How to Install Google Analytics 4 on Shopify

How to make Google Analytics work for your Shopify store square

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Google Analytics is essential for gathering data about the performance of your Shopify store but to get the most out of it, you’ll need to set it up correctly and choose what data you want to track.

Shopify and Google Analytics can work well together and put you in control of your store’s performance.

The latest version, Google Analytics 4, is described as “the next generation of Analytics”.

In this post, we’ll take a look at how to install Google Analytics 4 in your Shopify store so that you’re all set to measure the right performance data, see where your store is working well, and identify what you need to improve.

We’ll look at what needs to happen:

– If you don’t yet have a Google account

– If you already have a Google Analytics account set up

Remember, using Google Analytics 4’s data to make even small improvements to your Shopify store can make big differences to your revenue.

Before we get started…

Don’t double up with Google Analytics!

It’s important before you start to make sure that you don’t already have Google Analytics installed in your Shopify store. If it’s installed twice, you’ll get inaccurate data — and that’s pretty useless.

To check whether Google Analytics is installed in your store , follow these steps:

From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.From the Apps and sales channels page, click Online store.Click Open sales channel.Click Preferences.In the Google Analytics section, the box should say only Paste your code from Google here. If you see this, continue to the next step. If, instead you see a code beginning with UA, you have Google Analytics enabled already.

Click Themes.

Click Actions > Edit code.
In the Layout section, click {/} theme.liquid.
In the theme.liquid file, look for any of the following Google Analytics tracking tags: ga.js, dc.js, gtag.js, or analytics.js. If you see any of these tags, you have Google Analytics enabled already.

Let’s assume you don’t have Google Analytics installed already and are starting from scratch…

If you don’t have Google Analytics set up already…

Step 1: Create a Google Account

To use Google Analytics, the first step is to create a Google account

If you use Gmail or Google Ads, you have a Google account already and can run Google Analytics from the same account. This will apply to most readers so just skip to Step 2 if that applies to you.

Otherwise, you can create a Google account here. Don’t worry if you never intend to use the Gmail account that comes with it. Just use it to sign in and out of Google Analytics.

Then you need to set up a Google Analytics account and continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Enable Google Analytics

To enable Google Analytics, you’ll need to create a Universal Analytics property in Google and add it to your Shopify store.

To do that, follow these steps:

Click Admin.
In the Account column, select the correct account.
In the Property column, click Create Property.
Enter a name for the property.
Select Create a Universal Analytics property only.

Google automatically creates Google Analytics 4 properties that are incompatible with Shopify. Make sure that you create a Universal Analytics property as follows:

Click Next.
Select the appropriate settings.
Click Create.
Copy the Universal Analytics property to your clipboard by highlighting it and pressing ctrl+C on PC or command+C on Mac.

GA4 is not automatically created by Google all the time. It is available for a new account but for old accounts, we need to create it manually.

In Admin, look at the Account column to make sure that you’ve selected the right account. Then, in the Property column, click Create Property.
Select the appropriate settings.
Click Create.
Copy the Universal Analytics property to your clipboard by highlighting it and pressing ctrl+C on PC or command+C on Mac.

In a new browser tab, open your Shopify admin.
Go to Online store > Preferences.
In the Google Analytics section, paste your Universal Analytics property in the Google Analytics account field.

Step 3: Turn on ecommerce tracking

Google Analytics 4’s ecommerce tracking works on two levels:

Basic ecommerce tracking: for transaction and revenue data only
Enhanced ecommerce tracking: for additional data on visitor behavior

You’ll need enhanced ecommerce tracking enabled and, to do that, follow these steps:

From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
From the Apps and sales channels page, click Online store.
Click Open sales channel.
Click Preferences.
In the Google Analytics section, check Use Enhanced Ecommerce. Users with a previous version of GA might need to click Upgrade to the latest version before this option appears.
Click Save to enable Shopify to track and send your website data to Google Analytics.
In your Google Analytics account, click Admin.
In the View column, click Ecommerce Settings.
Click the Enable Enhanced Ecommerce Reporting toggle to turn it from OFF to ON.
Click Save.

You can customize your Google Analytics 4 setup by adding Javascript code to the Additional Google Analytics Javascript section.

From your Shopify Settings, click CheckoutFrom the Checkout page, click Additional script

Add the cusromized code as per the Information you are looking for

If you already have a Google Analytics set up…

The following steps apply for installing Google Analytics 4 on Shopify if you already have a Google Analytics account.

Step 1: Create your tracking ID

To create your tracking ID in Google Analytics, follow these steps:

Log into yourGoogle Analytics account.
Click on the Admin section of the left-hand menu.
From the Property section, select Data Streams.
Click on Add Stream to create a new stream for your Shopify store.
Select either iOS app, Android app or Web from the dropdown menu.
For Web, provide the URL of your Shopify store and click Create stream.
The stream detail will appear.
Under Tagging Instructions, select Add new on-page tag.
Click on the Global site tag option and copy the code that appears.

Step 2: Implement tracking in your store

Log into your Shopify account.
Click on Online store from the left-hand menu.
Select Themes from the available options.
Click on Actions on the right-hand side.
Select Editcode from the dropdown options.
Paste the code that you retrieved in Step 1 above in the <head> section of the code box.
Click on Save and preview your Shopify store.

How to validate data in Google Analytics real-time reports

With Google Analytics 4 set up, you can generate many useful reports that help you to analyze performance in your Shopify store.

To validate data in Google Analytics 4 real-time reports, follow these steps:

Login to your Google Analytics account and click on Reports below the Home button.
Click on Realtime.
You can view the number of real-time users and what type of devices they’re using.
You can also view the user data by events, page title and audiences.

Other advanced reports available in Google Analytics 4 include acquisition reports, engagement reports, ecommerce purchases reports, attribution reports, and more.

Important update on Google Analytics from Google

Google recently posted this important update:

“On July 1, 2023, standard Universal Analytics properties will no longer process data. You’ll be able to see your Universal Analytics reports for a period of time after July 1, 2023. However, new data will only flow into Google Analytics 4 properties…”

So, it’s more important than ever to install and start using Google Analytics 4.

Go forth and analyze…

Whether you already have a Google Analytics account or not for your Shopify store, you’re now all set to start using the latest version of this irreplaceable analytics tool and gather important insights on how your store is performing.

You don’t need to be a data analytics expert to identify how you can increase sales and revenue in your Shopify store. By analyzing the detailed data reports, you can make the improvements that help your store grow.