Many companies have had Google Analytics installed for years and still cannot say which channel their enquiries and orders come from. The tracking code is on the site, but nobody has decided what exactly should be counted. A Google Analytics 4 setup done properly starts here, with the actions that matter to your business, and only then moves on to tags and settings.
We do this for brochure websites, online stores and web applications. By the end, the reports talk about forms submitted, calls and orders, not just visits.
Analytics installed, but no answers: the usual situation
The fourth version of Google Analytics works differently from the old one: everything is an event, meaning an action with a name and details attached (parameters). The tool collects a few basics by itself (page views, scrolling, file downloads), but it has no way of knowing what a quote request means on your site.
The problems that come up most often: the same tag installed twice, so visits are doubled; forms counted when the button is pressed, even if the submission fails; orders recorded again when the thank-you page is reloaded; the payment processor showing up as the source of sales.
The measurement plan: which actions matter to your business
Before touching any setting, we write a short list together: what you want a visitor to do, and which signs show they are getting close to that step. For a service business, the main action is an enquiry sent or a phone call. For a store, it is the order.
Each action gets a name, parameters and an exact moment when it fires. We use Google’s recommended names where they exist (for example “purchase” for an order), because the standard reports and the link with advertising recognise them directly.
- Main actions: order placed, form submitted successfully, appointment booked, call started from a phone.
- Intermediate steps: product viewed, item added to the basket, checkout started.
- Signs of interest: a site search, a catalogue download, a click on the email address or on WhatsApp.
Events, conversions and Google Tag Manager
Google Tag Manager is a container: a single piece of code placed on the site, from which we manage all the tags (Analytics, Google Ads, Meta) without changing the site’s pages. Each tag has a rule that triggers it.
Data reaches the container through the data layer (dataLayer), a list in which the site announces what has happened: “order such-and-such was placed, worth this much”. For WooCommerce we generate it with a plugin or with code in the theme. This is more reliable than reading text off the page, which breaks at the first design change.
We then mark the important events as conversions. Google has renamed this concept in the interface (in Analytics they now appear as key events, while “conversions” remains the Google Ads term); the idea is the same: the actions by which you judge your channels.
The link with Google Ads and Search Console
Once linked to Google Ads, the Analytics account can send conversions to campaigns and build audience lists (for example, people who put products in the basket without buying). Watch out for double counting: if the same order is counted both by the Google Ads tag and by an import from Analytics, automated bidding learns from inflated figures.
The link with Search Console brings into the reports the Google searches that lead people to the site. This is also where we define UTM tags, the parameters added to links in the newsletter or in ads on other platforms, so that this traffic does not all end up lumped into the “direct” category.
A Google Analytics 4 setup is tested and documented
We test every event in Tag Manager’s preview mode and in the debug view in Analytics, with a test order taken all the way through. Then we compare the orders in Analytics with those in the store’s admin. They will not match perfectly (some visitors refuse cookies, others use blockers), but the gap should be stable and explicable.
What remains at the end is a document: the list of events, the trigger rules, the active links, who has access. Without it, the next change to the site breaks the measurement and nobody notices for months. We also check a few settings that are easy to forget.
- Internal traffic: visits from staff and from the agency are filtered out.
- Payment processors: excluded from traffic sources, so the sale stays with the real channel.
- Retention of detailed data: the default period is short and can be extended in the settings.
- The order ID: sent with the event, it prevents double counting.
- Cookie consent: tags respect the visitor’s choice, and the details are agreed with the data protection officer.
Frequently asked questions
Can I set up Google Analytics 4 myself?
The basic installation is easy and, for a small brochure site, it can be enough. What takes experience is measuring forms and orders correctly, where a mistake does not show: it just produces wrong figures.
Why don’t the figures in Analytics match those in Google Ads or in the store?
Each system counts differently: Google Ads assigns the conversion to the day the ad was clicked, Analytics puts it on the day of the order, and the store sees every order, including those from people who refused tracking. Small differences are normal. Large ones, or ones that appear suddenly, are worth investigating.
What does the cost depend on?
On the number of actions to track, on the site’s platform and on how clean the existing setup is. A brochure site with two forms takes far less than a store running campaigns on several platforms.
This is a typical project description: it shows how we usually approach this kind of work and does not present a project carried out for a particular client. Every real project starts from your company’s situation, and the stages, timescales and price are agreed after the initial discussion.