G4 Google Analytics Tutorial for Bloggers: How to Use It

Google Analytics 4 (G4) is a powerful analytics tool that helps bloggers track, measure, and analyze user behavior on their websites.

As a blogger, leveraging G4 is crucial for understanding your audience, optimizing your content, and driving more traffic to your site.

G4 is the latest generation of Google Analytics, offering advanced features and improved integration with other tools. While I know most of us are sad to see UA go, we need to adapt ASAP!

We need to be able to track our analytics to know if our SEO strategies are working or not. If they’re not, we need to pivot them. We can’t know that without G4 now.

We also can’t get into Mediavine or other ad networks without analytics.

If you’re new to Google Analytics or looking to upgrade from the previous versions, this tutorial is for you.

I’ll walk you through the basics of setting up G4, identifying key metrics, and utilizing its advanced features to benefit your blog. With G4, you’ll gain valuable insights that can help you make data-driven decisions and grow your blogging business more effectively.

Key Takeaways

• Utilize G4 to understand and optimize your blog’s performance
• Focus on metrics and reports relevant to blogging success
• Harness advanced features and integration options to expand your analytics capabilities

Full Video G4 Tutorial

Getting Started with Google Analytics 4

Creating a Google Analytics Account

To begin using Google Analytics 4 (G4), you first need to create a Google Analytics account. Visit the Google Analytics website and sign in with your Google account.

If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one for free during the sign-up process.

Once signed in, click on “Start measuring” and follow the prompts to create your account.

You will want to use the same account that you use for Google Search Console, otherwise it won’t connect easily between the two.

Upgrading from Universal Analytics to G4

If you’re currently using Universal Analytics (UA), it’s essential to upgrade to G4 as UA will stop processing data on July 1, 2023.

To upgrade, you can create a new G4 property within your existing Google Analytics account.

This will allow you to retain your historical data from UA while benefiting from G4’s features.

1. Sign in to your Google Analytics account
2. Click “Admin” in the bottom left corner
3. In the “Property” column, click on “G4 Setup Assistant”
4. Follow the prompts to create a new G4 property

Or just follow the steps from the giant pink pop up countdown that shows up when you first log in:

Setting Up a G4 Property

After creating or upgrading to a G4 account, you’ll need to set up a new G4 property to collect data from your website. Data streams are used in G4 to connect your website or app to the property.

1. Go to the “Admin” section in your G4 account
2. In the “Property” column, click on “Data Streams”
3. Click “Add stream” and select “Web” for your website
4. Enter your website’s URL and stream name, then click “Create stream”

Installing Tracking Code with GTag.js or Google Tag Manager

Finally, you need to install the tracking code on your website to connect it to your G4 property. You can use either the GTag.js method or Google Tag Manager.

Using GTag.js:

1. In your G4 property’s “Data Stream” settings, click on the data stream of choice, at the bottom under “Google tag” select “View tag instructions”. Then select manual and you’ll find the Global Site Tag (gtag.js) code
2. Copy the provided code snippet
3. Paste the code snippet into the <head> section of your website’s HTML on every page you want to track

It looks like this:

Using Google Tag Manager:

1. Sign up for a Google Tag Manager account if you don’t have one
2. Create a new container for your website
3. Follow the instructions to install the Google Tag Manager code on your website
4. In Google Tag Manager, create a new G4 tag to connect to your G4 property
5. Publish the changes to your container

Using Your SEO Plugin:

1. Install an SEO plugin like Rankmath
2. During the set up, you will be asked for your Google Analytics tag. Copy and paste it in. This is provided under “Admin” -> “Property”
3. Continue with the plugin’s set up

I have mine installed via my Rankmath plugin on half of my sites, and via the GTag on others. Many of my sites I’ve broken before by having the analytics in the theme, then changing the theme. So I have minor Analytics PTSD on them.

You can see it here:

By following these steps, you’ll have successfully set up Google Analytics 4 for your blog and can begin analyzing your traffic and user engagement.

Measuring and Analyzing User Behavior

Understanding Sessions and Events

With Google Analytics 4, you can better measure and analyze user behavior on your blog.

G4 has moved from a session-based model to an event-based model, giving you more flexibility to track user interactions on your site.

In G4, sessions are automatically tracked, and they represent a grouping of user engagement within a given time frame.

On the other hand, events are specific user actions on your blog, like scrolling, clicking, or submitting a form.

You can use these events to understand user behavior patterns, measure their engagement with different content, and optimize your blog for better user experience.

Note that sessions in G4 are a whole new algorithm so expect them to differ from your old UA report numbers if you compare them.

Collecting Data with Data Streams

To collect data in G4, you need to set up Data Streams. Data Streams allow G4 to capture data from your website and apps in a single platform.

This feature makes it easier to analyze your audience behavior and dissect information across different platforms.

Setting up Data Streams for your blog is straightforward.

Go to your G4 property settings and add a new data stream for your website.

Once configured, your Data Stream will start collecting user behavior signals, and you can use these insights to further enhance your blog’s content strategies.

(Or see the instructions for general set up above.)

Exploring Realtime and Historical Reports

G4 offers a comprehensive range of Realtime and Historical Reports based on the collected data.

Realtime reports allow you to monitor user activity on your blog in real-time. You can leverage this information to identify trending content or to react to issues occurring on your blog.

Note that these take 5 or so minutes to generate and are not perfectly accurate.

At the same time, historical reports provide valuable insights into your blog’s performance over time. These reports help you analyze trends, compare date ranges, and identify patterns in user behavior.

These currently take 48 hours to be accurate, which is extremely frustrating.

Using both real-time and historical data, you can make informed decisions to optimize your blog content and increase engagement among your readers.

Key Metrics and Reports for Bloggers

Visitor Demographics and Technology

Understanding your audience is crucial for your blog’s success. In G4, you can explore visitor demographics, including age, gender, and location, under the Audience tab.

This information helps you tailor your content to better resonate with your target audience. Additionally, you can examine the technology they use (devices, browsers, and operating systems) to ensure your website is optimized for various platforms.

We don’t have the same reports now as we did with UA, where we got their other interests, etc. from the cookies. But we still know age, gender, and (importantly) location.

User Acquisition and Traffic Sources

To gain insight into how users find your blog, examine the Acquisition tab.

There, you’ll see metrics such as users, new users, and sessions.

You can also identify traffic sources (e.g., organic search, social media, and referrals) and evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

By understanding which channels drive the most traffic and engagement, you can prioritize your blog promotion strategies.

This can be a bit confusing to go through, so watch the video tutorial at the top of this post to figure out what means what. Currently, Pinterest has been bouncing back and forth between direct and social for some reason.

Pageviews, Outbound Clicks, and Site Searches

Pageviews are essential to understanding which content resonates with your readers.

You can find this information under the Engagement tab, where you can also track outbound clicks to external websites.

What used to be “All Pages” is now “Pages and Screens” and shows the title, not the slug.

Monitoring site searches can shed light on what your audience is looking for on your blog, helping you identify potential new content topics or areas that need improvement.

This is where you can see the exact pageview numbers – not just the rounded up number you’ll see on the dashboard.

Video Engagement and File Downloads

If you host videos on your blog or offer file downloads, G4 can help you measure their performance.

By setting up custom events for video plays or file downloads, you can monitor user engagement and identify your most popular content.

This data can help you refine your content strategy and better cater to your audience’s needs and interests.

This is less used for most bloggers, and more common for ecommerce or people with downloads on their sites. We tend to deliver these via email, so you probably won’t need to use this.

Custom Reports in G4

G4 allows you to create custom reports to extract the exact data you need.

Customizing your reporting allows you to focus on metrics relevant to your blog’s goals and performance.

For example, you can create a report that showcases user demographics, acquisition channels, top-performing content, and more – all in one place.

Tailoring your reporting to your needs will help you make informed decisions about your blog’s growth and optimization.

Advanced Analytics Features

Google Analytics 4 (G4) offers advanced analytics features designed to help bloggers gain deeper insights into their audience and user behaviors.

This section will focus on three key components: User Journeys and Explorations, Funnel Exploration and Conversions, and Event Tracking and Custom Audiences.

User Journeys and Explorations

Understanding user journeys is essential for crafting content that engages and retains your audience. G4 offers various exploration techniques that enable you to visualize the user journey and analyze site interactions. In G4, you can:

• Analyze the user’s path within your site
• Identify pages with high engagement or abandonment
• Discover correlations between variables such as traffic sources and user demographics
• Conduct cohort analysis to measure user retention over time

When examining user journeys, remember to segment your data to focus on specific audiences and isolate trends that matter to you.

I always look for the pages people leave from or the pages with the lowest time on page. This helps me figure out what’s not working.

I compare this with longer time on page to see what did work, and then try to replicate it.

Often internal links help this.

However, sometimes low time on page is because of an affiliate link click, and then I’m ok with someone leaving. As long as I make a commission from it!

Funnel Exploration and Conversions

Funnels in G4 help you visualize the steps users take towards completing a conversion, such as purchasing a product or signing up for a newsletter. With funnel exploration, you can:

• Define custom funnel steps based on user actions or page visits
• Analyze user drop-off and identify areas of improvement
• Compare segments of users to determine which cohorts are more likely to convert
• Track micro and macro conversions

Utilizing funnel exploration insights can help you optimize your site for better conversion rates and improve the overall user experience.

Think of your whole site as a funnel. It’s kind of turning us bloggers into ecommerce or course sellers, because this is the kind of reporting and analysis I do of my course sales funnels.

Event Tracking and Custom Audiences

G4 introduces an event-based tracking model that offers more flexibility than the previous session-based model. This enables you to:

• Track granular user interactions, such as button clicks, scrolls, and video plays
• Define custom events without involving a developer
• Automatically capture essential interactions, such as page views, sessions, and engagements

With event tracking data, you can create custom audiences based on user behaviors, allowing you to tailor your content and marketing strategies more effectively. Some examples of custom audiences might include:

• Users who engaged with a specific category of content on your blog
• Members who have completed a specific action on your site, such as subscribing or making a purchase

Armed with these advanced analytics features in G4, you can make data-driven decisions to grow your blog and better serve your audience.

Integrating Google Analytics with Other Tools

Connecting Google Ads and SEO Tools

Integrating Google Analytics 4 (G4) with other marketing tools, like Google Ads and SEO software, helps you better understand your audience and improve your overall marketing efforts.

By connecting your Google Ads account with G4, you can track advertising campaigns and access valuable insights to optimize your ads.

Simply go to your G4 property, click on Admin, and follow the steps provided under Google Ads linking.

Incorporating SEO tools ensures you’re maximizing organic search traffic.

Many SEO software solutions, like Moz or SEMrush, allow you to integrate with Google Analytics to gather comprehensive data on your website’s organic traffic.

Typically, you can integrate these tools within the software’s settings or analytics section.

A number have shifted to connect to GSC instead for rankings, so then you won’t need to connect your G4 as well.

Using MonsterInsights for WordPress

If you’re using WordPress for your blog, MonsterInsights is a common plugin to integrate Google Analytics with your website.

I caution against it, as I’ve found it can be slow. It’s better to install the code via your SEO plugin. However, because it’s common, I’ll share the steps.

To get started, follow these steps:

1. Install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin
2. Click on Insights > Settings in the WordPress admin menu
3. Connect your Google Analytics account
4. Choose the G4 property to track your blog data

MonsterInsights automatically gathers essential metrics, like page views and bounce rates, so you can assess your blog’s performance and make data-driven decisions.

Ensuring GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliance is crucial when using G4 and other marketing tools. Safeguard your website’s user data by taking the following measures:

• Anonymize IP addresses: In G4, enable IP anonymization to protect users’ privacy. This feature ensures that their IP addresses are masked and never stored in Google Analytics.
• Include a privacy policy: Clearly state your data collection practices in a privacy policy on your website, referencing your use of Google Analytics and the data you collect.
• Obtain consent: Use a GDPR-compliant consent management platform to obtain user consent for tracking. Ensure users can easily opt-out of tracking if they desire.

By following these best practices, you’ll remain compliant and protect your users’ privacy while benefiting from valuable insights provided by Google Analytics and other integrated tools.

Final Thoughts: G4 Tutorial

I am equally annoyed at having to learn a brand new analytics platform after years of Universal Analytics. But in the niche site game, if you don’t adapt, you die.

Much like writers who don’t use AI are suffering against competitors who do, those who reject any analytics platform will similarly lag behind competitors.

G4 isn’t the easiest thing to use, but after a few months, we’ll all have no idea how to use UA anymore and fine this totally normal.

G4 introduces a range of features that allow you, as a blogger, to gain a more complete understanding of your reader’s journey. As you start using G4, take advantage of its advanced tracking capabilities to measure user engagement across your website and other digital touchpoints.

These used to be really hidden under UA.

Bear in mind that G4 is a whole new system, and it may take some time for you to become familiar with its interface and capabilities. Investing your time in understanding G4’s features and functionalities, such as event tracking, data-driven attribution, and cross-platform reporting, will undoubtedly pay off in the long run.

Remember to check out resources such as the G4 video tutorials and introduction guide to ensure you’re effectively leveraging this powerful analytics tool for your blog. By doing so, you’ll be empowered to make data-backed decisions, helping you stand out among competitors and strengthen your online presence.

And don’t forget to track your stats manually so you can compare between UA and G4 if you don’t have a year’s worth of data yet with G4. I recommend these spreadsheets.

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