How to Create Google Analytics 4 Property

Setting up Google Analytics 4 is the first, most crucial step in understanding how people find and interact with your website. This article breaks down how to create a new GA4 property from scratch, set up your first data stream, and get the tracking code successfully installed on your site.

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A Quick Primer: Why Google Analytics 4?

If you've been around digital marketing for a while, you probably remember the old version of Google Analytics, known as Universal Analytics (UA). GA4 isn't just an update, it's a complete reimagining of how we measure web and app performance. Since Universal Analytics stopped processing new data in July 2023, learning GA4 isn't optional - it's essential for anyone who relies on data to make decisions.

So, what makes GA4 different? The key change is a shift from a session-based model to an event-based model.

• Universal Analytics (Old): Focused on sessions (groups of user interactions within a given timeframe). Everything from page views to purchases was framed within the context of a session.
• Google Analytics 4 (New): Focuses on events (every single user interaction). A page view is an event, a button click is an event, and a purchase is an event. This approach provides a much more flexible and detailed view of the entire customer journey, especially across different devices and platforms (like your website and mobile app).

GA4 also introduces privacy-centric features, powerful machine learning capabilities for predictive insights, and streamlined reporting that focuses more on user lifecycle than on simple traffic metrics. Getting your property set up correctly is the foundation for unlocking all of these benefits.

Before You Begin: What You'll Need

The process is straightforward, but having these few things ready will make it even smoother.

• A Google Account: You'll need a Google account (like Gmail) to create and access your Analytics account. If you don't have one, you can create one for free.
• Website Access: You'll need to be able to add a small snippet of code to your website. This could mean having login access to your WordPress dashboard, Shopify admin, or the ability to edit your site's HTML files.

Step-by-Step: Creating Your Google Analytics 4 Account and Property

Let's walk through the initial creation process. Navigate to the Google Analytics homepage and click "Start measuring" to begin.

Step 1: Account Setup

The first screen is for creating your overall Analytics account. Think of the account as the top-level folder that can hold multiple properties (e.g., different websites or apps).

• Account Name: Use your business or organization name here. For example, "Joe's Coffee Roasters." This is for your internal reference only.
• Account Data Sharing Settings: These settings give you control over how your anonymous data is shared with Google. Review the options - you can always change these later. Most people leave these checked.

Click "Next" to continue.

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Step 2: Property Setup

Now, you'll create a property within your account. A property represents your website or app. If you have several websites, you would create a different property for each one under your main account.

• Property Name: Enter the name of your website. For example, "joescoffee.com".
• Reporting Time Zone: Select the time zone you operate in. This is important as it affects how and when your daily reports are compiled.
• Currency: Choose the currency your business uses (e.g., U.S. Dollar). This is especially important for e-commerce tracking.

Click "Next". You don't need to click "Show advanced options" as this pertains to the old (and now defunct) Universal Analytics properties.

Step 3: Provide Business Details

This page asks for some basic information about your business. Google uses this to better understand its user base and potentially provide you with relevant industry benchmarks in the future.

• Industry Category: Choose the category that best fits your business.
• Business Size: Select the number of employees.

Click "Next".

Step 4: Choose Your Business Objectives

GA4 tailors its reports and interface slightly based on your primary goals. You can select what's most important to you, like "Generate leads" or "Drive online sales."

If you're not sure or just want the full suite of reports, you can select "Get baseline reports" at the bottom. This is a safe and comprehensive option for most new users. After making your selections, click "Create".

Step 5: Accept the Terms of Service

A popup will appear with the Google Analytics Terms of Service. Select your country, check the box to accept the terms, and click "I Accept".

Setting Up Your First Data Stream

After you accept the terms, you'll be prompted to set up your first "data stream." A data stream is simply the source of data for your property. Think of it as a pipeline that sends data from your website or app into Google Analytics.

Step 1: Choose a Platform

You'll see three options:

• Web: For a website.
• Android app: For an Android mobile application.
• iOS app: For an iOS mobile application.

Most users will choose Web. Click on it to proceed.

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Step 2: Set Up Web Stream Details

On this screen, you'll provide the specific details for your website stream:

• Website URL: Enter your website's domain, making sure to select https:// or http:// correctly. For example, www.joescoffee.com.
• Stream name: This is often just your website URL or business name. It's for your reference inside GA4.

A Note on Enhanced Measurement

You'll notice an option called "Enhanced measurement" that is enabled by default. We strongly recommend leaving this turned on.

Enhanced measurement automatically tracks common user interactions without you having to configure anything extra. This includes:

• Scrolls (when a user scrolls 90% of the way down a page)
• Outbound clicks (clicks on links that lead away from your domain)
• Site search (what users are searching for on your site)
• Video engagement
• File downloads

This feature is a huge time-saver and gives you valuable insights right out of the box. Once you've entered your URL and stream name, click "Create stream".

Installing the Google Analytics 4 Tag on Your Website

Once you create your web stream, you’ll land on the "Web stream details" page. This page holds the key to connecting your site to GA4: your tracking code.

At the top right, you'll see your Measurement ID, which looks something like G-XXXXXXXXXX. This ID is unique to your data stream.

Next comes the most important part: adding the tracking tag to your website. There are a few ways to do this, ranging from easy to more technical.

Method 1: Using a Website Builder or CMS Integration (The Easy Way)

Most modern website platforms have a built-in field or recommended plugin to easily add your GA4 tag. This is the simplest and best option for most people because it doesn't involve touching any code.

• WordPress: Use a plugin like Google Site Kit (by Google), MonsterInsights, or another popular analytics plugin. These plugins will give you a simple field where you just copy and paste your Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX).
• Shopify: Shopify has a native Google & YouTube app. You connect your account there and Shopify handles the tag installation seamlessly in the background.
• Wix/Squarespace: These builders have dedicated Marketing & SEO integration sections. Navigate there, select Google Analytics, and paste your Measurement ID.

If your platform asks for a Measurement ID, that's all you need. If it asks for the full code snippet, move to Method 2.

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Method 2: Manual Installation (The Global Site Tag)

If your platform doesn't have a direct integration, or if you have a custom-coded website, you'll need to install the code manually. On the "Web stream details" page, under "Installation instructions," click "Install manually."

You'll see a JavaScript snippet that looks like this:

<!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-YOUR_ID_HERE"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [],
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments),}
  gtag('js', new Date()),

  gtag('config', 'G-YOUR_ID_HERE'),
</script>

You need to copy this entire block of code and paste it immediately after the <head> tag on every single page of your website. If you're using a template or themed system (like in WordPress), you can usually add this to a single header.php file, and it will be applied globally.

Verifying Your GA4 Installation

Once you've added the code, you'll want to make sure it's working. Don't worry if you don't see massive amounts of data immediately - the full reports can take 24-48 hours to process and populate.

However, you can check for activity right away using the Realtime report.

1. In your GA4 property, navigate to Reports > Realtime in the left-hand menu.
2. Open your website in a new browser tab or on your phone. Click around to a few pages.
3. Switch back to the Realtime report in GA4. Within a minute or two, you should see yourself appear as a user on the map and see "page_view" and other events populating in the cards below.

If you see activity in the Realtime report, congratulations! You have successfully installed Google Analytics 4 on your website.

Final Thoughts

By following these steps, you have now built the foundation for tracking your website's performance. You have a GA4 property that is actively collecting data through a web stream and is correctly installed with a tracking tag on your site. This setup is the starting point for gaining valuable insights into your audience and their behavior.

Now that your data is flowing, the next step is analysis. Making sense of all the standard reports in Google Analytics can feel overwhelming, and finding specific answers still often requires building reports by hand. We believe getting insights shouldn't be so labor-intensive. That's why we created Graphed. By securely connecting your GA4 account, you can skip the manual report building and simply ask questions in plain English - like "Which landing pages are getting the most traffic from organic search?" - and get instant, real-time dashboards and answers.