Following is the interface for Google Analytics
Comprehensive guide to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) implementation, reporting, and analysis. Use this README as a reference for setting up GA4, understanding key concepts, and creating custom reports.
- Overview
- User Journey
- Implementation Steps
- Account Structure
- Business Objectives & Key Reports
- User Roles & Permissions
- Real-Time Reporting
- Events, Parameters, Dimensions & Metrics
- Data Configuration & Filters
- Conversions
- Standard Reports
- Explore & Advanced Analysis
- Custom Reports & Collections
- Segments & Audiences
- Integrations & APIs
- Privacy & Modeling
- Analytics 360 Features
- GA4 vs. Analytics 360 Comparison
A quick introduction to GA4’s purpose, benefits, and core capabilities.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest analytics platform from Google, unifying web and app data under an event-based model. It emphasizes privacy, cross-platform tracking, and deeper integration with Google Ads and BigQuery.
An outline of the four key stages in the customer lifecycle that GA4 tracks.
GA4 organizes insights into four lifecycle stages:
- Acquisition: How users find your property (e.g., campaigns, referrals)
- Interaction: User actions (page views, clicks, video plays)
- Monetization: Revenue activities (purchases, subscriptions)
- Retention: User re-engagement and loyalty over time
High‑level overview of the steps to set up GA4 for accurate data collection.
Implementation means setting up GA4 tags or SDKs to start collecting accurate data.
- Add Tracking Tag
Install
gtag.json every page or use Google Tag Manager (GTM). - Collect User Data Track device, location, behaviors; mobile apps require Firebase SDK for iOS/Android.
- Record Events
GA4 auto-tracks common events; define up to 500 custom events via
logEvent(). - Process & Report Events are transformed into metrics and dimensions for reporting.
Description of GA4’s hierarchical model for organizing properties and data streams.
| Level | Definition |
|---|---|
| Account | Container for properties |
| Property | Individual site or app |
| Data Stream | Web, iOS, or Android data source |
Link business goals to the GA4 reports and metrics that support them.
| Objective | Key Reports / Features |
|---|---|
| Generate leads | User & Traffic Acquisition, Landing Pages |
| Drive online sales | E-commerce Purchases, Purchase Journey |
| Examine behavior | Events, Conversions, Pages & Screens |
| Boost awareness | Ads Campaigns, Demographics |
Overview of the different GA4 access levels and their capabilities.
- Admin: Full control including user management
- Editor: Edit settings/data (no user mgmt)
- Marketer: Manage audiences, conversions
- Analyst: Build dashboards, annotations
- Viewer: Read-only access
How to monitor live user activity and troubleshoot data collection issues.
- Shows activity from the past 30 minutes.
- If data is missing, allow up to 24 hours for processing.
Definitions of GA4’s core data elements used to structure analytics data.
- Event: A user interaction (e.g.,
video_play). - Parameters: Context (e.g.,
video_name,duration). - Dimension: Qualitative attribute (text).
- Metric: Quantitative measure (number count).
Guidance on excluding unwanted data sources to ensure clean analytics.
Exclude domains (e.g., payment gateways) to maintain accurate session attribution. Example: Remove a payment processor’s domain to avoid inflated drop-off rates.
- Internal: Company IPs
- Developer: Testing/staging environments
Exclude these to prevent skewed analytics.
Steps:
- Define Internal Traffic: Admin > Data Stream > Configure Tag Settings > Define Internal Traffic (add IPs).
- Create Filter: Admin > Data Filters > Developer/Internal Traffic (set Testing or Active).
Explanation of what counts as a conversion and how to mark key actions.
A Conversion is a key action like a purchase or signup.
- Mark events in Admin > Events or Admin > Conversions.
- Changes appear after ~24 hours.
Summary of the default GA4 reports and the insights they provide.
- Acquisition: Traffic sources and user acquisition trends
- Engagement: Active users, events, engagement rate
- Monetization: Revenue, product performance, ad revenue
- Retention: Cohort analysis, Lifetime Value
- User: Demographics and technology breakdown
Overview of GA4’s exploratory tools for deep-dives and custom analysis.
- Free-form: Custom tables and charts, anomaly detection
- Funnel: Step-by-step user journey tracking
- Path: Visualize page flows leading to key events
Steps to build tailored reports and organize them for team access.
-
Reports → Library
-
Edit existing or Create new (Blank/Template)
-
Add Tabs for different views
-
Add Cards (Table, Line, Bar, Pie, Scatter)
- Set Dimensions & Metrics
- Configure axes, filters, date ranges
-
Apply Filters/Segments at report or card level
-
Save and add to a Collection via Library drag-and-drop
How to create subsets of users for analysis and marketing.
- Segment: Data subset for analysis
- Audience: User group for remarketing
- Predictive Metrics: Modeled insights (e.g., churn risk)
Details on connecting GA4 to other Google products and external systems.
- Link Google Ads, Search Console, Firebase
- Use Measurement Protocol for custom event ingestion
- Export raw data to BigQuery for SQL analysis
- Automate with Data API & Admin API
- Comply with privacy via User Deletion API
Settings and techniques for protecting user privacy and handling data gaps.
- Consent Mode: Estimates data when cookies are declined
- Data Retention: Configure under Admin > Property Settings
- Data Deletion: Remove specific events or user data
Enterprise enhancements available in Analytics 360 for large-scale operations.
- Subproperties & Roll-up: Custom account hierarchies
- Higher Quotas: More conversions, audiences, real-time data
- SLAs & Support: Dedicated assistance and uptime guarantees
A quick comparison of features, limits, and pricing between GA4 Free and Analytics 360.
| Feature | GA4 (Free) | Analytics 360 (Paid) |
|---|---|---|
| Data Limits | 500 custom events/dimensions | Higher quotas |
| BigQuery Export | Daily manual | Streaming auto-export |
| Data Freshness | 24–48h delay | Near real-time |
| Roll-up/Subproperties | Not available | Available |
| SLAs & Support | Community support | Dedicated SG&A |
| Attribution Modeling | Data-driven | Advanced attribution models |
| Advanced Analysis | GA4 Explore | Increased concurrency & limits |
| Price | Free | From ~$150K/yr |
Author Yog Gupta — Analytics Learner | Data Analyst