Since the release of Google Analytics 4 was announced, there have been many questions about this new version.
I am going to compile these questions here. Also, if you have any question, you can send it to me using the form at the bottom, I will answer by mail and I will publish the answer in this article.
I am going to compile these questions here. Also, if you have any question, you can send it to me using the form at the bottom, I will answer by mail and I will publish the answer in this article.
Jorge - Hi, I want to track the number of previous sessions of a person who then performs an event/conversion. In my case I have a form to capture leads in a landing. I want to know how many times a person navigates the landing before completing the form.
Can you think of a way to check this data?
It would be ideal to find a way to do it with people who have already filled out the form to get a more accurate view.
Thank you 😀
Good morning Jorge.
Let's see, knowing the specific person who has filled out a form and how many times they previously visited the page before filling out the form is initially not possible. You would only be able to join the dots and make an identification if the users were previously logged in to your website, and in this case, that is certainly not going to be the case.
Then, if you want to know which paths the users who have completed the form followed before this happens, and with that, the sessions they completed before completing it, you can see that in the conversion paths report (Advertising, Model Comparison and Conversion Paths).
Finally, there is a way to extract where a one-to-one form conversion comes from, that is, to know form by form where the session that triggered that conversion came from, but that would have to be implemented, in most cases, with Google Tag Manager. That's going to depend on the form plugin you have implemented on your website (I'm assuming it's made with WordPress).
José Luis - Hi, I have an ecommerce and from Google Analytics (both in Universal and GA4) I can not measure the total conversions that come through Woocommerce, there are days that is left without measuring 25% and other 40% without following any pattern (country, payment method ...) in these purchases that does not measure.
Do you have any idea what could be the cause of this problem and if it has a solution?
Hello José Luis.
There could be many things going on. Here are a few for you to investigate.
The first thing is that not all users are accepting cookies, I don't know if you have a control system in place, but it is a possibility.
It may also depend on how and with which plugin, I read you had one, you are implementing the Datalayer.
Initially there are changes in Universal and GA4 events in relation to advanced eCommerce. In this article you can see Google's recommendations for migrating the implementation of EEC from Universal to GA4.
As you can read at the beginning of the article, the names of some e-commerce parameters and events have changed in the Google Analytics 4 properties. As for the plugin, the only one that I think works correctly with both versions is Pixel Tour Site. I say I think because I haven't had the chance to test it yet. Also, I'm afraid, it's with the Pro version which is paid :((((.
Below is the video where they talk about it. Multiple Google Analytics properties on WordPress and WooCommerce: the old UA and the new GA4
And finally, Google Analytics is a very powerful measurement system, but it is not infallible. It may not collect 100% of the data or, even if it does, it may be applying sampling and/or, now in GA4, data thresholds. Make sure this is not happening.
Leticia - How can I configure the gtag.js embed script so that it does not set any cookies?
My goal is not to use a banner for the cookie warning, as only WordPress technical cookies would be used on my web pages and this prevents me from using a Cookie Consent plugin.
Thank you very much,
Good morning Leticia,
Uff the truth is that you present an issue that right now generates a lot of controversy and doubts about how it will be resolved. First of all, if I tell you something, at present you will not be able to, or you should not, give up the cookie management plugin.
Both GA3 and GA4 can collect data without cookies, but you will lose some information or functions if you do not accept cookies.
I see you are using the gtag.js tag to implement Google Analytics. If so, here's how you should modify it to implement what Google calls Consent mode. But remember that you'll have to do it for every property you implement in gtag.js.
In this article => https://developers.google.com/tag-platform/devguides/consent explains how to implement the tag. You will have to do it from your cookie management plugin and you will have to adapt the second part, which I put below, depending on the cookie management plugin you use.
<!-- Update this section based on your business requirements. -->
<script>
function consentGranted() {
gtag('consent', 'update', {
'ad_storage': 'granted'
});
}
</script>
<body>
...
<button onclick="consentGranted">Yes</button>
...
</body>Here what you are doing is adding a button in the body to do the upgrade, this is the part that you have to integrate with your cookies plugin to be able to solve it. Tell me which plugin you use and I'll tell you how to do it.
However, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is something that Google has in beta.
Ana - Hi Carlos, first of all, thank you for your article because it is very graphic and very clear.
I have followed it to move a property from one account to another in the organisation, but it won't let me, it tells me the following:
"This property is part of a link between a Universal Analytics property and a Google Analytics 4 property, so it cannot be moved".
That happens when the property you want to move, I don't know if it's Universal or GA4, is linked to the other one.
You would have to break the link and then move the account.
I assume you want to move both, so first unlink both accounts, then move them, and finally, re-link them in the new account.
Here you can see how to connect them https://carlosmdh.en/tutorials/how-to-connect-ga4-to-universal-analytics/
If it is about your website https://iulamj.com/ I see that only the Universal property is implemented, so it is very likely that Google Analytics 4 is not collecting data.
If so, unlink the properties and move the GA3 one. In the new account you can create a new property, I insist if the current one is not collecting data.
Finally, I don't recommend you to have both properties linked, the best is to have them implemented in parallel but independent, either implementing both tags with Google Tag Manager or with the ga.js code snippet.
You can see how to do it in these two articles:
https://carlosmdh.es/tutoriales/como-instalar-ga4-google-tag-manager/
carlosmdh - Do I need to have an application to create a Google Analytics 4 property?
No, it is not mandatory to have an application to create a GA4 property.
If you have a website that needs to be tracked, you can select "Add web stream" as a data stream.
Teresa - SIf I change the domain in the property I have created, won't the previous data disappear? As the website is the same but I have changed the domain, I don't want to lose the history.
I have already told Search Console that the old domain A is now B, but I still need to solve the Analytics and GTM issues.
No, you do not lose the data you have collected.
If you add the same property to the new domain, you will get continuity in the data, but, as I said, you will have to check the targets and other things you have customised, e.g. filters, to make sure they don't include any reference to the old web host.
If, as you say, you use GTM to inject the Google Analytics tracking ID, it will be enough to add the Google Tag Manager code snippet to your new website. You have the snippet to do it through a mu-plugin both to add Google Tag Manager to WordPress and to add Google Tag Manager to Genesis.
Teresa - If I keep the ID of G3 (previous) and create another property for G4, will I have to include 2 IDs in the web / GTM?
Of course, you will have to include both IDs, unless you use the gtag.js snippet inserted in the web code, which you can connect both properties, but I don't recommend it, because if you have events created in GA3 there is no guarantee that they will work correctly in GA4.
So it is best to put both IDs.
- If you use the gtag.js snippet you will need to include an additional line:
<-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-XXXXXXXXX-Y"><script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'UA-XXXXXXXXX-Y');
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>- If you use a plugin, it would be necessary to see how both IDs can be implemented.
- If it is a RGPD plugin, it is enough to put the gtag.js as I mentioned in point 1.
- And my recommendation: Google Tag Managerand use the Google Analytics tags: Universal Analytics and Google Analytics: GA4 Settings.
Teresa -Ifyou have a Universal Analytics property for a domain A of a website and you change the domain of that website to a domain B, is it possible to keep using the same property somehow so as not to lose the data, since it is actually a continuity of the same site? Do you have to create a new property in Analytics 4?
There would be no problem to continue using a previously created property on the new website. It is only advisable to change the domain of the property.
However, if you have configured targets or if you measure a special event, you will have to check the configuration.
As for creating a Google Analytics 4 property, it is not mandatory, but it is recommended, so that it can start collecting data from now on.
carlosmdh - How do I add GA4 to my website?
If you already have a Google Analytics account, simply go to the administration section and click on the create a property button. If you do not have a Google Analytics account, create one.
Regardless of this, GA4 will be the default option when you create a new account.
In principle, Google recommends that you implement the Google Analytics JavaScript code, the famous gtag.js. But I recommend that you implement the tracking ID via Google Tag Manager, which will give you more flexibility.
Remember, however, that you can still create a Universal Analytics property.
Mariano Pérez - Are there templates to configure your GA4 property according to the type of website you have?
Well, as such they do not exist, but there is a list of recommended events that can be configured and measured, both generic, such as when a user logs in or shares content from your website, and by vertical markets.
In this second case, Google has created a list for four types of verticals:
carlosmdh - How can I implement the tracking IDs of Universal Analytics and GA4 with the gtag.js tag that Analytics gives me by default? I set the tag twice (once for each property).
No, you don't need to add two tags, in a single tag you can include both tracking IDs by adding a line for each property. I already talked about it at WordCamp Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 2019.
If you need to see how the script would look like, here it is. You will need to change UA-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-Y and G-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX to your Universal and GA4 tracking ids respectively.
<-- Global site tag (gtag.js) - Google Analytics -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-XXXXXXXXX-Y"><script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag('js', new Date());
gtag('config', 'UA-XXXXXXXXX-Y');
gtag('config', 'G-XXXXXXXXXX');
</script>carlosmdh - What about GDPR, can I implement Analytics tracking code in Google Tag Manager and comply with GDPR?
Of course you can. You can implement the tracking code of Google Analytics, whatever its version, and other measurement tools from Google Tag Manager and still comply with the GDPR.
I leave you a fantastic article written by Itxaso Jocano in which she explains "How to configure Google's Consent Mode to comply with European Cookie Law in WordPress".
carlosmdh -Can I still create a new Universal Analytics property?
Yes, when creating a new Analytics property, you can choose to only create a GA4 property, create a GA4 property and a Universal Analytics property, or only create a Universal property.
carlosmdh -Is my Universal Analytics data going to disappear?
I don't know where this hoax came from. Currently, according to BuiltWith, there are almost twenty and a half million sites using Universal, while Google Analytics 4 is only deployed on 1.3 million sites worldwide. In case that doesn't put your mind at ease, the previous version Classic Analytics still has almost seven million active installations.
carlosmdh -What if I have the Analytics tracking script implemented directly on the website, either because I have it hardcoded or because I have it implemented with a plugin?
It is not a good idea to have the script hardcoded in the header template of your WordPress theme, it is a very bad idea. 2. If you use a plugin that is not one to cover GDPR compliance, maybe it is not a good idea either, but in this case I have little experience, and I don't think I will have it in the future.
My recommendation is that you use Google Tag Manager to implement Google Analytics (I don't care if it's GA3 or GA4). For two reasons:
- Google Tag Manager is a flexible tool for implementing marketing or analytics tags that are based on JavaScript.
- In the particular case of GA4, the integration with this tool and the ease of implementation of events that it offers make it ideal for not breaking your head.
If you have your gtag.js JavaScript code embedded and I've convinced you, what you'll need to do first is to remove it and implement the GTM tag. You can see how to do this in the article I linked to in this paragraph. If you have WordPress of course.
Once you have done this, you can see how to implement GA4 with Google Tag Manager in this other tutorial.
carlosmdh - If I already use Google Tag Manager and I have created the Universal Analytics tag, should I create a new container to implement the GA4 tag?
Absolutely NO, it is not necessary.
GA4 has its own tag templates within Google Tag Manager (Google Analytics: GA4 Settings and Google Analytics: GA4 Events) and tags from GA3 and GA4 can coexist correctly.
carlosmdh - What do I do if I already have Universal Analytics (AKA GA3) installed?
You can delve into the different scenarios in this article I published a few days ago "When should I upgrade to Google Analytics 4". But as I see it, I'm talking about the end of May 2021, I would personally recommend that you keep your Universal Analytics property while implementing GA4, at least for the whole year 2021. Maybe at the beginning of 2022 my recommendation will be different.
This page will grow over time, I encourage you to leave me your questions in the form below.
