You've set up GA4 (Google Analytics 4), but you're not sure if the settings are correct, or you don't know what to configure to start tracking. These are common concerns. GA4's settings and concepts have changed significantly from UA, and gaps in your initial setup directly affect data accuracy. This article walks through every step of GA4 setup, from account creation to the start of data collection.
GA4 setup begins with account creation. Go to Google Analytics (analytics.google.com), log in with your Google account, and click "Start measuring." Enter an account name, review the data sharing settings, and click "Next." Use a recognizable name such as your company or project name. Since one account can manage multiple properties, a common pattern is to create one account per organization and separate properties by site.
Next, create a property. Enter your site or service name as the property name. Set the reporting time zone and currency to match your region. These settings affect report date boundaries and revenue reports, so configure them accurately. After creating the property, you'll be asked about business details (industry and size). GA4 uses this to suggest recommended events and report templates, so select as accurately as possible.
After creating the property, set up a data stream. A data stream is the entry point through which GA4 receives data, and there are three types: "Web," "Android app," and "iOS app." To measure a website, select "Web," enter the site URL and stream name, and click "Create stream."
Once created, a Measurement ID is issued—an alphanumeric string starting with "G-" that is used for GA4 data collection. Be sure to note this ID, as you'll need it for tag installation. You can add multiple data streams to a single property, so if you also run mobile apps, add separate streams for each.
The most recommended method for installing the GA4 tracking tag is via GTM (Google Tag Manager). With GTM, you can add, modify, and remove tags from the admin panel without directly editing HTML, greatly improving operational efficiency.
Here are the steps: Log in to GTM (tagmanager.google.com) and open the target container. If you haven't set up GTM yet, create a new account and container, and install the GTM snippet code on all pages of your website. In the GTM admin panel, click "Tags" > "New" and select "Google tag" as the tag type. Enter your GA4 Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX) in the Tag ID field. Set the trigger to "All Pages." Finally, click "Save" > "Submit" > "Publish" to deploy the GA4 tracking tag across your entire website.
If you're not using GTM, embed the global site tag (gtag.js) provided by GA4 directly in your HTML. In the GA4 admin panel, open the data stream detail screen, select "View tag instructions" > "Install manually," and copy the displayed snippet code into the head tag of every page on your website. However, since you'll need to edit HTML each time you add event or conversion tags later, we recommend adopting GTM for the medium to long term.
After installing the tag, always verify that data is being collected correctly. There are three main verification methods.
First, GA4's Real-time report. Open "Reports" > "Realtime" in the GA4 admin panel. While accessing your website, if the active user count shows "1" or more, tracking is working correctly.
Second, GA4's DebugView. Install the Chrome extension "Google Analytics Debugger" and turn it on, then access your website. In the GA4 admin panel under "Admin" > "DebugView," you'll see events flowing in real time. You can check event names and parameter details, making it ideal for verifying your setup.
Third, GTM's Preview mode. Click "Preview" in the GTM admin panel to launch Tag Assistant. Enter the target URL and access it to see in real time which tags fired. If the GA4 tag appears under "Tags Fired," everything is working correctly.
GA4 comes with "Enhanced Measurement" built in by default, allowing you to automatically measure many user behaviors without additional tag configuration. Verify that the Enhanced Measurement toggle is turned on in the data stream settings.
Key events automatically captured by Enhanced Measurement include: Page view (page_view) recorded on page load; Scroll (scroll) recorded when a user scrolls 90% of the page; Outbound click (click) captured when clicking links to external sites; Site search (view_search_results) recorded when site search is performed; Video engagement (video_start, video_progress, video_complete) tracking embedded YouTube video play, progress, and completion; File download (file_download) measured when PDFs, Excel files, etc. are downloaded; and Form interaction (form_start, form_submit) recording form input start and submission.
Individual items can be toggled on or off via the gear icon. For site search measurement, the search parameter may not be auto-detected in some cases, requiring manual configuration—be sure to verify it's working.
GA4's data retention period defaults to 2 months. Since this affects the range of data available in Exploration reports, be sure to change it to 14 months. Note that standard reports are not affected by this retention limit and will continue to show historical data.
To change this setting, go to "Admin" > "Data collection and modification" > "Data retention," change "Event data retention" to "14 months," and save. This setting is not applied retroactively, so it's best to configure it immediately after setting up GA4.
Enabling Google Signals allows you to collect cross-device behavioral data from users logged into their Google accounts. For example, you can analyze a user who browsed products on their smartphone and later purchased on their PC as a single user journey.
To enable it, go to "Data collection and modification" > "Data collection" and turn on "Google signals data collection." Note that enabling Google Signals may cause data to be hidden due to "thresholding" when user counts are low. If reports show missing data, try extending the date range or temporarily switching the reporting identity to "Device-based."
If your own staff's access mixes into the tracking data, accurate analysis becomes impossible. GA4 allows you to exclude internal traffic by filtering out specific IP addresses.
Setup involves two stages. First, go to "Data collection and modification" > "Data streams" > select the target stream > "Configure tag settings" > "Show more" > "Define internal traffic" and create a rule with the IP addresses you want to exclude. Next, go to "Admin" > "Data collection and modification" > "Data filters" and change the "Internal Traffic" filter status from "Testing" to "Active."
Before activating the filter, we recommend using it in "Testing" mode first and checking with the Real-time report comparison feature to confirm the targeted traffic is correctly identified. Once verified, switch the filter to "Active."
In GA4, setting up conversions (now called "key events") lets you quantitatively track your site's performance metrics. Common events to mark as conversions include: form submission completion, product purchase (purchase), account registration (sign_up), phone button taps, and document downloads.
First, prepare an event corresponding to the user action you want to track. If an automatically collected or enhanced measurement event covers it, you can use it directly; otherwise, you'll typically need to create a custom event in GTM. For example, to track arrivals at a thank-you page (/contact/thanks), set up a "Page View" trigger in GTM with a URL condition and use a GA4 event tag to send an event name (e.g., generate_lead).
Once the event is verified, go to the GA4 admin panel's "Events" list and toggle on "Mark as key event" for the relevant event. That completes your conversion setup. Always verify via DebugView or the Real-time report that conversions are being recorded correctly.
If you run Google Ads, set up the GA4 link early. This lets you import GA4 key event data into Google Ads for bid optimization and use GA4 audience segments as remarketing lists.
Go to "Product links" > "Google Ads links" > "Link," select the Google Ads account you want to connect, and confirm. Note that linking requires "Editor" or higher permissions in GA4 and "Admin" permissions in Google Ads.
GA4's free tier includes raw data export to BigQuery. Connecting BigQuery enables advanced SQL-based analysis beyond GA4's UI and allows unlimited data accumulation without retention limits. If you plan to leverage data analysis or BI seriously, we strongly recommend setting this up early. Data is not exported retroactively—only data from the connection date onward is sent.
Go to "Product links" > "BigQuery links" > "Link." Select a Google Cloud project, choose a data location ("asia-northeast1 (Tokyo)" is recommended for Japan), and set the export frequency (daily export or streaming export). Streaming export enables near-real-time data sync but incurs BigQuery usage fees. Starting with daily export is advisable.
Finally, here's a checklist to confirm your GA4 setup is complete. Have you created a Google Analytics account and property? Have you created a web data stream and obtained the Measurement ID? Have you installed the tracking tag on all pages via GTM or gtag.js? Have you verified tracking via the Real-time report or DebugView? Is Enhanced Measurement turned on? Have you changed the data retention period to 14 months? Have you enabled Google Signals? Have you created internal traffic exclusion rules and activated the filter? Have you set up key conversions (key events)? Have you linked with Google Ads (if running ads)? Have you linked with BigQuery? If all items are cleared, your GA4 initial setup is complete.
GA4 setup involves many steps—from account creation and data stream configuration to tag installation, enhanced measurement and data retention adjustments, internal traffic exclusion, conversion setup, and external service integrations. However, each individual step is straightforward, and by following this article's guide, even beginners can confidently build a GA4 measurement environment. Since initial setup quality has a major impact on subsequent data quality, take the time to configure everything carefully and take the first step toward data-driven site improvement.
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