Marketing

Google
Marketing
5 Jan 2026
7 min read

Comprehensive Guide to GA4 Configuration

In the world of digital analytics, a fundamental rule applies: “garbage in, garbage out.” This means that the quality of business decisions is directly dependent on the quality of the data we rely on. An incorrectly configured analytics platform inevitably leads to gathering inaccurate, incomplete, or outright erroneous information. Imagine a scenario where traffic from payment gateways isn’t excluded. As a result, the analytics system incorrectly attributes e-commerce conversions to the source ‘PayU / referral’ instead of the Google Ads campaign that actually acquired the customer. This leads to underestimating the ROI of paid ads and, consequently, to a flawed allocation of the marketing budget. Solid foundations in the form of a correct, thoughtful Google Analytics 4 configuration are absolutely crucial for reliable analysis and sustainable business growth. This guide will take you step-by-step through the entire process – from creating the property to validating conversion tracking – ensuring your data serves as a solid basis for making accurate decisions. Step 1: How to Create a Property and Data Stream in GA4? The process begins with creating a new Property in the Google Analytics panel. Each GA4 property can collect data from various sources, such as a website or mobile apps. For each of these sources, we create a so-called Data Stream. To configure GA4 for a website, follow these steps: In the Admin panel, create a new Google Analytics 4 property. Go to the “Data Streams” section and select the “Web” platform. Enter your website’s URL and name the stream (e.g., “Main Website”). Ensure the “Enhanced measurement” option is enabled. This is a default setting that allows for the automatic collection of data on key user interactions without additional configuration. It includes events such as: Page scrolls (scroll) Outbound link clicks (click) Site search (view_search_results) Video engagement (video_start, video_progress, video_complete) File downloads (file_download) After clicking “Create stream“, you will receive a unique “Measurement ID” in the format G-XXXXXXXXXX, which will be necessary for the next steps. gtag.js or Google Tag Manager? How to Implement the GA4 Tracking Code There are two main methods for implementing the GA4 tracking code on a website: Global Site Tag (gtag.js): Directly pasting a snippet of JavaScript code into the <head> section of every page on the site. Google Tag Manager (GTM): Implementation via a GTM container, which centralizes the management of all marketing and analytics scripts. The definitely recommended and standard industry practice is implementation via Google Tag Manager (GTM). It offers incomparably greater flexibility, allowing for the deployment of even very advanced tracking without modifying the website’s code. Choosing GTM is not just a matter of convenience, but a strategic decision regarding scalability and the future of your analytics. It allows for the later, seamless implementation of advanced techniques, such as E-commerce tracking, Client ID, or User ID, without involving developer resources for every modification. Step 2: Essential Settings in the GA4 Panel (Checklist) Installing the GA4 tag is just the beginning. To avoid collecting noisy and useless data, it is necessary to immediately configure the fundamental property settings. The steps below constitute the absolute minimum of “analytics hygiene” for any professional implementation. Data Retention: Go to Admin > Data collection and modification > Data retention. By default, user-level and event data are retained for 2 months. It is recommended to change this value to the maximum available period, which is 14 months. Defining Internal Traffic: To avoid data distortion by employee visits, you must configure filters to exclude internal traffic. Go to Admin > Data collection and modification > Data filters. Here you can define rules based on IP addresses to mark traffic as “internal”. List of Unwanted Referrals: Sometimes traffic sources can be incorrectly attributed to external services, such as payment gateways (e.g., PayU, PayPal). To prevent this, in the section Admin > Data Streams > [Your Stream] > Configure tag settings > List unwanted referrals, add the domains that should be ignored as traffic sources.Expert Tip: Regularly, at least once a quarter, audit the ‘Referral’ report to identify new domains that may be distorting attribution data. Linking with Google Ads and Search Console: Integration with other Google tools is crucial for a complete marketing picture. Google Ads: In Admin > Product links > Google Ads links, you can link your GA4 property with your ad account. This allows for conversion importing and building remarketing lists. Google Search Console: Linking with GSC (Admin > Product links > Search Console links) will unlock reports in GA4 regarding organic traffic from the Google search engine. Step 3: Understanding and Configuring Events in GA4 The most important change in Google Analytics 4 is the fundamental shift to an Event-Driven Data Model. In GA4, every user interaction – from a page view, through a button click, to a purchase – is recorded as a separate event. Even a page view is now an event named page_view. We distinguish four main categories of events: Custom events: Any event defined by you if none of the standard ones fit. Automatically collected events: Recorded by default, e.g., session_start, first_visit. Enhanced measurement events: Activated by the “Enhanced measurement” option, such as scroll, click, or file_download. Recommended events: Names pre-defined by Google for typical actions (e.g., generate_lead for acquiring a contact, purchase for a purchase). How to Track Form Submissions in GA4 using GTM Let’s assume we want to track the submission of a contact form as a recommended event named generate_lead. Here is how to configure it using Google Tag Manager: Step 1: Create a Trigger In GTM, go to “Triggers” and create a new one. Select the type “Form Submission”. Specify the firing condition so it activates only for the contact form, e.g., “Form ID” equals “contact-form”. Step 2: Create a Tag Go to “Tags” and create a new tag of the type “Google Analytics: GA4 Event”. In the “Event Name” field, type generate_lead. In the ‘Event Parameters’ section, add additional information, e.g., form_name with the value main_page_contact_form, to distinguish which form generates the leads. In the “Triggering” section, select the trigger created in the previous step. Save and publish the GTM container. Step 4: Tracking Conversions in GA4 – From Event to Key Event In Google Analytics 4, a conversion (now often referred to as a “Key Event”) is simply an important event that has been marked as such. Method 1: Marking an existing event: When an event (e.g., generate_lead) appears in reports, go to Admin > Data display > Events and toggle the switch in the “Mark as key event” column. Method 2: Creating a conversion in advance: Go to Admin > Data display > Key events, click “New key event” and type the exact name of the event you plan to implement (e.g., generate_lead). This method is the industry standard because it ensures data is counted correctly from the very beginning. Step 5: Verification and Testing of GA4 Settings (Audit) After completing the configuration, verifying the correctness of the implementation is crucial. DebugView: This built-in tool in GA4 (Admin > Data display > DebugView) shows the live stream of events from your device. It is invaluable for checking if newly configured events and their parameters are being sent correctly. Google Tag Assistant and GTM Preview Mode: Before publishing changes in GTM, always use “Preview Mode”. It will open your site with a debug panel showing which tags have fired. Additionally, the Tag Assistant browser extension allows you to verify if the GA4 and GTM tags are correctly installed on the page.

Artem Cherkas

IT Manager
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Marketing
3 Jan 2026
6 min read

Why patience is more profitable than haste

“We invested in ads, a month has passed, so where are the promised mountains of gold?” This is a question we hear regularly in agencies. In the digital era, where everything is “instant,” the expectation of immediate, spectacular returns on marketing investment is understandable. Unfortunately, it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding-the belief that marketing is a sprint. Meanwhile, as Peter Drucker put it, “long-term results cannot be achieved by piling up short-term results.” Effective marketing is a marathon. It is a thoughtful, long-term investment in the most valuable asset your company possesses-its brand. The illusion of instant results: Where did it come from? The popularity of performance marketing has accustomed us to measuring the here and now: clicks, leads, conversions. These metrics are important, but they represent only part of the picture. In the nomenclature of Les Binet and Peter Field, authors of the groundbreaking study “The Long and the Short of It,” these activities are defined as “activation.” Activation is “harvesting”-reaching those who already want to buy. Brand building is “tilling the soil”-ensuring that the harvest gets bigger year by year and the soil becomes more fertile. Activation does not create demand from scratch; that is the task for long-term brand building. Focusing exclusively on activation leads to a dangerous trap, warned against by Neil Mortensen in the study’s foreword: “a growing tendency to use very short-term online metrics as primary performance measures… will damage the long-term profitability of brands.” In other words, optimizing for today’s clicks is the strategic bankruptcy of tomorrow. The snowball effect: How effective advertising really works Marketing effects accumulate over time, like a snowball rolling down a hill. The first months of a campaign can be compared to laying the foundations of a house-work that is invisible from the outside but absolutely crucial. This foundation is a network of subconscious, positive associations that Daniel Kahneman would call “System 1.” It makes the client “simply feel” that your brand is the right choice, long before the analytical “System 2” begins comparing prices. Every subsequent campaign is a brick in the structure called trust. Binet and Field’s research unequivocally confirms this. The data is ruthless: campaigns lasting three years or longer generate 75% more “very large business effects” than one-year campaigns. Time is your strategic ally. Your money works for the future: Marketing as an investment in assets By investing in marketing, you are not buying a one-time sales spike. You are building assets whose value grows over time-“Brand Equity.” A strong brand gives you a luxury that the competition lacks: the ability to maintain higher prices without losing customers. Clients stop asking “how much does it cost?” and start saying “I want exactly this.” Les Binet and Peter Field, based on data analysis from hundreds of companies, discovered a golden ratio that allows for optimally building brand value while simultaneously generating sales. It is the 60/40 rule: • 60% of the budget should be allocated to long-term brand building. • 40% of the budget should be allocated to short-term sales activation. This is not an academic theory, but a battle-tested budget allocation plan. Ask yourself: does your current spending split consciously build future value, or just put out today’s fires? Long-term success depends on “Extra Share of Voice” (ESOV)-a situation where your share of advertising spend in the category is higher than your market share. Consistent brand building according to the 60/40 rule allows you to maintain this surplus, which is the mathematical engine of market share growth. The hidden power of emotion: Why “how” you say it matters more than “what” you say The most effective way to utilize the 60% of the budget dedicated to brand building is to invest in emotion-based communication. Research proves that emotion-based campaigns are nearly twice as profitable as those based on rational persuasion. This happens because they build lasting, subconscious associations (the aforementioned System 1), rather than just conveying information that is quickly forgotten. Rational arguments might convince someone to make a single purchase, but it is the emotional bond with the brand that keeps customers coming back for years and makes them willing to pay more. Why one tool is not enough: The power of a comprehensive approach The belief that “we’ll just run Facebook ads” and achieve success is one of the most common mistakes. Effective marketing requires an integrated and consistent approach, where advertising activities harmonize with product quality, customer service, and the company’s overall reputation. The power lies in synergy. Binet and Field proved that campaigns combining different types of channels are not only more effective but also much more efficient. Their analysis shows that campaigns combining brand-building channels (e.g., TV, outdoor) with activation channels (e.g., search, social media ads): • Were twice as efficient (ESOV efficiency score of 0.6 vs 0.3 for brand-building channels alone). • Generated more business effects (score of 1.5 vs 1.3). Moreover, there is a deeper synergy here: activation channels, supported by strong branding, begin to build the brand themselves, generating more “brand effects” (score of 1.6) than purely image-based campaigns (1.2). Different channels play different roles, and combining them wisely creates an effect far greater than the sum of individual actions. What can you really expect: A realistic roadmap Based on the timeframe analysis from “The Long and the Short of It,” we can outline a realistic schedule of expected results: • 1-3 months: Data gathering and hypothesis testing phase. The main goal isn’t a sudden spike in sales, but gaining invaluable market knowledge. This is the time for campaign optimization, identifying the most effective messages, and observing the first signals of interest. • 4-9 months: The beginning of stable growth. You start to see the first volume effects. Signals of increasing brand recognition appear, and the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) should begin to gradually decrease. Your snowball is gathering speed. • 12+ months: Tangible branding effects. At this point, the investment in the brand begins to yield the biggest dividends. This is where the 60% of the budget you consistently invested in the brand (as discussed in point 4) starts generating returns in the form of higher margins and loyalty that cannot be bought with short-term promotions. You observe organic growth, and your brand becomes strong enough that customers are less sensitive to price. Summary: A marathon, not a sprint Chasing quick results and judging marketing through the lens of a single month is a straight path to burning through your budget and destroying long-term brand value. Ultimately, every company must choose. Do you want to be a sprinter who wins momentary races for clicks but burns out after one season? Or a marathoner who builds strength and endurance to dominate the market for years? The choice of marketing strategy is a choice of your business identity. Let’s stop looking for a “magic button.” Let’s start building a brand that will bring profits for years. Contact us to develop a long-term strategy for your company.

Artem Cherkas

IT Manager
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