How to Set Up Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Search Console (Step-by-Step Guide)

whWhy add GA4 to your website?

Because once GA4 is installed, you can see:

• where your audience is coming from (search, social, email, ads)

• what pages they visit

• what content keeps them engaged

• where they drop off

• what’s driving sign-ups, enquiries, or sales

In short, you can’t improve what you can’t see.

So how do you get GA4 on your website?

Below I’ve detailed a quick and easy, step-by-step guide on how to set up and install Google Analytics 4 using Google Tag Manager. For more quick and easy marketing analytics tips check out my Instagram @PennLytics.

Step-by-step: How to set up GA4 (the simple way)

Step 1: Create your GA4 Property

1. Go to Google Analytics and create a new property.
2. Choose Web as the data stream and add your website URL.
3. Turn on Enhanced Measurement (this helps track key interactions automatically).
4. Copy your Measurement ID (looks like: G-XXXXXXXXXX).

Step 2: Install GA4 using Google Tag Manager (recommended)

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is the cleanest way to manage tracking without constantly touching your website code.

2A) Create a GTM account (if you don’t already have one)

1. Go to Google Tag Manager and create an account + container
2. Select Web as the target platform
3. You’ll get a GTM container code snippet
4. Click the GTM-XXXXXXX in the top right hand corner and this will open up your code snippet. 

2B) Add GTM to your website

• Copy and add the GTM Header snippet to your website header 
• Most platforms make this easy (Shopify/Wix/Squarespace/WordPress all have common methods)

(If you’re not sure where it goes, use the ChatGPT prompt below, it’ll tell you exactly where based on your platform.)

Step 3: Create the GA4 tag inside GTM

1. In GTM, go to Tags, + New
2. Name the Tag Google Analytics Configuration 
3. Select ‘Tag Configuration’ and choose Google Tag.
4. Paste your GA4 Measurement ID to the Tag ID 
5. Set the trigger to Initialization – All Pages
6. Save

Step 4: Test it before going live

1. Click Preview in GTM (top right)
2. Enter your website URL and connect Tag Assistant
3. Check that your GA4 tag fires on page load
4. When confirmed, go back and click Submit / Publish in GTM

Step 5: Confirm GA4 is receiving data

After publishing, GA4 can take a little time to populate.

To check:

• Open GA4, look for Realtime reporting
• Visit your site in a new tab
• You should see your session show up

If you do, you’re live. Woohoo!

Step-by-step: How to set up Google Search Console (GSC)

Step 1: Add your website as a property

1. Go to Google Search Console
2. Click Add property
3. Choose Domain (recommended) or URL prefix
4. Follow verification steps

Domain verification usually uses a DNS record. URL prefix may use an HTML tag, file upload, or GA/GTM verification.

Step 2: Submit your sitemap (important)

1. In Search Console, go to Sitemaps
2. Add your sitemap URL (often: /sitemap.xml)
3. Submit

This helps Google crawl and index your content properly.

Step 3: Connect Search Console to GA4

This is where it gets powerful, because now you can see how search connects to behaviour.

1. In GA4, go to Admin > Product Links > Search Console Links
2. Add your Search Console property
3. Select your GA4 web stream
4. Save

Now you’re set to see:

• search queries people used to find you
• which pages are ranking
• which keywords drive clicks
• where opportunities exist for content/SEO

What you can do next (without overwhelm)

Once GA4 + GSC are connected, start with just these three checks:

1. Where is my traffic coming from?
2. What pages/content are people engaging with most?
3. What search terms are bringing people to my site?

That’s it. Start there. Build from there.

Now, you can make the above processes even easier! Meet your “Pocket Analyst” Prompt (Copy + Paste this into ChatGPT)

If you want the most tailored step-by-step instructions for your exact website platform, use this:

Prompt:

“You are a Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google Search Console expert.
Please give me a step-by-step guide to:

1. install GA4 on my website using the best method for my platform, and
2. set up Google Search Console and connect it to GA4.

My website platform is: [INSERT PLATFORM e.g. WordPress / Squarespace / Shopify / Wix / Webflow]

Assume I am a beginner. Keep it simple, include where to click, and include common mistakes to avoid.”

Important note (so expectations are clear)

This guide covers foundational setup. It does not include advanced tracking such as:

• ecommerce tracking
• custom event/conversion configuration
• GTM custom triggers
• revenue attribution and ROI tracking
• advanced audiences and segmentation

Those are important, but our goal is here is to get you set up with your foundations for collecting the information and data you need to get started with knowing in your marketing. 

Start with foundations. Then build.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “Okay… I get why this matters, but I still don’t really know what to look at or what to do with the data once it’s there,” you’re not alone. That’s exactly why I started my 4-week online live training program, The Marketing Review Room.