Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a website measurement tool that can help you understand how visitors find and use your website. Best of all, it's free! MarketingIdeasForPrinters.com encourages you to take advantage of Google Analytics to measure your website traffic.

Google Analytics can help you review information such as:

• How many people visit your website
• How visitors find your site
• Which pages receive the most traffic
• What devices visitors use
• How visitors move through and engage with your site
• Activity occurring on your website in real time

Google Analytics measures website activity, but installing it does not directly improve your search rankings. The information it provides can help you make more informed decisions about your website content and marketing.

Before You Begin

You will need:

• A Google account
• Permission to create or manage a Google Analytics property
• Your website’s complete URL
• Access to your website’s Control Center

If your organization already uses Google Analytics, check with the person who manages it before creating another account or property.

Create a Google Analytics 4 Property

1. Go to Google Analytics and sign in with your Google account.

2. If you are new to Google Analytics, select Start Measuring and follow the prompts to create an account, which includes the Account details and Account Data Sharing Settings.

3. Create a property for your website.

4. Select the appropriate reporting time zone and currency.

5. Enter the requested ‘Business details’ as part of Step 3.

5. Choose the ‘Business objectives’ as part of Step 4. 

6. Accept Google’s terms to finish creating the property.

Note: Google Analytics uses GA4 properties. Universal Analytics was the previous version and no longer processes new website data.

Create a Web Data Stream

A data stream connects your website to its GA4 property. After completing Step 5 ‘Data collection’ and accepting Google Analytics Terms of Service:

1. Select ‘Web’ on the ‘Start collecting data’ screen

2. Enter your website address next to ‘Website URL’

3. Enter a name next to ‘Stream name’.

4. Review the Enhanced measurement setting. When enabled, it can automatically collect page views and certain other website interactions.

5. Select Create & continue' in the upper-right.

Google provides detailed instructions in its GA4 website setup guide.

Find Your GA4 ID

After creating the web data stream, Google will automatically present you the ‘Set up a Google tag’ screen.

1. Copy the Google tag

A GA4 Measurement ID begins with G-, followed by a combination of letters and numbers, such as G-XXXXXXXXXX.

2. Proceed to the next step in this article to add the Google tag to your website.

Add the GA4 ID to Your Website

1. Sign in to your website’s Control Center.

2. Select My Website.

3. Select ‘SEO’.

4. Select ‘Google Analytics’.

5. Enter your complete GA4 Measurement ID next to ‘Google Analytics 4 (GA4) ID’.

6. Select ‘Save’ in the upper-right of the page.

You only need to enter the GA4 ID. You do not need to copy the complete Google tag or JavaScript code into the Control Center at this time.

Confirm That Google Analytics Is Working

After saving the GA4 ID:

1. Visit your website in a separate browser tab.
2. Browse several pages.
3. Return to Google Analytics.
4. Open the Reports > Realtime overview tab and look for activity from your website.

Above: Example of the ‘Realtime overview’ within 30 secs of adding the GA4 ID to a website

Google advises that initial data collection may take up to 30 minutes to begin. Other reports may require additional processing time, and some data can continue updating for 24–48 hours.

Understanding What GA4 Collects

Standard GA4 reporting can provide information about website traffic, visitor acquisition, page activity, engagement, devices, and general geographic areas.

Some actions—such as completed forms, quote requests, purchases, or other business-specific results—may require additional event or key-event configuration before they appear as separate results in Google Analytics.

Demographic and interest information is not available for every visitor. Its availability depends on your Google Analytics settings, user consent, available identifiers, and Google’s reporting thresholds.

Privacy and Consent

Google Analytics may use cookies and collect information about website activity. Your business is responsible for reviewing the applicable privacy, consent, and disclosure requirements for the locations where you operate and where your website visitors are located.

If a visitor declines consent for analytics cookies through an applicable consent system, Google Analytics may not track that visitor’s activity.

You should also review your website’s privacy policy to ensure it accurately describes your use of analytics services.

Additional Help

Marketing Ideas For Printers can help you locate the Google Analytics setting within your website’s Control Center. Google manages the Analytics service, its account settings, reporting tools, and data.

For assistance with those features, refer to the Google Analytics Help Center or the official GA4 setup guide.