Google Analytics 4 is a powerful tool - but only if the setup is done correctly and the best practices are applied. Below, you will find the most important settings that you need to take care of on your account.
Before we start, please make sure that your Google Analytics 4 is fully set and functional. Don’t forget: If you have any doubts or problems regarding your setup, Analyzify can help you with that.
Google Analytics 4 Settings for Shopify Merchants
Here are the most important settings that are especially crucial for Shopify and other e-commerce stores.
Enable Google Signals
Google shares its user data with your Google Analytics account. Google Signals, which is a new type of cross-device report for Google Analytics, allows you to have more accurate reporting on cross-devices and more data about your visitors. You can enable Google Signals through: Google Analytics 4 Admin > Data Settings (under the "Property" column) > Data Collection > Enable Google Signals.
This is how Google states its function and benefits.
“By activating Google signals, you enable Google Analytics to collect data about your traffic in addition to data collected through a standard Google Analytics implementation in order to provide additional features like cross-device audiences and insights.
When enabled, Google Analytics will collect visitation information and associate it with Google information from accounts of signed-in users who have consented to this association for the purpose of ads personalization. This Google information may include end-user location, search history, YouTube history, and data from sites that partner with Google—and is used to provide aggregated and anonymized insights into your users’ cross device behaviors.”
Set Data Retention to 14 months
User and event data retention is set to 2 months by default. You can change it to 14 months so that you can track your user’s behavior in a longer run. Beware of GDPR and privacy policies according to the country your business is located.
You can do this through: Google Analytics 4 Admin > Data Settings (under the "Property" column) > Data Collection > Date Retention
Link Google Ads with Google Analytics 4
Make sure to link your Google Ads account with your Google Analytics 4 property. It might enhance your Google Ads performance as the data sharing between these two platforms is quite powerful. Here is where you can do it: Google Analytics 4 Admin > Product Linking (under the "Property" column) > Google Ads
Link Google Search Console with Google Analytics 4
Google Search Console is the only reliable source for your organic search performance. You will see keyword-based performance reports on Google Analytics 4 by linking your Google Search Console with it. It is done on the same screen as: Google Ads > Google Analytics 4 Admin > Product Linking (under the "Property" column) > Search Console
Key Google Analytics 4 Reports for Shopify Merchants
The tracking setup won’t mean much if you aren’t using the GA4 reports. However, we are also aware that GA4’s user interface is not easy enough to navigate at the moment.
That’s why we have crafted the following article for Shopify merchants to understand which reports they should be looking at on a regular basis.
Be sure to check out: Important GA4 E-commerce reports for Shopify Stores
We have covered the following reports in-depth:
- Traffic & Attribution Reports
- Product & Category & Brand Performance
- Purchase & Order Level
- Retention & Lifetime Value
- Healthcheck by Tech
- Analytics Intelligence Insights
