GA4 Setup Complete Guide

Why GA4 Setups Still Go Wrong in 2025

Even in 2025, most GA4 properties are set up incorrectly. Common mistakes:

• Relying on Enhanced Measurement only (spoiler: it misses key events)
• Not enabling debug mode for event validation
• Using Shopify's GA4 integration without checking the data

💡 Tip: An audit after setup is often more useful than a checklist before. But we’ll give you both.

Step 1: Create the GA4 Property (Properly)

• Go to Google Analytics and create a new GA4 property
• Choose the correct timezone and currency – get this wrong and your reports are useless
• Create a Web stream (or App stream, if relevant)
• Enable Enhanced Measurement, but be ready to override it via GTM
• Extend data retention to 14 months (default is 2 months)

Step 2: Enable Debugging and Real-Time Validation

• Install the GA4 DebugView Chrome extension
• Use GTM's Preview mode or add debug_mode: true to gtag calls
• Test events manually and confirm they appear in DebugView
• Use your browser’s Developer Tools > Network tab to confirm payloads

window.dataLayer.push({
 event: 'form_submit',
 form_name: 'Contact Form',
 debug_mode: true
});

Step 3: Define Your Events and Parameters

GA4 revolves around events. Here’s how to handle them like a pro:

• Stick to Google's recommended events list when possible
• Add custom parameters to improve segmentation (e.g., button_text, page_section)
• Example use cases:
  • outbound_click with destination_url
  • video_play with video_title, video_length
  • form_submit with form_name, form_id

Caution: GA4 has quota limits. Too many unique parameters = sampling and cost issues in BigQuery.

Step 4: Ecommerce Tracking

This is where setups die.

• Use GA4’s item-level ecommerce schema
• Track view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase
• Include all product-level metadata (item_id, item_name, item_category, price, etc.)

Shopify Users:

Do not rely on the built-in GA4 integration alone. It often:

• Sends duplicate events
• Misses view_item_list
• Fails to capture item metadata properly

Step 5: Implement Consent Mode (GDPR Compliance)

• Use GTM + Consent Mode v2 for full control
• Fire all tags conditionally based on consent state
• Set default consent to denied:

gtag('consent', 'default', {
 ad_storage: 'denied',
 analytics_storage: 'denied'
});

• Then update on acceptance:

gtag('consent', 'update', {
 ad_storage: 'granted',
 analytics_storage: 'granted'
});

Need server-side consent handling? We build that too.

Step 6: Link Google Ads & BigQuery

Google Ads

• Enable conversion linking in GA4
• Sync GA4 audiences with Google Ads
• Import GA4 conversions back into Ads

BigQuery

• Go to Admin > BigQuery Links
• Choose your project and dataset
• Data is streamed daily (or hourly for 360 users)
• Use it for:
  • Attribution analysis
  • Drop-off detection
  • LTV segmentation

Step 7: Hidden Settings Most People Miss

• Session timeout (default 30 mins) – adjust based on site behavior
• Internal traffic – filter out your IPs properly
• Referral exclusions – add Stripe, PayPal, etc. to stop broken sessions
• Currency mismatch – confirm your ecommerce data uses the right currency field

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