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Initial Setup for GA4

Hello and welcome! Today, I’m going to show you how to set up your first GA4 property and install your analytics tag. Let’s get started:

  1. Go to analytics.google.com and sign in to Google Analytics.
  2. You might need to do some minor beginner setup tasks, but what we want to do is create a new account.
  3. Create an account for your personal website. You can leave the default settings as they are.
  4. This will lead you to create your first property, which will be your first GA4 property.
  5. Name your property and set the time zone to Central (e.g., Chicago) and the currency to USD.
  6. The category can be “Arts and Entertainment,” and you can provide additional information about your website.
  7. Accept the terms and conditions.
  8. Google has improved the setup process, so we will follow the instructions provided.
  9. We are setting up a new web platform, so enter your website URL (e.g., oopsjkc.com).
  10. Check the “Website” box for enhanced measurement. GA4 captures a lot of information automatically, including page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, search queries, video engagement, and file downloads.
  11. Click “Create Stream” to proceed.
  12. At this point, Google will inform you that no information has been received yet.
  13. To continue tracking, click the “Copy” button to copy the global site tag.
  14. Go to the back end of your website and access the customizer.
  15. Navigate to settings > embeds and paste the global site tag in the tracking embed area.
  16. Publish the changes.
  17. To verify if everything is set up properly, go to “Configure” and then “Debug View.”
  18. Open Google Chrome and visit your website. In the debug area, you can see the events happening.
  19. If needed, install the Google Analytics Debugger extension for Chrome to monitor events and ensure proper tracking.
  20. The debug view will show the page views and other interactions on your site.
  21. You can use this data to set up events and conversions, allowing you to track how users navigate through your website.
  22. For more detailed instructions, you can refer to the official Google support documentation on setting up debug mode and installing your Google GA4 tag.

Thank you, and goodbye!

How to set up Debug Mode in GA4