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How to Add Google Analytics 4 to Your Website

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google’s free tool for counting who visits your website, where they came from and what they do once they arrive. In this guide you will create an Analytics account, connect it to your site and confirm that real visits are showing up.

Without analytics, every marketing decision is a guess. With it, you can see which pages bring in calls and form fills, which ads or social posts send traffic, and where visitors give up. Setup takes about half an hour, and the data starts building the moment it is live.

⏱ 30 minutes◎ Beginner☰ 8 steps↻ Updated Oct 2026

What you need

  • A Google account owned by the business
  • Admin access to your website or website builder
  • Your website address

Steps

1

Create your Analytics account

Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with a Google account that belongs to the business, not to an employee or outside agency. If this is your first visit, click Start measuring. Otherwise open Admin, click Create and choose Account. Give the account your business name, review the data sharing options and click Next.

Tip: Use a shared business login, such as an info@ address, so you never lose access when someone leaves.
2

Set up a GA4 property

A property holds the data for one website. Enter a property name, then pick your reporting time zone and currency so daily totals line up with your business day. Click Next, choose your industry and business size, then select what you want to use Analytics for. Click Create and accept the Terms of Service and Data Processing Amendment.

3

Add a web data stream

A data stream is the connection between your property and your site. In Admin, under Data collection and modification, click Data streams, then Add stream and Web. Enter your website address and a simple stream name like Main website. Leave enhanced measurement turned on. It records page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, site searches and file downloads without extra setup. Click Create stream.

4

Copy your Measurement ID

Open the web stream you just created. Under Stream details you will see a Measurement ID that starts with G- followed by letters and numbers. Copy it somewhere handy. Most website platforms only need this ID to connect to Analytics, so you may never touch any code.

5

Install the Google tag on your site

On WordPress, the simplest route is a plugin that adds the tag for you. Google’s free Site Kit plugin is one example, and many SEO plugins and themes also have a field for your Measurement ID. Website builders such as Wix, Squarespace and Shopify have a built-in Google Analytics setting. If none of these apply, click View tag instructions in your stream, choose Install manually, and paste the code right after the opening head tag on every page.

Tip: Pick one installation method only, because two copies of the tag will double count every visit.
6

Confirm data is coming in

Open your website on your phone or in a private browser window and click through a few pages. Then in Analytics, go to Reports and open Realtime. Your visit should appear within a few minutes, though Google says it can take up to 30 minutes. Standard reports fill in more slowly, usually within a day or two.

7

Adjust a few key settings

By default, GA4 keeps detailed user-level data for only two months. In Admin, open Data retention under the property’s data settings, change event data retention to 14 months and click Save. This affects explorations and funnel reports, not the standard reports. While you are in Admin, add teammates under Access management, and later mark important actions, like contact form submissions, as key events.

Tip: Exclude your own visits by defining your office IP address as internal traffic in the data stream’s tag settings.
8

Update your privacy policy

Analytics uses cookies to recognize returning visitors, so your privacy policy should say you use Google Analytics and why. If you serve visitors in places with strict consent rules, such as the European Union or the UK, add a cookie consent banner that works with Google’s consent mode. Many consent tools for WordPress and website builders support it out of the box.

Common Mistakes

  • Installing the tag through both a plugin and the theme, which doubles page views and wrecks your numbers.
  • Letting a former employee or web agency own the only admin login, so the business loses its own history.
  • Leaving data retention at two months and then finding last year’s detail missing from explorations.

FAQ

Is Google Analytics 4 free?

Yes. The standard version of Google Analytics 4 is free and is more than enough for most small businesses. Google sells a paid version called Analytics 360, but it is built for large companies with very high traffic and advanced reporting needs. You can start with the free version and never need anything more.

What is the difference between Google Analytics and Search Console?

Google Analytics shows what visitors do on your site from every source, including ads, social media and email. Search Console shows how your site performs in Google Search before anyone clicks, such as which searches show your pages and any indexing problems. They answer different questions, so most businesses use both and link them together.

How long until I see data in my reports?

Realtime data usually appears within minutes, and Google says to allow up to 30 minutes. Standard reports, like traffic sources and top pages, can take 24 to 48 hours to process. Analytics only records visits from the day the tag goes live, so it cannot show traffic from before you installed it.