GA4 Setup Check List
This checklist will help you set up GA4 on your site as well as help you with regular audits.
GA4 has a different data model and setup than Universal Analytics. If you are not familiar with how GA4 works, then I highly recommend enrolling in one of our courses or connecting with us to help you set up GA4. You can reach us at support@optizent.com.
Below is a list of items to check and verify during setup and audits. Regular audits ensure that your setup is according to your current needs.
Property Settings in GA4
To access these settings, go to the Admin Panel and look for the links under the Property column. The exact link name is specified in the parentheses, e.g., (Data Stream --> Click the Data Stream), at the end of each bullet point.
- Enable Enhanced Measurements – These are enabled by default. Always verify them during regular audits to ensure you have enabled/disabled the desired ones. (Data Stream --> Click the Data Stream)
- Set up on-site search settings within Enhanced Measurement – This setting is enabled by default, but you should ensure that you have configured it to use the right query parameters. Data StreamsàEnhanced Measurement)
- Verify the Time zone for reporting is correct. You have to select this while setting up the account. We live in a time when teams are scattered all over the world, so make sure this time zone setting still makes sense and stakeholders are aware of this. (Property Settings)
- Integrated Google Ads – If you are running Google Ads, then enable the link between GA4 and Google Ads (Google Ads Link)
- Integrate Search Console – You should always enable this link to see data from Google Search Engine for your site. (Search Console Links)
- Set up data transfer to BigQuery – GA4 can send data to BigQuery without any 3rd party tool. This is a big enhancement in GA4 is highly recommended. If you have a small site, then you might not need to pay anything for this data storage. However, if you have a large site, then you will end up paying for the storage and usage. Make sure to read BigQuery terms and pricing (details are available in the GA4 course). (Big Query Links)
- Cross-Domain Tracking – Add all your domains to the list for cross-domain tracking. (Data StreamàMore Tagging Settings -->Configure Your Domains-->Configuration)
- Use Same GTM Container – Many times, we have seen clients using different containers on different subdomains or sites that are tracked as one using cross-domain tracking. Having different containers makes it difficult to manage the tags, triggers, and variables. It also makes debugging difficult.
- Define Internal Traffic rules – Setup the rules that define the internal traffic, e.g., traffic that is generated by employees, contractors, etc. of your organization. (Data Stream --> More Tagging Setting --> Define Internal Traffic)
- Exclude Internal and Developer Traffic – Once you create the traffic rules then you can exclude them from your reporting. (Data Settings-->Data Filters-->Create Filter)
- Remove Unwanted or spam referrals – Though GA4 tries to remove unwanted or spam referrals, they might still end up in your data. Make sure to audit this on a regular basis and remove them immediately. (Data Stream-->More Tagging Setting-->List Unwanted Referrals)
- Session Timeout – By default, a user session expires on 30 minutes of inactivity. However, based on your site/app, you might want to have a different session timeout setting. (Data Stream-->More Tagging Settings-->Adjust Session Timeout)
- Time for Engaged Sessions – GA4 pings the user every 10 seconds to ensure the user is still connected and active. Leave this at the default of 10 seconds unless you have a specific reason to adjust it. (Data Stream-->More Tagging Settings-->Adjust Session Timeout)
- Enable Google signals data collection to get cross-device and demographic data in your GA4 reports.
- Verify the Data Retention time period. By default, GA4 will only store data for 2 months. We recommend changing the data retention setting in the admin panel to 14 months(max). If you have a legal team, then consult with them to ensure it is in accordance with your policies and local laws. (Data Settings --> Data Retention)
- Audit User Property and Account access – Employees come and go, and so do agencies that you work with. Over time, your account might have people who should no longer have access to the account or the property. Periodically check the Property Access Management as well as Account Access management, under the Account admin panel, to ensure no unauthorized access is granted.
- Property Change History – Do a period check to make sure no unwanted changes have been made to your property. A similar setting is available at the Account level. (Property Change Setting)
- Granular location and device data collection – This setting allows Google Analytics to collect city level and device level data. It is enabled by default and is used for complying with regional laws. I suggest you leave this on, but you have an option to turn this off entirely or for a specific region as well (Data Settings-->Data Collection).
- Advanced Settings to Allow for Ads Personalization – This setting allows you to do Ad personalization to your site visitors. When you turn it on, you can export your Google Analytics audiences and conversions to your linked Ads accounts to deliver relevant, personalized experiences to your end users. It is enabled by default, but you can turn it off entirely for specific regions. (Data Settings --> Data Collection).
- User Data Collection Acknowledgement – You have to acknowledge that you have placed necessary privacy disclosures and obtained your users' permission for the collection and processing of their data, including the association of such data with the visitation information Google Analytics collects from your site/app. Make sure to have your legal team review it.
- Enable Conversion events
- Verify Custom Definitions
- Verify and adjust Audience Definitions.
- Enable Universal Analytics as well, since many of the features are still getting rolled out in GA4
- Verify the following limits during every audit.
| Item | Limit | Notes |
| Distinctly named events | 500 per app instance (app) | Automatically collected events, like first_open and in_app_purchase, and events you collect via enhanced measurement do not count toward the limits.
You cannot delete events once they are collected. |
| Length of event name | 40 characters | |
| Event parameters per event | 25 event parameters | You can delete any parameters that you don’t use to make room for new ones. |
| Length of event-parameter name | 40 characters | |
| Length of event-parameter value | 100 characters | |
| User properties | 25 per property | You can not delete user properties |
| Length of user-property names | 24 characters | |
| Length of user-property values | 36 characters | |
| Length of User-ID values | 256 characters |
The character limits are the same for single-width character languages (e.g., English) and double-width character languages (e.g., Japanese).
Configuration limits
| Configured item | Limit per property | Can I delete items if I'm close to the limit? |
| Audiences | 100 | Yes |
| Conversions | 30 | Yes |
| Custom insights | 50 | Yes |
| Funnels | 200 | Yes |
| User-scoped custom dimensions | 25 | Yes |
| Event-scoped custom dimensions | 50 | Yes |
| Event-scoped custom metrics | 50 | Yes |
| Registered custom conversion events | 30 | Yes |
| Data retention | Up to 14 months | N/A |
| Explorations | 200 created per user
500 shared |
Yes |
| Explore sampling limits | 10M events per query | N/A |
| Ads links | 400 | Yes. You can also consider using a Google Ads manager account and linking to that account instead of linking to individual client accounts. |
About this checklist
Bad data leads to bad decisions, so it is critical that you go through this list on a regular basis to ensure that the data you are collecting is of good quality and you are maximizing the use of features that GA4 offers. We will update this list on a regular basis.
Where to get more help?
If you are overwhelmed by all these settings and are not sure how to proceed, contact us at support@optizent.com, and we will get you running.
Need a PDF version? Email us at support@optizent.com