If you can’t see how many people visit your website, where they come from and what they do when they get there, you’re marketing with your eyes closed. The good news is that knowing how to set up Google Analytics is not a developer-only job. For most small business sites it takes under an hour. You just need to know the order to do things in and a couple of traps to avoid.
I’m Head of Web at Delivered Social, and setting up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is part of every website we launch. These are the steps I follow, checked against Google’s own Analytics Help pages at the time of writing. Google does tweak its menus, so if a button has moved slightly, look for the same wording nearby.
Before you start: get the basics sorted
You’ll need a Google account to sign in with. For a business, I’d strongly recommend a shared business account, or at least making sure the business owner has full access. I’ve seen too many companies lose years of data because the only login belonged to a freelancer or a member of staff who has since left.
It also helps to understand the three layers in Google Analytics. An account is the top level, usually one per business. Inside that sits a property, usually one per website or app. Inside the property is a data stream, which is the actual connection to your website.
How to set up Google Analytics 4, step by step
- Create your account. Go to analytics.google.com. If it’s your first time, click “Start measuring”. Otherwise go to Admin, click “Create” and choose “Account”. Give it your business name, choose your data sharing settings and click “Next”.
- Create a property. Name it after your website. Set the reporting time zone to the United Kingdom and the currency to British pounds if that’s where you trade. Get the time zone right now, because changing it later only affects future data.
- Add your business details. Pick your industry and business size, then click “Next”.
- Choose your business objectives. Google uses these to decide which reports you see by default. For most small businesses, generating leads or understanding web traffic is the right fit. Click “Create” and accept the terms if asked.
- Add a web data stream. In Admin, go to “Data streams”, click “Add stream” and choose “Web”. Enter your website address and a simple stream name.
- Leave enhanced measurement switched on. This automatically collects page views and other useful events, like scrolls and outbound clicks, without any extra code. Google recommends keeping it on, and so do I. Then click “Create stream”.
- Copy your Measurement ID. Open the data stream and look under “Stream details”. Your Measurement ID starts with “G-“. Keep it handy.
Google’s full walkthrough is on the Analytics Help page for setting up Analytics for a website if you want to follow along on screen.
Add the Google tag to your website
Creating the property doesn’t collect anything on its own. Your website needs the Google tag, a small piece of code that sends visit data to your new property. There are three common ways to add it:
- Through your website platform. Many website builders and WordPress plugins have a field for a Google Analytics Measurement ID. Paste your G- code in and you’re done. This is the easiest route for most people.
- By pasting the code in manually. In your data stream, click “View tag instructions” and choose to install manually. Google says to paste the tag immediately after the opening head tag on every page. On WordPress, do this through your theme’s settings or a header plugin, not by editing theme files that will be overwritten in the next update.
- Through Google Tag Manager. If your site already uses Tag Manager, add a Google tag there using your Measurement ID. Worth it if you’ll be adding lots of tracking later.
Pick one method only. The most common mistake I find when we take over a site is the tag installed twice, once by a plugin and once by hand. Every visit then counts double, and the numbers look far better than they really are.
Bad data is worse than no data, because you’ll make decisions with it.
Cookie consent for UK websites
This is the bit people skip, and it matters. Google Analytics uses cookies, and in the UK the rules on cookies are overseen by the ICO (the Information Commissioner’s Office). The rules for some analytics cookies have relaxed a little recently, but the conditions are strict, and a standard Google Analytics setup is widely treated as still needing consent. So for most small business sites, the safe route is a proper cookie banner that lets visitors accept or reject analytics cookies, with nothing set until they agree.
Google also offers something called Consent Mode, which passes each visitor’s cookie choice to Google so its tags behave accordingly. Google is clear that Consent Mode is not a banner itself, and it recommends using a consent management platform alongside it. Many WordPress cookie plugins support it. You can read more on Google’s Consent Mode help page. I’m a web lead, not a lawyer, so if you’re unsure what your site needs, check the ICO’s latest guidance or get proper advice.
Check it works, then set up what matters
Google says data can take up to 30 minutes to start coming through. Once your tag is in, open your website in another browser, accept cookies, click around and then check the Realtime report in Google Analytics. If you can see yourself, you’re live.
Then do three quick housekeeping jobs. Add the business owner or your team as users in Admin, so access never sits with one person. Mark your important actions, like contact form submissions, as key events so you can track actual enquiries, not just visits. And link Google Search Console if you use it, so you can see which searches bring people in.
Once it’s running, use the numbers to make decisions, not just to fill a report. If you want ideas for what to measure, our piece on why going viral is not a strategy is all about tracking the numbers that actually pay the bills.
