How To Add Google Analytics 4 To WordPress

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WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS, with roughly 43% of all websites using it. In fact, Go Fish Digital’s website runs on WordPress as well!

While WordPress has some analytical tracking tools such as MonsterInsights, you’re more than likely going to want to connect your site to Google Analytics 4. 

Thankfully, doing so is incredibly easy and we’ll walk you through how to add Google Analytics 4 to your WordPress site.

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How to Add Google Analytics 4 to WordPress

Getting started with setup is simple, here are the steps you need to follow after going to your GA4 account. If you need to set up GA4 from scratch, check out our GA4 setup guide

Step 1: Look at Your Data Stream Details

First, you’re going to want to head into your data stream to find the necessary details to get your GA4 account up and running. 

To find it, start by clicking on the settings icon in the bottom left corner.

admin-ga4

From here, look in the middle of your admin settings and find Data Streams.

Data Streams Button in Admin Settings

 

Click on Data Streams and then your property name.

Once inside, you will see a top section with your Measurement ID. It has the ‘copy’ emblem next to it.

measurement id

 

This is your ID for your GA4 account and you’ll need it for tags you decide to create in Google Tag Manager or adding it with any GA4 plugins.

Step 2 Find the GA4 Tag

If you’re looking to hardcode the GA4 snippet onto your website, follow these instructions.

While still in Data Streams, look near the bottom under Google Tag. Click on Configure Tag Settings.

tag settings

After you click this, select the Admin tab. Then, select Install this Google Tag.

install tag

Once inside, you can see there are two options:

  • Install with a website builder or CMS
  • Install manually

 

Install with a Website Builder or CMS

GA4 makes it easy to connect to your WordPress site through a number of different plugins. By opening up the platform list, we can see a few listed for WordPress:

  • MonsterInsights plugin
  • Site Kit plugin
  • WooCommerce plugin

 

For the majority of users, MonsterInsights or Site Kit is going to work just fine. These two are trusted, easy-to-use plugins that can easily connect GA4 to your WordPress dashboard.

If you’ve got an eCommerce site, then you should go down the WooCommerce plugin route. This will allow you to collect valuable eCommerce events and data you need for reporting. 

Install Manually

This will require a bit of developer help, but you can install your Google Tag manually.

To do this, you’ll want to copy the code on every page of your website, immediately after the head element. You can find the code here.

manual insert ga4

What Plugins Can I Use?

 

We have already mentioned a few easy-to-use plugins for WordPress, but here are some others you can use:

Once you have those connected, you should start to see data pulling in real-time.

Step 3: Test your GA4 Connection

There are a few ways to test your connection and make sure everything is working as planned.

Use the Realtime View

Open your website in another window (preferably incognito) and wait to see if your location/page pops up in the real-time view.

real time view

Use the Debug View

The second, and more reliable, option would be to open your website with GTM’s preview mode and check the status using GA4’s Debug view.

To do this, head to your Debug view in GA4.

Debugger in Admin Settings

 

You’ll also need to open up your GTM container and enter Preview Mode.

preview mode

Once you do this, your website will enter a ‘testing’ area per se where you can check and see if data is flowing and events are working properly.

If everything is worked as intended, you should be able to see something like this:

debug view log

 

Once you see these events pop up, you’re golden.

Conclusion

While GA4 may be daunting, connecting GA4 to WordPress is one of the easiest things you’ll have to do. Both Google Analytics 4 and WordPress offer a number of integration options. 

Just remember to check and make sure data is flowing whenever you choose one specific route!

Now you’re ready to go and start examining your site behavior. If you need additional analytics help, reach out today!

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