GOOGLE ANALYTICS 4
This chapter will guide you in setting up a Property and a Data Stream in Google Analytics 4, which is now the default API for all new properties. If you need help setting up an older Universal Analytics property instead, see the 2nd part in this Google doc.
Note that the following instructions can also be found – without screenshots – in Google’s official help doc here: Add an account, property, or data stream
If you don’t yet have an Analytics account and are perhaps not sure how things work there, here’s the short version: Google Analytics, using javascript, tracks what users do on your site – what links they click, what pages they view and for how long, and many other data points as well.
Google can do this because users – that’s you – insert custom code into the code for every page they want to be tracked (Beehive makes that part easy). This code tells Google who owns the data collected from a given page – you – so it can be associated with the right account in Analytics. The data is then categorized based on a myriad of variables – many of which can be customized in Beehive – and displayed as reports on site dashboards that admins can use to plan and achieve site or network goals.
It may be helpful to also understand how a Google Analytics account is structured. There’s the Account, of course, and within each account there are Properties and within each property, there are Data Streams.
Here’s how Google defines each:
Account: Think of it as the top-level folder that you access using your login details. If you are managing a single website, then one account is sufficient. If you’re managing multiple websites that aren’t directly related, then these should be stored in separate accounts. Google allows users to create up to 100 Analytics accounts within the same Google account.
Property: A “property” is simply Google-speak for a website or network of sites that have been added to a Google Analytics account. When Beehive connects, it connects to a specific property. Each Analytics account can have up to 100 properties.
Data Stream: Data Streams tell Google Analytics what reports should be created for a given property. In simplest terms, each stream is a separate report and can, among other things, display data in realtime on the Realtime screen in your Analytics account. Users can create up to 50 Data Streams per property, each targeting a unique traffic factor or group of factors, as defined by you.
Sign Up
If you already have a Google Analytics account set up and want to use that one, you can skip down to the Creating a new Property section below.
If you don’t already have a Google Analytics account set up, go to the Google Analytics Setup page, and Sign In with the Google account you want to use to connect Beehive on your site.
Create Account & Property
Create your Analytics account by simply giving the account a Name and then choosing what, if any, of your collected Data you want to share. Click Next to proceed.
In the next step, give your Property a Name, and select your desired reporting Time Zone and Currency.
Note that by default, new properties will be created as v4 properties. If you want to create a Universal Analytics property (v3), click on Show advanced options. If you want to create a v4 property, you can skip this step, click Next, and jump straight to filling in your Business information.
This will reveal a module with extra settings options, which is where you can click the toggle to Create a Universal Analytics property.
Click Next to proceed.
Then fill in your Business information, and click Create.
Finally, check the boxes to accept Google’s Terms, and click I Accept.
Creating a new Property
If you already have a Google Analytics account set up, or want to create a new property at any time after your account has been created, click the Admin button located in the bottom left corner of any Google Analytics screen.
If you have multiple accounts, ensure you’re in the correct one by selecting it from the dropdown in the left-hand column. Then click the Create Property button in the right-hand column, and follow the same steps as above when you created the account.
Create a Data Stream
Data Streams in Google Analytics 4 are what replace Views in the old API. To create a Data Stream for your Analytics account, click on the Admin link in the bottom-left corner. Then in the Property column, be sure you’re viewing the Property you want, and click on Data Streams.
On the next screen, select the Web option, which would look like this if this is the first Data Stream you’re creating for this account:
If you already have one or more Data Streams created for this account, the above option would look like this instead:
Then, on the Set Up screen that slides into view, ensure the correct protocol is selected (http/https) and enter your site’s domain name in the Website URL field, and enter a unique Stream Name for this stream. Enable the Enhanced Measurement option to get the most out of GA4, and click Create stream.
Once your Data Stream has been created, you’ll see it appear there in the Data Streams section, although the message there will of course say it hasn’t received any data yet.
Measurement ID
To locate the Measurement ID you need for your GA4 integration in Beehive, click on the Data Stream you want to use from your list.
Then, on the Web Stream Details screen that slides into view, you’ll see the Measurement ID at the top-right. Copy that and paste it in the corresponding field in your Beehive > Google Analytics > Account settings.
Each module type – Popups, Slide-ins, Embeds & Social Sharing – also has its own dashboard screen with an overview of all modules with info and options similar to the main plugin Dashboard screen.
- Search – Use the search box to quickly locate any module in the list.
- Last conversion – Indicates the date & time of the last conversion for the module.
- Published / Draft – Published modules are clearly indicated.
- Edit – Click to open the editor for the specific module to edit its fields, etc.
- Gear Icon – Additional admin options appear in this submenu to Preview the module (for both Desktop and Mobile views), Publish/Unpublish, View or Purge Email List (for Opt-In modules only), Duplicate, Enable/Disable tracking, Reset tracking data, Export/Import or Delete.
- Bulk Actions – All the same options as under the Gear icon for individual modules (except the Preview option) so you can apply them to multiple selected modules at once.
Click the heading of any module to view the Conversion data if tracking is enabled for that module. You can view data for just the Call to Action buttons you may have added, the Opt-in Form itself, or All data.
Note that the Preview feature will open in your wp-admin, but using a frontend page of your site, so you can see exactly how your module will look in your active theme in both desktop and mobile views. Here’s an example of what that looks like when previewing a Popup module: