GA4 Onboarding
The information provided in this document is correct at the time of writing. As it relates to 3rd party functionality it may be subject to change as Google evolves and improves GA4.
Visualsoft will endeavour to update this guide in line with any changes.
Learning Objective
After reading this guide you should have a better understanding of:
How to create a GA4 property
Map your GA4 property in your admin
Contents
Written Guide
Overview
This guide will cover two elements:
1 - Creating a GA4 property within Google Analytics
2 - Adding the GA4 property to your site through your settings
Creating your GA4 Property
The following is an abbreviated version of the complete instructions for setting up Google Analytics 4 on the VS platform, taken from Google’s documentation. For more details, please refer to the documentation at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9744165
1 - Login to Google Analytics - analytics.google.com/
2 - Click on the cog icon (located at the lower left of the screen) to access the Admin:
3 - In the Account column, make sure that your desired account is selected. (If you only have one Google Analytics account, it will already be selected)
4 - In the Property column, select the Universal Analytics property that currently collects data for your website
5 - In the Property column, click GA4 Setup Assistant. It is the first option in the Property column
6 - Click Get started under I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property
7 - Select the option Enable data collection using your existing tags
If you are unable to proceed from the above step, you may need to set up your Measurement ID through Google Analytics in a different way, which is detailed in its own section below
8 - Click Create Property
9 - Once this process is complete, you will see "You have successfully connected your properties" at the top of your Google Analytics 4 Property Setup Assistant page
10 - Click Go to your GA4 property and select Data Streams from the side menu:
11 - Select your newly created Data Steam from the right side, this will open a panel called Web stream details. From here note down your Measurement ID:
Alternative method to generate Measurement ID
1 - Login to Google Analytics - analytics.google.com/
2 - Click on the cog icon (located at the lower left of the screen) to access the Admin and click + Create Property:
3 - By default, Google Analytics automatically creates a new GA4 property. Enter Your Property Name
4 - Select your Time Zone and Currency
5 - Click Next
6 - Fill in the fields most relevant to your business.
7 - Click Create
8 - After successfully creating a new property. In the Property column, Click Data Streams and select Web
9 - Set up your data stream by adding your Website URL and enter your Stream Name
10 - Click Create stream
11 - A panel will open called Web stream details, note down your Measurement ID
Add your GA4 Measurement ID to VS Admin
It can take 24-48 hours for events to start showing in your GA Dashboard, this is expected. Any queries regarding data not pulling through correctly cannot be investigated until at least 48 hours have passed from saving your Google Analytics 4 ID setting.
With your new GA4 property created it will need to be added to the VS website. Follow the steps below:
1 - Login to the VS Admin
2 - Navigate to Settings > Website Settings
3 - Find the settings for Google Analytics 4
4 - In the setting Google Analytics 4 ID enter your newly created GA4 Measurement ID. It must contain the G- prefix (e.g. G-1AB234CD56)
You can also change the setting Google Analytics 4 Tracking. We advise, however, using the default option Global Site Tag (Gtag)
5 - Save your settings
Your Google Analytics 4 setup is now complete!
How to check if GA4 is capturing eCommerce events
Once you have collected data for over 48 hours you should be able to see eCommerce events being captured in the real-time report. You can find this information by navigating to the following in Google Analytics GA4 property:
Report > Real Time
Scroll down the ‘Realtime overview’ page and you can see a panel named ‘Event count by Event name’, you should be able to see the following eCommerce events being captured:
add_to_cart
begin_checkout
add_shipping_info
purchase
If you do not see the eCommerce events being captured in the ‘Realtime overview’ page, you can review the ‘Events’ report which showcases all events captured in GA4. Ensure you give up to 48 hours for data collection to be active, then navigate to the following page:
Engagement > Events
Click on the dropdown named ‘Rows per page’ and select ‘25’ to see additional events and scroll down the page to review the events being captured:
Ensure the ‘purchase’ event is capturing revenue, if this is zero or very low Tech Support may need to check the checkout success page if anything is blocking the ‘purchase’ event from being triggered.
Note: if the add_to_cart, begin_checkout, add_shipping_info and purchase events are not being captured in GA4 reports (after 48 hours of GA4 property creation and enabling GA4 within VS admin), contact Tech Support to ensure enhanced eCommerce scripts are active on the site.
Limitations
The following events are covered within GA4
Events Implemented During Phase 1 (July 2022):
search- Tracks when/what a customer has search for on the siteadd_to_cart- Tracks when/what was added to basket (from multiple locations on your site)add_to_wishlist- Tracks when/what item was added to the customers wishlistbegin_checkout- Tracks when/what is within the basket at beginning of checkout journeyadd_shipping_info- Tracks when/what delivery options are selected during checkoutpurchase- Tracks when/what items were purchasedrefund- Tracks when/what items were refunded on an order
New Events Implemented During Phases 2 & 3 (March 2023):
select_item- Tracks when/what product is clickedview_item- Tracks when/what product page is viewedview_item_list- Tracks when/what product listings are viewedview_cart- Tracks when/what basket a customer has when using the basket hover function in the site headerremove_from_cart- Tracks when/what product is removed from basketsign_up- Tracks when/what customer registers an account and method of signuplogin- Tracks when/what customer logs in to an account and method of logingenerate_lead- Tracks when/what form is submittednewsletter_subscriber- Tracks when/where a customer subscribes to the newsletterselect_promotion- Tracks when/what promo unit was clickedcro_website_error- Tracks when/what error occurred from form submissions/checkoutcro_experiment- Tracks when/what feature tests are being served to the customer
Summary
You now have the knowledge to create a GA4 property and map it to your site within your website settings.