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How to Setup GA4 for WordPress (Free and Paid) Methods

Sep 22, 2023

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If you've been wondering how to setup GA4 for WordPress for your company's site, then you're at the right spot. This comprehensive guide growth manager Curt Noble shows you how to do it quick, easy and for no cost.

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This isn't your typical GA4 blog post or guide. We won't spend a long explaining what GA4 is and why it's a pain.

I'd like to tell you set up GA4 as well as provide the information you need to get it done as quickly as possible.

Enough has been written about the process of migrating away from Universal Analytics (UA) to GA4. So, for this post, I'll be showing you how to do the new installation of GA4 for your web-based commercial website.

So, if you're just getting started with WordPress and want to keep track of your visitors' and the performance of your site, bookmark this post.

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Every website has different GA4 Monitoring Needs

Every website has unique requirements for tracking data. It's not feasible to address every single GA4 tracking case. So, I'm going to stick to the basics, as much as possible.

This means that if you would like to know the number of tacos your customers have eaten before signing in for your Taco Tuesday Premium Recipe Membership... you're not in the right place.

Probably not going to outline the solution to track data in this.

However, stay with us because you'll have to begin here regardless. The first step is to set up your GA4 account with Google and then set up your data stream.

Doesn't sound like fun, does it?

The best membership plugin when it comes to GA4 Reporting

Woman doing GA4 reporting

All the methods shown in this guide work on any WordPress site. Let's face it. There are some WordPress plugins and themes just perform better when using GA4. It's the same with membership sites.

The major advantage of for the integration with GA4 is its versatility in terms of hooks available and API access. It's also the easiest membership plugin to integrate with.

All the important Google Analytics plugins have integrated with . In this article, you'll learn how these integrations will make your life simpler.

This is why I'm going to be honest and admit that. If you aren't using , you're probably going to require an Google Analytics specialist to completely setup GA4 on your WordPress Membership site.

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How Do You Set Up Google Analytics GA4 on Your WordPress Member Site

Follow these steps for how to set up GA4 on WordPress

This guide covers four different ways on setting up GA4 in WordPressfor your website for membership or online business. The methods vary between straightforwardto cost-free and include the simplemethod requiring a small additional cost.

I'm certain that any one of these four methods will work for your situation. All four have the same initial step. You'll have to begin with that first step before you can move on to the next one.

Get an Google Analytics Account

If you're still not registered for one of the Google products (like Gmail or Google Drive), or you'd like to use a separate account with Google Analytics You'll have to sign up for your own Google account.

So if you need to create an account You can create one on the Google Analytics webpage.

Create a New GA4 Property

After registering for the Google Analytics account and logging into your account, you'll be required to set up your GA4 account.

Since one Google Analytics account can be used to track and analyze several websites, it is possible to make multiple properties on this page to keep the data separate.

While you are logged in to Google Analytics, click to the Admin menu in the bottom left corner. Click the button create a property.

Create Property in Google Analytics.

When you are on the Create Property screen You'll need to provide some essential information concerning your site. Within the Business Objectives options you can choose multiple goals.

These settings determine which reports you'll see out-of-the-box GA4. GA4. Do not worry about it. There is always the option to modify your GA4 reports through the GUI later.

Add property details in Google Analytics.

If you are able to access your Data Collection options, choose the Web optionfrom the choices. This is where you'll configure your GA4 Data Stream.

The Data Stream is the place where GA4 gathers the information about all events which occur on your site.

Input your website's URL and provide your data stream with an appropriate name. I suggest including "GA4" in the stream name. This will help you easily determine it is GA4. GA4 data stream in the future in this article.

Configuring GA4 Events to Collect on WordPress

GA4 collects what are called default events. You can pick which of these events matter to you.

I suggest selecting the Enhance Measurement option. By doing this, GA4 is told GA4 to record a handful of more standard events, like scroll depth, outbound clicks web search, and many more.

If you click the gear icon on the left, you will be able to select and select which events to follow. Your best bet is to leave them all checked.

Now, you might notice a glaring omission here There's no buy event available! Weird, right?

More on that later.

Set up data stream in Google Analytics.

Step One is Done!

It wasn't that difficult was it?

You now have now a fully functional GA4 Web property and data stream. However, it's still waiting for the data to come in (kind of like my kid sitting at the table and a bowl, waiting for someone to pour the Cap'n Crunch).

Let's now explore four possible ways to get cereal into the bowl. Errr... I mean incorporate the GA4 events in the data stream.

Making GA4 available to any WordPress site

It's all set. You've got your GA4 data stream configured and ready to receive the events on your website. Now you just need to add some code to WordPress for sending information into the stream.

As I said earlier, there are many options to achieve this. And you'll have to determine what is best depending upon your specific situation.

There are some things to consider when working out how to determine the optimal way to incorporate GA4 on your WordPress website:

  • How comfortable are you using the GA4 report interface?
  • Are you selling memberships, courses or downloads through your site?
  • Are you familiar with Google Tag Manager?
  • Are you also running advertising or social media traffic that you want to monitor?
  • Are you a member of an affiliate program? Do you have links you wish to promote?

There's likely to be more to consider here. However, this is an excellent idea to begin with. Under every one of these four options that follow, I'll include scenarios showing when each method may be appropriate.

Let's go!

Method 1 Method #1: Add GA4 to WordPress absolutely freewith Google Site Kit plugin

This method is totally cost-free. But it may not be the ideal solution for your WordPress site. This method works on WordPress websites that don't sell anything.

The reason is Google Site Kit has a major limitation when it comes to ecommerce tracking - that is that it doesn't have it.

And it can only configure Google tools and solutions.

Do you think you'll want to keep track of affiliate links or the traffic of social networks like Facebook as well as Twitter (X) at some point in the future? It's best to avoid this cost-free method.

When you decide to scale, this method will leave you too limited. That being said Here are the steps.

Install the Google Site Kit Plugin

Install Google Site Kit plugin.

From the Add Plugins webpage, just search for the keywords Site Kit using Google. After that, install and allow the plugin to be activated.

Add plugins in WordPress.

Once the plugin is activated after activation, you are able to begin the process of setting it up. First, you need to sign in to the same Google account that you have used to register the GA4 property earlier.

Connect your GA4 data stream to WordPress by using Google Site Kit

I mentioned earlier that you can use Site Kit to connect to other Google products and services. But, it's not required.

Now, let's join Google Analytics by selecting it from the list to begin setting up.

Google Site Kit installation screen.

The next step is to choose your property, account, and data stream. Be sure you choose your GA4 data stream you've already set up.

Or you could let Google Site Kit to create an GA4 data stream for you if do not have one already. The options are quite limited. This is why I recommend making the data stream separate.

You must select the option to Place Google Analytics 4 Coding on your site. This is the way GA4 will record analytics events within your WordPress site.

Google Site Kit connect service.

And that's it. Google Analytics 4 is now installed on your WordPress site.

There is a small time delay when data is collected. So, you won't see the data you've requested in the GA4 accounts for many hours.

Check to ensure you are sure that GA4 The data is flowing

Check to be sure your data is moving through your Real Time report in GA4.

Navigate back to your Google Analytics account, and select Reportson the left navigation menu. Click the Real-Time option..

If you don't see any information here It's likely that nobody is browsing your website. That's okay. Go to your website using a different browser tab.

Sooner or later, you'll see your users session appearing in live reports.

Method #2: Add GA4 to WordPress website for membership with Google Tag Manager for free (kind of)

This next method for how to add GA4 on to WordPress makes use of the cost-free Google Tag Manager (GTM) solution.

Even though GTM is completely free, it may need an analyst to finish the installation. Therefore, this approach is ideal for people who have previous knowledge of GTM.

GTM lets you set up your own events. In GA4, you'll have to set up a number of events within Tag Manager. So, buckle up.

In order to implement the e-commerce tracking feature through GTM for the WordPress website for members it is likely that you will require more code. Specifically, you'll need the script to push your transactions' data to Google Analytics' data layer. Google Analytics data layer.

Understanding the Layer of Data Layer

The data layer is an essential notion when you work in conjunction with GTM as well as Google Analytics (GA4). It acts as a bridge between your website and GTM.

Additionally, it lets you transmit your own data directly to GA4, Google Ads, and other third-party services.

The primary function of the data layer is to distinguish the information from the presentation layer (your information). So, instead of hardcoding data directly in tags or scripts for your site or scripts, you could transfer the data to your data layer.

Then, GTM can read the information and then make use of it in the creation of triggers, tags, and variables.

A Data Layer Can Make Your Life Easy

  • Flexibility- You can easily change, add or remove data without changing the site's code. This is especially useful for marketers who might not have access directly to a site's source code.
  • Consistency In centralizedizing your data in one place this ensures consistency in information collection across different applications and platforms.
  • Advanced Tracking - The data layer lets you use more advanced tracking options, like collecting information from dynamic websites or even single-page apps.
  • Security - By controlling which data is entered into the data layer and also how it's access, you will be able to ensure that confidential information doesn't accidentally sent to third-party tools.

Now that you've got the concept of data layer we'll get GTM up and running!

Install the Google Tag Manager Plugin

There are numerous plugins that allow you to integrate GTM to your WordPress website. Because there's an regular GTM implementation that is used by most plugins, they perform the same function.

As it turns out, the Site Kit from Google plugin can also install the GTM container to suit your needs!

Scroll up to METHOD #1 to see how to download this Google Site Kit plugin. After that, you can select the option to add Google Tag Manager.

Configuring the GA4 Tag in Google Tag Manager

After having GTM installed and set up and configured, it's time to begin deploying your first GTM tag!

A quick note: Google recently migrated the older GA4 Configuration Tag into the global Google Tag. So, if you've seen different tutorials that mentioned GA4 Configuration tags GA4 Configuration tag inside GTM, it's not present now.

When you log in into the GTM workspace Click to create the tag. Give the tag a name in the lower left.

I would suggest using something like "Google Tag to GA4". This will make it easier to be aware of how the tag controls the GA4 implementation.

Next, click into the Tag Configuration area to add a new type of tag. You'll see an option for Google Analytics. And on the next screen you'll see several Google Analytics alternatives. Be sure to select Google Tag here.