How to create Google Analytics GA4 Account complete setup guide

What is Google Analytics 4 (GA4)?

Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google that helps you track and analyze website traffic.It provides in-depth insights about visitors—such as where they come from, what pages they view, number of visitors, bounce rate, session duration, or conversions, and how they interact with your website. 

Google Analytics gives you real-time and historical data to help improve your site's performance. It helps businesses and marketers make informed decisions based on user behavior.

Google Analytics collects data using a small snippet of tracking code added to your website and shows the data on your Google Analytics dashboard.

Most websites will tell you that Google Analytics is a free tool by Google that tracks website visitors and user behavior. But let’s go beyond that.

A Real Example:

Imagine your website is a store in a mall. You open the doors, decorate the shelves, and wait for customers. But:

• Do you know who entered your store?
• Which aisles they spent time in?
• Which product they picked up but didn’t buy?
• Or whether they came from a friend’s recommendation or a billboard outside?

This is exactly what Google Analytics does—but for your website. It's not just a data tool. It’s your digital CCTV + sales assistant + marketing strategist working in the background 24/7.

Most new users think Google Analytics is about:

• Counting users
• Measuring sessions
• Checking bounce rates

But here’s a secret rarely mentioned:

Google Analytics is the most powerful marketing tool when configured correctly.

By combining custom events, funnels, cohorts, and conversion paths, Google Analytics becomes more than a tracker—it becomes a customer psychologist.

You can answer deep questions like:

• Why are people abandoning your form halfway
• Do returning users behave differently than new ones
• What’s the real reason your cart conversion dropped last week?

What is Google Analytics used for?

Google Analytics is a powerful digital analytics tool provided by Google that helps businesses, marketers, and website owners understand how people interact with their websites or apps. But its usefulness goes far beyond just counting visits or page views. Let’s explore what Google Analytics is used for in the real world, and how it helps make better decisions.

Understanding Website Traffic

At its core, Google Analytics tracks:

• Who visits your website

• Where they come from (Google search, Facebook, direct typing, etc.)

• What pages they view

• How long they stay

• What devices they use (mobile, desktop, tablet)

This data helps you understand the behavior and demographics of your audience so you can serve them better.

Understand User Intent

Google Analytics doesn’t just track “how many people” visited your site—it tells you why they visited and what they were hoping to do.

Example:
You see a blog page with 5,000 monthly visits but 90% bounce rate. That’s a signal the content didn’t meet intent. You learn more by tracking scroll depth, session time, and click patterns.

Use Case: Refine your content strategy based on what real visitors are looking for—not just traffic volume.

Measuring Marketing Campaign Performance

Google Analytics allows you to track and compare different traffic sources:

• Organic Search (Google, Bing)
• Paid Ads (Google Ads, Facebook Ads)
• Email Campaigns
• Social Media
• Referrals from other websites

You can see which channels are driving the most traffic, which ones convert better, and where to invest more marketing budget.

Tracking Events and Key Events

One of the most valuable uses of Google Analytics is tracking Key Events. A "Key Events" can be:

• A product purchase
• Filling out a contact form
• Downloading a brochure
• Subscribing to a newsletter

You can set up these actions as Key Events and measure how many users complete them.

Fix Leaks in Your Conversion Funnel

Think of your website like a funnel:
Home → Product Page → Cart → Checkout → Payment

Where are users dropping off?
GA lets you set up conversion paths to spot where people are bouncing and where they’re converting.

Use Case: Improve revenue by identifying and fixing drop-off points in your funnel.

Segment Your Audience

You don’t talk the same way to a teenager and a business owner, right?

GA lets you segment users based on:

• Demographics (age, gender, location)
• Traffic source (Google, Instagram, Email)
• Device (mobile vs desktop)
• Behavior (engaged vs non-engaged)

Use Case: Create targeted landing pages, email campaigns, or offers for different audience types.

Track Micro Conversions

People think conversions mean sales. But in modern marketing, micro-conversions are often more valuable:

• Time on page > 3 mins
• Watched 50% of a video
• Scrolled 75% of a blog
• Clicked “Contact Us”
• Viewed a pricing table

Use Case: Identify warm leads before they even reach the cart.

Test & Optimize Pages

A simple change like shifting your CTA button above the fold can improve your conversions.

Google Analytics helps you:

• Compare page performance over time
• Run A/B tests (when linked with Optimize or Looker Studio)
• Identify underperforming pages

Use Case: Make design or content decisions based on real user behavior, not guesswork.

Know Which Marketing Channels Actually Work

You might be spending money on Google Ads, social media, SEO, and email—but do you know which channel is:

• Bringing the most traffic?
• Getting the most engaged users?
• Delivering conversions?

GA’s Acquisition Reports break this down beautifully.

Use Case: Reallocate marketing budget to high-performing channels.

Identify Technical or UX Issues Instantly

Sudden drop in mobile traffic? 100% bounce rate on a landing page?

GA tells you when something breaks—before your users do.

Use Case: Detect bugs, slow loading pages, or broken forms early.

How to Create a Google Analytics Account (Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)?

Creating a Google Analytics account is the first step to start tracking your website or app visitors. Whether you're a business owner, blogger, marketer, or developer, this guide will walk you through the entire process of How to Create a Google Analytics Account?

Step 1: Sign in to Google Analytics

Visit this website https://marketingplatform.google.com/about/analytics/ and then click on the Sign in to Analytics button. If you already have a Google Analytics account, it will appear, but if you are creating a new account for the first time, a screen will appear to fill in the business details

Step 2: Click on “Start Measuring” to Begin Setup

Click on “Start measuring” to continue.

This will take you to the next screen where you’ll enter your Account Name and choose basic settings.

Step 3: Create a Google Analytics Account

Once you click the “Start measuring” button, you’ll reach the Account creation screen. This is where you officially begin the process of setting up your Google Analytics account.

What is a Google Analytics Account?

A Google Analytics account acts as the container for all the properties (websites or apps) you want to track. You can manage multiple properties under one account, so if you have more than one website, you don’t need to create separate Google logins.

Fill in Your Account Details

You’ll now see a field labeled:

Account Name
Here, you should enter a name that clearly identifies the business or project you’re tracking. For example:

• DigiTechGrow

This name is only visible to you and your team. Choose something meaningful so it’s easy to recognize later if you have multiple accounts.

Step 4: Create a Property in Google Analytics

After setting up your account, the next step is to create a Property — this is where your actual website or app data will be collected and analyzed.

What is a Property in Google Analytics?
In simple terms, a property represents the specific website, app, or digital platform you want to track.

For example:
If you are tracking www.example.com, then that is your property.
If you're tracking both a website and a mobile app, you might have two properties under one account.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) allows each property to handle multiple data sources like websites and apps in one place.

Fill in Property Details
On this screen, you’ll be asked to enter:

Property Name
Enter the name of the website, app, or project you're tracking.
Example:

digitechgrow or as per your requirement

Reporting Time Zone
Select the time zone based on your business or audience location.
Example:

India: (GMT+05:30) India Standard Time
USA: (GMT-08:00) Los Angeles Time
This setting affects how data is grouped by day in your reports.

Currency
Choose the currency relevant to your business. For Indian websites, you can select INR - Indian Rupee (₹).
This is useful if you’re tracking ecommerce revenue.

Once you've filled out all three fields, click the “Next” button to move to the Business Details section.

Step 5: Describe Your Business

Once you've created your property, the next step is to provide a few details about your business. This helps Google Analytics offer tailored insights and recommendations that are more relevant to your industry and business size.

You’ll now see a screen titled “Describe your business” with two required fields:

1. Industry Category

Use the dropdown to select the industry that best represents your business. This helps Google group your data appropriately and offer benchmarking reports.

Some common examples include:

• Retail
• Travel
• Healthcare
• Real Estate
• Finance
• Technology
• Education
• Other

If you're unsure, just select "Other" to move forward.

2. Business Size

Next, you’ll be asked to select your business size based on the number of employees:

• Small – 1 to 10 employees
• Medium – 11 to 100 employees
• Large – 101 to 500 employees
• Very Large – 501+ employees

This doesn’t impact how your data is tracked — it's only for internal suggestions and improving Google Analytics features for your type of business.

Once you've selected both options, click the “Next” button to move to the next step: Defining your business objectives.

Step 6: Choose Your Business Objectives

In this step, Google Analytics gives you the option to personalize your reports based on your business goals. This helps the platform recommend the most relevant features, reports, and insights.

You’ll see a section titled “Choose your business objectives” with multiple checkboxes.

Why Is This Important?

By selecting one or more goals, Google Analytics tailors the dashboard experience so that you get the most meaningful data right from the beginning — whether you're tracking leads, monitoring user behavior, or analyzing sales.

Available Business Objectives:

You can select one or more of the following:

1. Leads

• Use this if: You want to track form submissions, sign-ups, or inquiries from potential customers.
• Goal: Identify high-intent visitors. 

2. Sales

• Use this if: You run an e-commerce website or sell services online.
• Goal: Track transactions, revenue, and optimize your sales funnel.

3. Traffic

• Use this if: You want to measure how many people visit your site, where they come from, and what devices they use.
• Goal: Understand visitor sources and behavior.

4. User Engagement & Retention

• Use this if: You're focused on how users interact with your content, pages, or app over time.
• Goal: Improve session duration, bounce rate, and returning user activity.

Pro Tip: If you're unsure which one to choose, start with “Traffic” and “Leads”. You can always customize your goals later.

Once you've selected your objectives, click on the “Next” button to proceed to the final setup: Data Collection Configuration.

Step 7: Accept Google Analytics Terms of Service

Once you've selected your business objectives, Google will prompt you to review and accept the Google Analytics Terms of Service Agreement.

This step is mandatory and ensures that you understand and agree to how your data will be processed and used in compliance with international privacy laws like GDPR and CCPA.

What You’ll See:

A popup window titled “Google Analytics Terms of Service Agreement” will appear. It includes:

• Legal terms about data collection and processing.

• Google's responsibilities under GDPR and CCPA.

• A checkbox stating:
  “I accept the Measurement Controller–Controller Data Protection Terms…”

What You Need to Do:

1. Scroll through the terms if you want to review them.

2. Make sure the checkbox at the bottom is ticked.

3. Click on the “I Accept” button to proceed.
    

Note: Accepting these terms is required to continue using Google Analytics. You won’t be able to proceed without this step.

Once accepted, you’ll move on to the next and final step, where you’ll start configuring your data collection stream — such as setting up tracking for your website or app.

Step 9: Set Up Web Data Stream

Now it’s time to connect your website to Google Analytics so it can start collecting data from your visitors.

Set Up Your Web Stream

You’ll now see a screen titled “Set up data stream.” This is where you’ll link your website and name the stream.

Fill in the Required Details:

• Website URL:
  Enter the full domain name of your website.
  Example: www.digitechgrow.com
   

• Stream Name:
  Give your stream a name for easy identification (like your website or brand name).
  Example: DigiTechGrow

What is Enhanced Measurement?

Enhanced Measurement automatically tracks important visitor actions like:

• Page views
• Scrolls
• Outbound link clicks
• Site search
• Video engagement
• File downloads
• Form interactions

This option is enabled by default. You can leave it turned on to get detailed data without extra setup.

Click the “Create stream” or “Create & continue” button at the top right to move forward. Once you proceed, you’ll receive a Measurement ID and a tracking code that needs to be installed on your website.

Step 10: Add Google Tag to Your Website

Now your data stream is ready, you need to connect Google Analytics with your website. This allows Analytics to track visitor behavior on your site.

You’ll See This Screen: “Set up a Google tag”

There are two installation options:

1. Install with WordPress (Recommended) – for users using WordPress websites with plugins.
2. Install manually – best for custom-coded websites or where you want full control.

We’ll go with this option in this guide.

Manual Installation Instructions:

You’ll see a script like this:

<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->

<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-XXXXXXXXXX"></script>

<script>

  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];

  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}

  gtag('js', new Date());

  gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');

</script>

Paste the Tag on Your Website:

1. Open your website's code or header template.
2. Paste the copied code just before the closing </head> tag.
3. Save and upload the changes.

If you're using WordPress, paste this into your theme’s header.php file or use a plugin like “Insert Headers and Footers.”

Optional: Test Installation

Click the “Test installation” button to confirm if your tag is working correctly. Once the tag is added and live, Google Analytics will begin collecting data from your website visitors.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully Created your Google Analytics account and property.