Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a free tool that shows you how visitors find and use your website
Key metrics to watch include users, sessions, engagement rate, and traffic sources
Setting up GA4 on WordPress takes about 15 minutes using the Google Site Kit plugin
Connecting Google Search Console gives you keyword data to measure your SEO performance
Start with the basics and check your data weekly to spot trends and opportunities
You’ve invested time and money into your website.
- But do you actually know if it’s working?
- Are visitors finding what they need?
- Which pages hold their attention?
- Where are they coming from in the first place?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) gives you these answers for free. It tracks what people do on your website and presents the data in reports you can actually understand.
By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to set up GA4, which metrics matter most, and how to turn this information into better decisions about your website and marketing.
Table of Contents
What Is Google Analytics and Why Does It Matter?
Google Analytics (GA4) is a free tool from Google that tracks visitors to your website.
When someone lands on your site, GA4 records details about their visit. It shows you which pages they looked at, how long they stayed, and where they came from.
Think of it as a window into how visitors actually use your website. Instead of wondering whether your contact page gets any attention, you can see exactly how many people view it each week.
For small businesses, this matters because it removes part of the guesswork from your marketing.
A plumber in Manchester might discover that most enquiries come from a blog post about boiler repairs. A freelance designer in Bristol might find that LinkedIn drives more traffic than Instagram. These insights help you focus your limited time on what actually works.
The previous version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) stopped processing data in July 2023. GA4 is the current version and works a bit differently.
It focuses on tracking user actions (called events) rather than just page views. This gives you a more complete picture of how people move around and interact with your site.
Key Metrics To Understand
GA4 offers dozens of metrics, but you don’t need to track them all. Focus on these essential measurements first.
Users and Sessions
A user is a unique visitor to your website. A session is a single visit.
One user can have multiple sessions if they return to your site several times.
For example, if someone visits your homepage on Monday and comes back on Wednesday, that counts as one user but two sessions. Understanding this difference helps you see whether you’re attracting new people or bringing existing visitors back.
Watch your user numbers over time.
A steady increase suggests your marketing efforts are working. A sudden drop might indicate a technical problem or a change in how Google shows your site in search results.
Engagement Rate and Bounce Rate
Engagement rate measures the percentage of sessions where visitors took a meaningful action. This could mean scrolling down the page, clicking a link, or spending more than 10 seconds on your site.
A high engagement rate (above 60%) suggests visitors find your content useful. A low rate might mean your pages aren’t meeting their expectations, or your site loads too slowly.
Bounce rate is the opposite.
It shows the percentage of visitors who left without engaging. Some pages naturally have higher bounce rates. A contact page where someone finds your phone number and calls you might have a high bounce rate, but that’s actually a success.
Traffic Sources
GA4 groups your visitors by how they found you.
The main categories include:
Organic search refers to people who found you through Google or another search engine without clicking an ad. This traffic is directly connected to your SEO performance. If organic search is growing, your search engine optimisation is working.
Direct traffic comes from people who typed your web address directly or used a bookmark. High direct traffic often indicates strong brand recognition.
Referral traffic arrives from links on other websites. If a local newspaper mentions your business online, you’ll see this in referral traffic.
Social traffic comes from platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
Knowing your traffic sources helps you decide where to focus your efforts. If most visitors come from organic search, investing in SEO services makes sense. If referrals are strong, you might look for more opportunities to get mentioned on other sites.
How to Set Up Google Analytics on Your Website
For Analytics to work you need to add some code to each page on your website.
Setting up GA4 is straightforward, even if you’re not technically minded. Here’s what you need to do.
Creating Your GA4 Account
Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Click “Start measuring” and follow the prompts to create your account and property. You’ll need to enter your website name and URL.
Google will then generate a tracking code (called a Measurement ID) that looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX. This code tells GA4 to collect data from your specific website.
Adding the Tracking Code
How you add the tracking code depends on your website platform.
WordPress users have several options. The simplest is Google Site Kit, a free official plugin from Google. This connects your site to Analytics without touching any code and lets you view basic reports directly in your WordPress dashboard.
If you already use an SEO plugin, check whether it supports Google Analytics integration. Rank Math includes built-in Analytics connection in its free version. All in One SEO (AIOSEO) offers similar functionality. These options keep everything in one place if you’re already using the plugin for your SEO settings.
MonsterInsights is another popular choice that focuses specifically on analytics. It offers a user-friendly dashboard and additional tracking features like form submissions and outbound link clicks. The free version covers the basics, with paid upgrades for advanced tracking.
Whichever plugin you choose, follow its setup wizard to connect your Google account and link your GA4 property. Avoid installing multiple analytics plugins, as this can cause double-tracking and skew your data.
Shopify users can add the Measurement ID directly in their admin panel under Online Store, then Preferences. Paste your GA4 Measurement ID into the Google Analytics field.
Squarespace and Wix users have similar options in their settings panels. Look for “Analytics” or “Marketing” in your platform’s settings.
Once installed, GA4 needs time to collect data. You won’t see meaningful reports until you’ve had some visitors. Check back after a few days to see your first insights.
Understanding Your Most Useful Reports
GA4 has many reports, but two are particularly helpful for understanding your website performance.
The Traffic Acquisition Report
Find this under Reports, then Acquisition, then Traffic Acquisition. This report shows where your sessions come from, broken down by channel.
Look at the organic search row to see how many visitors found you through search engines. This number directly reflects your SEO performance. If organic traffic is increasing month on month, your content is being found.
You can also compare channels to see which brings the most engaged visitors. Sometimes social media drives lots of clicks but those visitors leave quickly. Organic search visitors might stay longer and view more pages, making them more likely to become customers.
The Pages and Screens Report
Find this under Reports, then Engagement, then Pages and Screens. This shows which pages on your site get the most views.
Use this report to identify your best-performing content. These pages are clearly meeting a need, so consider creating similar content or linking to related services from them.
Equally useful is spotting pages with low views or poor engagement. If an important service page is getting no traffic, you might need to improve its content or check whether it appears in search results at all.
The Real-Time Report
This report shows activity on your site right now. It’s useful for checking that your tracking code is working correctly after installation. If you visit your own site and see yourself appear in the real-time report, everything is set up properly.
Connecting Google Search Console for SEO Insights
Google Search Console is another free tool that shows how your site appears in Google search results. When you connect it to GA4, you unlock keyword data that Analytics cannot provide on its own.
After linking the two accounts, you can see which search terms (queries) bring visitors to your site. You’ll also see impressions (how often your pages appeared in search results) and click-through rate (what percentage of people clicked).
This data is gold for improving your SEO.
If a page gets lots of impressions but few clicks, your title or description might need work. If you’re ranking at position 11 or 12 for a valuable keyword, some targeted optimisation could push you onto page one.
To connect the tools, go to Admin in GA4, then click Search Console Links under Product Links.
You’ll need to have both accounts set up with the same Google login. If you haven’t set up Search Console yet, visit search.google.com/search-console and verify your website ownership first.
How to Use Google Search Console: A Guide for Business Owners
Privacy-Focused Alternatives to Google Analytics
Google Analytics is powerful and free, but it does raise privacy considerations.
GA4 uses cookies and sends visitor data to Google’s servers, which means you need proper cookie consent notices to comply with UK GDPR.
If privacy compliance feels complicated, or you prefer not to share data with Google, several alternatives exist.
Plausible Analytics is a lightweight, privacy-focused option that doesn’t use cookies. This means you don’t need a cookie consent banner for analytics. It’s much simpler than GA4 but covers the basics well. Pricing starts at around £7 per month.
Fathom Analytics offers similar privacy benefits with a clean, simple interface. It’s designed for people who want useful data without the complexity of GA4. Plans start at around £12 per month.
Matomo (formerly Piwik) can be self-hosted on your own server, giving you complete control over your data. There’s also a cloud-hosted option. The self-hosted version is free but requires technical knowledge to set up.
For most small businesses, GA4 remains the practical choice because it’s free and integrates well with other Google tools. However, if you handle sensitive customer data or simply want a simpler solution, these alternatives are worth considering.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
When starting with Google Analytics, watch out for these common pitfalls.
Not Setting Up Conversions
Without conversions, you’re only tracking visits, not actions that matter to your business. A conversion might be someone submitting your contact form, clicking your phone number, or downloading a brochure.
To set up a conversion in GA4, go to Admin, then Events.
Find the event you want to track (like form_submit) and toggle the “Mark as conversion” switch. If the event doesn’t exist yet, you may need to create it or use Google Tag Manager.
Checking Data Too Often or Not at All
Daily fluctuations are normal and can cause unnecessary panic. One quiet Tuesday doesn’t mean your website has a problem.
Equally, ignoring your analytics for months means missing trends that could inform your marketing.
Weekly or fortnightly reviews give you better perspective on real trends. Set aside 15 minutes each week to check your key metrics and note any significant changes.
Ignoring Mobile vs Desktop Differences
Over half of web traffic now comes from phones. Check how mobile visitors behave compared to desktop users. If mobile engagement is much lower, your site might not work well on smaller screens.
Find this data in any GA4 report by adding “Device category” as a secondary dimension.
Getting Overwhelmed by Data
GA4 offers hundreds of metrics and reports. When you first open it, the temptation is to click everywhere and try to understand everything. This leads to confusion and decision paralysis.
Stick to the basic reports covered here until you’re comfortable. Master traffic acquisition and pages reports first. Then explore further as specific questions arise.
Getting Started
Google Analytics gives you the information you need to understand how your website performs and where you can improve.
The data removes guesswork from your marketing decisions and helps you focus your time and budget on what actually works.
Start with the basics. Set up your account, install the tracking code, and check your traffic acquisition report weekly. As you become more comfortable, explore additional reports and connect Google Search Console for deeper SEO insights.
If analysing data isn’t your strength, or you want to turn these insights into a proper SEO strategy, professional help is available. Our SEO services can help you interpret your data and create an action plan to increase your organic traffic and visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, Google Analytics 4 is completely free for small and medium businesses. There’s a paid version called Google Analytics 360, but this is designed for large enterprises with complex data needs. The free version provides everything most business owners need to track website performance and make informed marketing decisions.
Data typically starts appearing within 24 to 48 hours of installing the tracking code. However, meaningful insights require at least a few weeks of data collection. Avoid making decisions based on just a few days of information, as traffic naturally fluctuates day to day.
Universal Analytics was the previous version and stopped processing data in July 2023. GA4 uses an event-based tracking model that captures more detailed user interactions. It also offers better privacy controls, machine learning features, and works better across websites and apps.
No, you don’t need coding knowledge to use GA4. WordPress users can install the Google Site Kit plugin, which handles the technical setup automatically. Other platforms like Shopify and Squarespace have built-in options too. The interface takes some getting used to, but basic reports are designed for non-technical users.
A high bounce rate isn’t always a problem. If visitors find what they need quickly (like your phone number or address) and leave, the page is doing its job. Investigate further if high bounce rates occur on pages where you want visitors to explore further, such as service pages or your homepage.
GA4 doesn’t show keyword data directly due to privacy protections. However, by connecting Google Search Console, you can see the search queries that display your site in results. This includes impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and average ranking position for each keyword.
Yes, GA4 works well with WordPress. Google Site Kit is the simplest option and is maintained by Google. If you already use an SEO plugin like Rank Math or All in One SEO, these include Analytics integration too. MonsterInsights is another popular choice with additional tracking features. Just avoid installing multiple analytics plugins at once.
Yes, several privacy-focused alternatives exist. Plausible Analytics and Fathom Analytics don’t use cookies, so they simplify GDPR compliance. Matomo can be self-hosted for complete data control. These options are simpler than GA4 but cost money (typically £7 to £15 per month). For most small businesses, the free GA4 remains the practical choice.