as you continue to
use Analytics.
GA4 Home

19. support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303476
Google Analytics collects data from your websites and apps to create
Reports that provide insights into your organization. Use standard
reports to monitor traffic, investigate data, and understand your users
and their activity.
Reporting sections:
• Snapshot
• Realtime
• Life Cycle
• User
GA4 Reports

20. DATA “FRESHNESS”
REALTIME DATA
Data Arrives in less than 1 minute
Data Remains for 30 minutes (per minute)
DAILY DATA
Data Arrives in 12 hours
Data Remains 2-14 months

21. support.google.com/analytics/answer/10659091
The Reports Snapshot is the overview report displayed when anyone
clicks Reports in the left navigation.
Any overview report can be set as the Reports snapshot. To build an
overview report, you assemble summary cards that are defined in detail
reports.
GA4 Editors can customize reports through the Customize report
icon link or the Library.
GA4 Reports: Snapshot

22. TAKEAWAY # 3
Set up Audiences
based on user behavior
for remarketing or
comparison/analysis.
Note: Audiences are not
retroactive.
https://support.google.com/analytics/topic/9303474

23. support.google.com/analytics/answer/9271392
With Realtime, you can immediately and continuously monitor the
effects that new campaigns and site changes have on your traffic:
• See whether a one-day promotion is driving traffic to your site or app
• Monitor the immediate effects on traffic from a blog/social network
post or tweet
• Monitor whether new and changed content on your site is affecting
traffic
• Verify that the tracking code is working on your site or app
GA4 Reports: Realtime

24. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12924233
GA4 Reports: Life Cycle
The Life Cycle collection helps you understand each stage in the
customer journey — from acquisition to retention.
The collection allows you to understand how people use your website
or app, rather than information about your users, which you can find
in the Users collection.

25. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12924233
GA4 Reports: Life Cycle
Section Report
Acquisition Acquisition overview
User acquisition – Explore how new users find your website or app
Traffic acquisition – Discover where new sessions came from, regardless of whether the
user is new or returning
Engagement Engagement overview
Events - See the number of users who trigger each event.
Conversions - Understand the events you flag that contribute to the success of your
organization/project.
Pages and screens – Learn which Pages on your website and screens on your mobile
app users visit and engage with.
Landing pages - Examine the effectiveness of the first pages users land on when they
visit your website
Monetization N/A for most WRI properties
Retention Retention overview – A report made up of individual cards that summarize user retention
data on your website or app.

26. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12924233
GA4 Reports: Life Cycle
Section Report
Search
Console
Queries - Google Organic Search Queries. Displays search queries and associated
Search Console metrics for the linked Search Console property. You can drill deeper into
the data by Search Console dimensions (but not by Analytics dimensions). The data can
also be found in Search Console.
Google Organic Search Traffic: Displays landing pages with associated Search Console
and Analytics metrics. You can drill into the data by the Country and Device dimensions.
Search Console lets you analyze organic search related to your site.
You can see where you site is ranked in search results, which queries
lead to clicks, and how those clicks translate to user behavior. This
only works if GA4 is connected to Google Search Console.

27. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12924233
GA4 Reports: User
Section Report
User Attributes Overview
Demographics details – Learn how new users find your website or app
Audiences.
Tech Tech overview
Tech details - Understand the technology people use to access your website or
app
User reports help you understand the people who use your websites
and apps, such as their ages, interests, devices, and app versions.

28. support.google.com/analytics/answer/12949349
GA4 Reports: Library
Use the Library in Reports to add, customize, and publish (or
unpublish) reports and report collections.

29. support.google.com/analytics/answer/7579450
The Explore workspace allows you to set up custom reports to gain
deeper insights about your users and their journeys.
Explorations gives you access to data and analytical techniques that
aren't available in reports. Use Explorations to explore your data in
depth and answer complex questions about it.
GA4 Explore

30. support.google.com/analytics/answer/10607798
Use the Advertising workspace to help you better understand the ROI
of your media spend across all channels, make informed decisions
about budget allocation, and evaluate attribution models. To use this
feature, your Google Analytics 4 property must be linked to your Google
Ads account(s).
GA4 Advertising

31. QUESTIONS
Photo: Ana Municio/Unsplash