Create the property with the right time zone and currency, add a web stream and the Google tag, set retention to 14 months, review enhanced measurement, mark the few business-critical events as key events, filter internal traffic, configure consent mode, link Google Ads and Search Console, define custom dimensions, and check every event in debug view.
This is the main guide in our analytics series. The guides below cover setting up key events, a clean Tag Manager container, marketing dashboards and attribution models.
1. Account, property and data stream
Google's setup guide runs account, property, data stream, then tag; it notes data can take up to 30 minutes to start arriving. Check:
- An account owned by the business, not by an agency or a former employee.
- A property with the correct reporting time zone and currency.
- A web data stream for the site, with the Google tag (measurement ID starting "G-") on every page, in the page head or through Tag Manager.
- Admin access for at least two people inside the business.
2. Data retention
Google's data retention settings let standard properties keep user-level and event data for 2 or 14 months; longer periods are for Analytics 360 only. The setting affects explorations and funnel reports, not standard aggregated reports. Set it to 14 months on day one, because a shorter window cannot be extended backwards.
3. Enhanced measurement
Enhanced measurement collects page views automatically and can add scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, file downloads and form interactions, each of which can be switched off. Review each one: the automatic form interaction events, for example, may fire in ways that do not match a successful submission, so do not treat them as leads without testing.
4. Key events
Key events are the events that matter most to the business. Google lets standard properties mark up to 30 events as key events (50 on 360). Mark only real outcomes, such as a confirmed form submission, a booked call or a purchase, and make sure each fires once, on success. Our key event setup guide covers this step in detail.
5. Internal traffic
Staff and supplier visits distort the numbers. Google's internal traffic guide has you define internal traffic by IP address in the web stream's tag settings, then create a data filter that can be in testing, active or inactive. Test it first: Google notes that once a filter is applied, its effect on the data is permanent.
6. Consent and privacy
Google's consent mode lets tags adjust to each visitor's consent choices; it was updated in November 2023 with two extra signals, ad_user_data and ad_personalization, alongside ad_storage and analytics_storage. Set default consent states by region and connect them to your consent banner.
The rules depend on where your visitors are. In Canada, PIPEDA's fair information principles make meaningful consent essential and let people withdraw consent at any time. In California, the Attorney General's CCPA page (updated 28 August 2026) says consumers may ask businesses to stop selling or sharing their personal information, and that the Global Privacy Control browser signal must be honored as a valid opt-out. Other US states have passed broad consumer privacy laws too; the IAPP keeps a state privacy legislation tracker (updated 8 September 2026). This guide is general information, not legal advice; the laws of the places your visitors are in, and your own counsel, decide what applies to you.
7. Links to other Google products
Link the products whose data you will read together:
- Google Ads: linked under Admin, product links; Google says Ads data appears within 48 hours, and key events can be imported as Google Ads conversions (help page).
- Search Console: linked so landing pages and queries appear beside on-site behavior.
- BigQuery export, where you need raw event data beyond the interface.
8. Custom dimensions
Event parameters you want in reports, such as form name or lead type, must be registered as custom dimensions. Google's limits for standard properties are 25 user-scoped and 50 event-scoped dimensions, 10 item-scoped, and 50 custom metrics. Register only what you will report on, with clear names.
9. Checks before you trust the numbers
Before anyone reads a report:
- Every key event checked in debug view, firing once on success and never on page load or error.
- Analytics key events reconciled with your own lead record or orders for the same month.
- Internal traffic filter tested, then activated.
- Consent banner tested in each region: tags respect each choice.
- A short written record of what is tracked, why, and who owns it.
Leads are people, not events
A GA4 key event is a signal that something happened on the site. It is not a lead: forms are submitted twice, by spam bots and by people who never answer. Count leads as people in your own lead record or CRM, and use GA4 to see where they came from and what they did. Our guide to how credit is shared between channels explains the models.
Conclusion
A clean GA4 setup has the right property settings and Google tag, 14-month retention, reviewed enhanced measurement, a short list of key events that fire once on success, internal traffic filtered, consent mode configured for your regions, Google Ads and Search Console linked, custom dimensions registered and every event checked in debug view. Count leads in your own records, and use GA4 for where they came from.
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. Our analytics team sets up or fixes GA4 and Tag Manager, documents what is tracked and builds the reports your team reads.
The guides in this series
This is the main guide in our analytics series. Each guide below goes deeper on one part and links back here.
- GA4 conversion tracking: key events that measure real outcomes, and sending them to Google Ads.
- Google Tag Manager setup: a clean container from day one.
- Looker Studio dashboard: what a marketing dashboard should show.
- Marketing attribution models: how credit is shared between channels, explained for B2B.
- Power BI vs Tableau: two business intelligence tools compared on their own pages.
- Power BI dashboard examples: sales, operations, finance and marketing dashboards.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.