Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a powerful tool that helps businesses understand their website and app performance. However, setting it up correctly is essential for accurate data collection and analysis.
Here are ten common mistakes to avoid when setting up your GA4 account:
Ignoring Event Tracking:
GA4 puts a heavy emphasis on events rather than sessions or pageviews. Neglecting to configure and utilise event tracking properly can lead to missing crucial insights about user behaviour on your site.
Forgetting to Set Up Enhanced Measurement:
Enhanced Measurement in GA4 tracks several user interactions automatically, like scrolls, clicks on external links, site searches, etc. Failing to enable this feature can result in a lack of important user interaction data.
Overlooking Conversion Events:
In GA4, you can mark certain events as ‘Conversions’ to signify their importance. Marking key events as conversions can lead to a better understanding of the user journey and what actions are driving value on your site.
Not Checking Data Streams:
GA4 allows you to set up separate data streams for your website, app, and other platforms. Ignoring or incorrectly setting up these streams can lead to fragmented or inaccurate data.
Not Setting Data Retention Period:
GA4 comes with a two-month data retention period by default, but you have the option to set it to 14 months.
Using Auto Migration From Universal Analytics:
It isn’t recommended to use this option. GA4 and UA use entirely different data models, and it won’t be as good with the auto migration vs a new GA4 setup.
Not Excluding Unwanted Referrals:
Companies that offer 3rd party payment methods may take users to another website URL before converting. GA4 will detect this as a new session and a referral unless you exclude these external URLs. This means your conversions won’t be attributed correctly.
Leaving Out User Properties:
User properties in GA4 allow you to understand your audience better by categorising them based on attributes or behaviour. If you skip this setup, you might miss out on critical segmentation opportunities.
Failing to Link GA4 to Google Ads:
By linking GA4 to your Google Ads account, you can track ad performance and conversions more accurately. Overlooking this step can lead to gaps in your understanding of your advertising ROI.
Missing currency in purchase events:
If you selling products/services online, you have to implement e-commerce tracking in GA4. Without the currency, it will not work correctly in this view.
Avoiding these common mistakes can help you get the most out of GA4, providing you with accurate and actionable data about your website and app performance. As always, it’s essential to continually review and refine your setup to ensure it meets your business’s evolving needs.
