How to Use Google Analytics – A Beginner’s Guide

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a comprehensive analytics tool for websites and apps.

It lets you understand how users interact with your platform so you can adjust your marketing efforts for better engagement.

Here’s what’s going on:

GA4 tracks data differently than the previous Universal Analytics (UA).

If you are used to UA's setup, this may be confusing.

The good news?

Now it's easier than ever to understand user behavior on your site:

• download
• Video playback
• Affiliate links clicked

All of this complies with international privacy laws.

Yes, like any new tool, there is a bit of a learning curve.

But that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

In this GA4 guide, we'll cover some GA4 basics, as well as:

• How to Install GA4 on Your Website
• The difference between GA4 and UA
• GA4 interface navigation and key indicators
• Using GA4 for SEO

Let's get started.

What is Google Analytics (GA4)?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a web analytics tool that helps you understand how people use your website or app. It tracks every click, scroll, purchase, and other action across platforms and devices.

Unlike its predecessor Universal Analytics, which was primarily session-based, GA4 introduces an event-based model.

What does this change mean to you?

You get more precise data collection capabilities and improved user privacy measures.

Event-based tracking focuses on what visitors do, not who they are.

It's not just about tracking individual visitors, it's more about understanding user behavior.

Another key aspect of GA4 is that it uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to make predictions even with limited data.

This is all good news for your data collection efforts.

What is GA4 used for?

You can use GA4 to gain insights into user behavior, navigation patterns, and customer journeys.

Using its data, you can optimize your content, fine-tune your marketing strategy, and build more effective marketing channels.

Whether you’re a business owner, data analyst, SEO professional, or digital marketing strategist, GA4 can help you better understand and serve your visitors.

Here are some specific ways you can use GA4.

Analyze user behavior across different devices and platforms

This is a fact.

The customer journey is messy.

Customers move between devices and platforms. From your website to social media to search and back again.

GA4 helps you make sense of this chaos.

With its cross-device and cross-platform tracking capabilities, you can get a comprehensive view of the entire journey.

You’ll learn how your audience interacts with each channel and moves between channels during the conversion process.

With these insights, you can optimize marketing across your entire ecosystem of touchpoints, rather than focusing on a single channel in isolation.

Inform SEO strategy

GA4 is linked to Google Search Console and helps you do two things.

1. Discover which keywords attract people to your website
2. Observe what visitors do when they arrive

By looking at the data, you can answer questions like:

• Will visitors stay or leave?
• Did they click on an affiliate link or download an eBook?

This information can provide reference for your SEO strategy.

For example, if a certain content gets a lot of traffic and engagement, you can create more content around that keyword.

You can also track visitor journeys to understand the path from first visit to conversion.

You can then use this knowledge to optimize your internal linking structure.

This is all good news for your SEO strategy efforts.

Improve marketing campaign performance

Want to know if your marketing campaign is a success or a failure?

GA4 can answer this question.

Do you want to figure out which influencers drove engaged traffic during your campaign?

GA4 can help you track this, too.

Want to understand the real impact your ads have on conversions?

complete.

With GA4’s ability to track behavior across different channels and the insights from its AI assistant, you can gain a clear view of the entire customer journey.

This means you can better tune and optimize every step of your journey, right down to the finest detail.

Create accurate customer personas

GA4 helps you measure the intent of your website visitors based on behavioral data.

This means you can segment your audience with precision and create customer personas that reflect their realities.

What are the results?

Targeted content and marketing campaigns make your audience feel like you’re speaking directly to them.

Analyze e-commerce performance

GA4 provides granular ecommerce analytics – from product views to refund rates.

These insights help e-commerce companies optimize inventory, merchandising, and website experience based on how their customers shop.

For example, you might find that blue shirts sell 3 times more than other colored shirts.

You can use these insights to decide which items to stock more and which items you might want to reconsider.

Improve user experience

GA4 revolves around one core principle: tracking customer behavior.

Are your visitors clicking? Reading? Scrolling? Watching videos? Buying? Or just jumping away?

With this side-eye view, you’ll have data to guide how to improve the user experience of your website or app.

GA4 Setup Guide: How to get started with GA4

It's time to set up GA4.

If you already have a Universal Analytics account, there's a good chance you already have pre-built GA4 properties.

**Note: Google **will automatically add GA4 properties to existing accounts  after the UA phase-out . Most users will find the initial GA4 setup incomplete unless they choose to opt-out.

Never used UA before? You need to create a new GA4 account first.

Either way, there is setup work to be done.

First, make sure you have access to:

• Google  Marketing Platform website
• Your website backend

Got it? Great! Let's move on.

How to Set Up Google Analytics 4: A Step-by-Step Guide

Never used Google Analytics before? Here’s what you need to do.

Step 1: Create an Account

Go to Google Marketing Platform and click Sign in to Google Marketing Platform  .

Click the Settings button under Analysis .

Then, click " Start measuring" in the window that appears .

This will take you to the Create Account page.

Step 2: Add your account name and edit settings

Enter your name in the Account Name box. This is usually the name of your company or website.

Then, check the box next to the data you want to share with Google.

Click Next .

Step 3: Set up your property

In the Property Name box, enter your URL name. And set the Reporting Time Zone and Currency according to your business preferences.

When you click Next , you will be prompted to answer some business-related questions.

You will then be asked to describe your Google Analytics goals. Please select one.

Finally, accept the Google Analytics 4 Terms of Service.

Step 4: Set up the data flow

In GA4, both network and application data are integrated through a feature called data flows.

Add a separate data stream for each platform you use.

Here's how.

How to add a web data stream

To add your website, click the "  Web  " button.

Then, add your URL and specify a "Stream name" for your website.

We recommend keeping Enhanced Measurement turned on.

Click Create Flow .

This will allow GA4 to automatically track actions such as video plays, link clicks, downloads, etc.

After clicking Create Flow, you will see your web flow details.

Click " See tag instructions " to get installation instructions for adding the GA4 code to your website or CMS (such as WordPress or Shopify).

Step 5: Add the GA4 tracking code to your website

Next, you need to link your website to GA4 by installing the tracking code on your website.

This enables GA4 to collect data from your website.

There are three ways you can add this code to your website:

1. Manual Installation
2. Install using a CMS or website builder
3. Using Google Tag Manager

For this GA4 tutorial, we will focus on manual installation.

After clicking "View Label Instructions" on the previous step, you will see detailed instructions for the installation process.

These instructions are designed to help you integrate the GA4 code smoothly, whether using a standard web platform or a CMS like WordPress or Shopify.

The specific operations are as follows:

Click Manual Installation to access the JavaScript code.

Then, copy the code.

This code must be added to the '' element of every page on your site.

The method varies depending on the CMS or website platform you use.

For example:

• In WordPress, you can add the code using a plugin like Insert Headers and Footers or by editing your theme’s header template.
• In Shopify, you can add the code directly to the Google Analytics section within your Shopify admin dashboard.

How to add GA4 to a pre-built GA4 property

First, check if you have any pre-generated properties in your account.

Click " All Accounts" in the upper left corner of the GA4 interface.

This will open a list showing all the properties associated with your account.

Browse the list to find the GA4 property for the specific website or app you're interested in setting up with GA4.

If found, click it to access the property's details.

NOTE: If you do not see a pre-existing GA4 property, you will need to create a new GA4 property in your Google Analytics account by following the new GA4 installation instructions provided previously.

Access the Setup Assistant

After selecting your property, you will receive a warning pop-up urging you to migrate your site to GA4.

Click Go to Setup Assistant to access the GA4 Setup Assistant, which will guide you through the rest of the setup process.

Click "Get Started" under "I want to create a new Google Analytics 4 property . "

This will connect your old Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4.

Click " Go to your GA4 property " to continue setup.

The installation assistant guides you through 8 steps and tracks your progress with a progress bar.

Please note that there are three priority steps to start tracking:

1. Collection of website and app data
2. Turn on Google signals
3. Set up conversions

Follow each step, selecting the options that apply to your use of Google Analytics.

How to know if GA4 is effective

Here's how to confirm that Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is working properly.

Navigate to Reports > Real-time .

Next, open your website in a separate browser window.

Then, return to the GA4 Real-time report in Google Analytics.

If GA4 is set up correctly, you should see details such as your location and the page you are currently viewing in your reports.

Troubleshooting Tips

If data does not appear as expected:

1. Use Google Tag Assistant to check if the tracking code is correctly installed on your website
2. Use GA4's DebugView feature to flag any errors through event tracking
3. If you are using Google Tag Manager , please verify that your GA4 configuration tags are set up correctly.

Note: Data typically appears in GA4 reports outside of the Real-time section within 24 to 48 hours.

Connect GA4 with other Google products

Connecting GA4 to Google products like Google Ads and Google Search Console can be extremely beneficial to your marketing efforts. It reveals exactly how users find and interact with your site, allowing you to optimize your strategy.

Ready to connect? We'll guide you through it.

For this example, you’ll connect to Google Search Console .

Note that connecting to other Google products follows the same straightforward process.

Go to the admin menu in the lower left corner and click " Product Links ".

Here you will find a list of tools that can connect to GA4.

Click on  the Search Console link .

Then, click " Link" in the window that appears .

Click Select Account .

A new window will appear showing the Google Search Console accounts associated with your email.

Check the box next to the name of the attribute you want to add, and then click Confirm .

You will be taken to the Link Settings window. Click Next .

Click Select to choose the appropriate network stream.

In the Select Data Stream window, select the appropriate data stream.

This will take you back to the Link Settings window.

Here click " Next " to continue.

Check the details to ensure that the properties and network flows match correctly.

To complete the integration process, click Submit to confirm your settings.

Universal Analytics (UA) and GA4

The transition from Universal Analytics to GA4 was quite a shock for many people.

There is good reason for this.

This transformation is not as simple as clicking a button.

And the difference between the two feels pretty stark.

First, breathe.

Now, let us help you make this transition easier.

Let's bridge the gap between UA's familiar features and GA4's new features - so you don't feel lost when navigating the GA4 interface.

let's go.

Data Model

The different data models of UA and GA4 mean that they collect and analyze data in different ways.

UA tracks user sessions and page views .

GA4 tracks user interactions such as clicks, purchases, and form submissions.

So what does this mean?

UA can tell you that a user visited a product page.

GA4 can tell you that, and more.

It can provide you with specific information:

• Which images the user clicked on.
• Whether they added the item to their cart.
• and how far down the page they scrolled.

UA is unable to provide reports at this level of detail.

Metrics and Measurement

In Universal Analytics, core functionality relies on metrics such as Sessions, Page Views, Bounce Rate , and Conversion Rate.

Google Analytics 4 retains these traditional metrics.

However, it places greater emphasis on event-based indicators.

That's why the GA4 UI looks different by default.

You’ll find that metrics like “bounce rate” aren’t as important anymore.

And pay more attention to metrics like “engagement time,” “scroll depth,” and “engagement rate.”

Device tracking function

Device tracking in UA has its limitations – especially when it comes to integrating user journeys across multiple devices.

GA4, on the other hand, natively supports cross-device and cross-platform tracking.

Here’s why this is important.

In UA, when a person starts their customer journey on a laptop and completes their purchase on a smartphone, that person might be recorded as two separate users.

In GA4, the same person is assigned an anonymous unique user ID.

This ID links all their interactions across different devices.

This means that the entire process from starting on a laptop to purchasing on a smartphone is perceived as a continuous experience by a single user.

Privacy and User Data Control

UA relies on cookie-based tracking.

GA4 is designed for a cookieless future. Although cookies are still used, they will soon be deprecated .

Customer Journey Analysis

UA has sessions and page views, not continuous user journeys.

To analyze a user’s journey through your website, you’ll often find yourself stitching together different sessions.

Now, with GA4, you can capture the user journey more fully.

And get uninterrupted visibility into user interactions on your website.

Conversion tracking

In UA, you have to set up specific goals and funnels, which can be a detailed and sometimes complex process.

GA4 simplifies this process by automatically capturing standard events.

This change means less manual setup and more intuitive tracking.

What are the benefits?

With GA4's comprehensive e-commerce tracking capabilities, you can gain a clearer understanding of user transactions, revenue, and product performance.

Data setup and integration

Unlike UA, which requires creating separate properties for different platforms, such as web (desktop) and mobile, GA4 simplifies this process.

You can set up separate data streams for each platform with just a few clicks of buttons.

GA4 then pulls all the disparate data together and does the heavy lifting for you.

Reporting and Customization

One of the key features of GA4 is its highly customizable reporting.

Yes, there are predefined reports for first time use.

But the real power lies in your ability to customize them to display only the data you need.

The Explore feature lets you combine, slice and dice, and analyze data to create custom reports.

This is not available in UA.

Customization is possible to some extent through custom dimensions and custom metrics.

But its limitations are relatively large.

P.S. We're not saying GA4 is perfect. To be honest, we're still trying to get used to it. But it's here to stay. As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, there's a learning curve to mastering GA4. However, focusing on the positives may make the transition easier.

Below is a table of the differences between UA and GA4 for easy reference.

feature	Universal Analytics (UA)	Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Data Model	Session-based data model, focusing on user sessions and page views	The event-based model treats each interaction as an event
Metrics and Measurement	Core metrics: page views, sessions, bounce rate	New metrics such as engagement time, scroll depth, and engagement rate
Device tracking function	Limited, especially across multiple devices	Native support for cross-device and cross-platform tracking
Privacy and User Data Control	Cookie based	Enhanced user data and privacy controls
Conversion tracking	Specific actions specified as conversion goals	Any event can become a conversion
Data setup and integration	Different platforms (web, mobile) require separate property settings	Unified property settings for multiple data streams (Web, iOS, Android)
Reporting and Customization	Standard predefined reports with some degree of customization	Highly customizable custom reports

GA4 interface (+ key metrics)

It's time to play GA4.

And get familiar with its interface.

All content is here:

1. The upper left corner is the main menu
2. On the left sidebar, you'll find the main navigation menu.
3. The center area displays the report or analysis you selected from the left sidebar.
4. In the top center is the search bar
5. In the lower left corner there is your management button
6. In the upper right corner you can find your account information

Now, let’s take a look at the primary navigation, where you’ll be spending a lot of your time.

Main navigation

The main navigation bar contains the different types of reports in GA4. These include:

• Home
• Report
• explore
• advertise
• administrative

The Home page is the default landing page when you log into GA4. It provides an at-a-glance view of the main reports. The Home page is customizable so you can change the different widgets to suit your preferences.

Reports provide data about your website traffic and measure users' activities, including their behavior, engagement, traffic sources, and conversion metrics .

Explore is where you create custom reports and data visualizations.

Ads takes you to the Attribution report. Here you can see data on how different channels contributed to your conversions.

You can access your account settings from Admin .

Home

The first one on the sidebar menu is "Home".

Here's what the default dashboard looks like.

On the main card, you can see Users, Conversions, Event Counts, and Sessions.

By default, these metrics show data for the last seven days. But you can change this in this window in the lower left corner.

On the card on the right, you will see the number of users in the last 30 minutes.

Similar to Universal Analytics, each bar on the graph represents each minute in the past half hour.

If you hover your mouse over one of the columns, you can see exactly how many visitors there were 12 minutes ago, for example:

Report

The reporting section is the core of GA4's analytical functionality.

Here you can find data about your website and/or application traffic.

You'll find Reports under the Home button.

Click Reports . You will see the Report Snapshot .

This snapshot will look a lot like the home report above.

This is a quick overview of your data. It's designed to give you quick access to metrics and trends without having to create or navigate more custom reports.

If you scroll down, you’ll also find an overview of other reports, such as Top Events, Top Conversions, Best Selling Products, and more.

real time

Under Reports , you can also find Real-time reports.

Clicking this button will open a window showing the activity of visitors currently browsing your site.

At a glance, you can see the type of device your active users are using — mobile, tablet, or desktop.

Using a large world map, you can also see where users are currently browsing.

If you scroll down the page you will see:

• The Users by First Time User Source section shows where users were before they came to your site
• The " Users by audience " section divides users into different segments or groups based on the criteria you set
• The View by Page Title and Screen Name section shows which pages or screens are being viewed

life cycle

Below the Real-time reports, you'll see Lifecycle, which has four reports on the entire lifecycle of an individual user:

• get
• got engaged
• Monetization
• reserve

Let's look at each part more closely.

get

These reports help you understand how users find your site or app. It is further divided into three sections:

• Overview
• User acquisition
• Traffic Acquisition

Overview

Click " Collect " > " Overview "

Here you will see an overview of your acquisition metrics.

You will see the same details as in the Home report and Report Snapshot.

As you scroll down, you’ll find more data on the sources of your traffic on different channels.

User acquisition

User Acquisition gives you more data about your users.

This can help you understand which channels are sending the most traffic.

Organic traffic? Social traffic? Direct traffic?

You can find them all here.

Traffic Acquisition

Traffic acquisition focuses on how users arrive at your website during each user session.

It captures the source of sessions after the initial visit so that you can see if the same source continues to drive repeat visits.

got engaged

The Engagement section has five sub-reports:

• Overview
• Activity
• Conversion
• Pages and Screens
• Landing Page

These reports are designed to show you all activity on your website or mobile app.

And it helps you understand how users interact with your platform by connecting various data points along the user journey.

It shows:

• Which pages or screens visitors viewed
• Custom events that you track for interactions with your feature
• These interactions lead to conversions

Like the others, it has an Overview section that provides a top-level summary of user engagement.

Activity

Events displays data for all events that you are tracking.

Here you'll see the user interactions that GA4 tracks as events by default, as well as the events you've defined yourself.

Scroll down to see a list of more data about the event you're tracking.

Clicking on any of these events will give you a deeper look into that specific interaction.

Conversion

The "Conversions" section shows the total number of conversions for your selected date range.

These are based on events that you designate as conversions, and can range from form submissions and purchases, among other key user actions.

Pages and Screens

To understand how users interact with individual pages on your site or screens in your app, go to Pages and Screens.

This data can help you understand what content people engage with and how it contributes to the overall journey on your site or app.

Landing Page

The Landing Pages section reports the pages that visitors first land on when they arrive at your site.

It shows the page from which visitors first enter your website.

This can help you understand which pages are most engaging for your visitors.

It can also help you evaluate the marketing effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and SEO efforts.

Monetization

E-commerce websites will find themselves using the monetization section quite often.

Here you can get a comprehensive view of the revenue generated by your website or app, as well as insights into shopping behavior.

Under Monetization, you can find the following details:

• E-commerce purchases
• Purchase process
• Checkout Process
• In-App Purchases
• Publisher Advertising
• Promotions

Search Console

You can easily connect Google Search Console to your analytics account.

To analyze search queries in GA4, you must first connect with your Google Search Console account.

[](https://backlinko.com/google-analytics-4#connect)If you haven’t set it up yet, we’ll walk you through the steps here.

explore

The Explore section is where you create custom reports.

You can choose to create a custom report from scratch. The template library also contains ready-made reports, such as:

• Free format, customizable, ad hoc analysis
• Funnel exploration to visualize the journey
• Path exploration, which tracks and displays the routes users take on your website
• Overlapping of segments to compare different segments

advertise

Link Google Ads to your GA4 and get a clear picture of your ad performance.

This section provides insights into the impact of all advertising, including search ads.

It shows you which campaigns are driving traffic and conversions to your site, helping you determine what’s working and what’s not.

GA4 SEO Tips: Three Practical Tips

Let’s explore the key GA4 reports that can help you analyze your SEO performance.

1. Keyword performance insights

To see keyword performance on GA4, you need to connect Google Search Console (GSC) to it.

Click Reports > Search Console > Queries

Here you can find data on “Google organic search traffic over time” and “Google organic search traffic by Google organic search query.”

Scroll down and you’ll see a table listing the organic search keywords people used to find your site, along with metrics like keyword impressions, CTR, and search ranking.

The list initially displays 10 queries per page, but you can adjust this setting by clicking the caret next to Rows per page.

2. Customizable Reports

One of the great improvements in GA4 is that you can customize your reports.

Want to create a specific report for your SEO analysis?

Here is one way to achieve this.

Let's say you want to customize your Acquisition report to be similar to the UA reports you're used to.

Simple.

Go to Reports > Acquisition > Acquisition .

To modify this report, you need to adjust the default dimensions.

Click the Customize Reports icon in the upper right corner.

In Custom Reports, select Dimensions .

Next, set Session Source/Medium as the default dimension by clicking the three vertical dots and selecting Set as Default .

Then, click Apply to refresh the report.

Look!

The report will appear more familiar and similar to the report in UA.

Next. Save and access your custom report.

First, save the report.

Click Save in the upper right corner **, and then click **Save as New Report .

A pop-up window will prompt you to name your report. Enter a Report Name and click Save .

Remember this name for the next step.

Next step:

To add this report to your navigation for future access:

Go to Reports > Library .

In the gallery, find the Lifecycle card and click Edit Collection .

In the window that opens, search for your saved reports on the right.

Drag your report to the Get card on the left and click Save to update your menu.

That’s it, your report is now added to your navigation menu.

Note: Only users with Editor or Administrator privileges can use the Library feature.

3. Search Function Insights

Searching for reports or want faster insights?

Use the search bar.

Go search and ask your questions.

Then, click the top result.

The answer will appear under Insights in the right panel of the screen .

Track important SEO metrics

Now you have mastered GA4.

Great!

The next step is to keep an eye on key SEO metrics to see how your SEO efforts are performing.

We also provide some practical tips on how to use these insights to improve systems that are already working well.

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