Google Analytics 4 Tutorial for Beginners (2023) || GA4 course

This paragraph introduces viewers to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and provides a brief overview of what the video will cover. It emphasizes that GA4 is still under development, hence the tutorial might need updates. The speaker intends to show not only the platform's overview but also share useful tips along the way. The video starts with guidance on navigating to the official Google marketing platform website and creating a new GA4 account. It also touches on the importance of creating separate accounts for different clients to avoid management issues in the long run.

This paragraph delves into the admin panel of Google Analytics 4, highlighting the account and property setup process. It explains the concept of data streams and their types, emphasizing the need to create a data stream to install GA4 on a website. The speaker also discusses the importance of configuring user access, data sharing settings, and selecting appropriate business objectives to tailor the standard reports in GA4. Additionally, it touches on the potential need to adjust data retention settings and the importance of understanding event tracking within GA4.

The speaker continues the tutorial by discussing the creation of data streams in GA4, focusing on web tracking. It explains the process of obtaining a unique measurement ID and installing GA4 on a website using Google Tag Manager. The paragraph also covers GA4's automatic event tracking features, such as scroll tracking, outbound clicks, site search, embedded YouTube player interactions, and form downloads. However, it advises disabling the form interactions feature due to its inaccuracy. The speaker then explains the process of installing GA4 using Google Tag Manager and the importance of the measurement ID in this process.

This section focuses on traffic acquisition reports in GA4, explaining how they provide insights into where visitors are coming from. It discusses the difference between user acquisition and traffic acquisition reports, emphasizing the importance of understanding the traffic sources for each session. The speaker also demonstrates how to customize reports by adding dimensions and metrics, and how to use comparison features to analyze specific subsets of data, such as organic Google traffic performance.

The speaker guides viewers through the standard reports available in GA4, such as engagement, conversions, pages, and screens. It highlights the importance of understanding top events, user behavior, and page performance. The section also covers landing page reports, e-commerce purchases, and the nuances of how GA4 handles data, including the issue of 'not set' or empty rows. The speaker advises on how to add secondary dimensions and change primary dimensions for deeper data analysis.

This paragraph introduces the advanced analysis features in GA4 known as Explorations. The speaker explains the three main analysis methods: freeform, funnel exploration, and path exploration. It provides a quick overview of how to use these tools for in-depth data analysis, such as identifying top keywords used in site search, analyzing funnel steps, and tracking user navigation paths. The speaker emphasizes the power and convenience of these features compared to older versions of Google Analytics.

The speaker demonstrates how to install GA4 on a website using Google Tag Manager, explaining the process of creating a tag for GA4 and testing its functionality. It covers the importance of the measurement ID and how to use it in Google Tag Manager. The paragraph also shows how to track additional events, such as menu item clicks, and how to send these events to GA4 with custom parameters. The speaker emphasizes the need to register these custom parameters as dimensions in GA4 to see the data in reports.

In the final paragraph, the speaker discusses the process of building reports in GA4, emphasizing the need for patience as data processing can take up to 48 hours. It highlights the importance of learning event tracking, understanding standard reports, and using Explorations to gain insights from data. The speaker encourages viewers to take a full course on GA4 for a comprehensive understanding and to get the most value out of the platform. The tutorial concludes with instructions on how to publish the Google Tag Manager container to make the GA4 setup live on the website.