How to Set Up Google Analytics 4: Add Property, Website & Users

Before You Start

You need two things: a Google account (a Gmail address or a Google Workspace account) and admin access to the website you want to track. If someone else manages the site, you will need them to paste a snippet of code or a Measurement ID for you, so line that up now.

Use a company-owned Google account for the setup, never an employee's personal Gmail or an agency's account. The person who creates the account becomes its first Administrator, and if that person leaves, you inherit an access problem that Google's support process takes weeks to fix. We see this constantly when onboarding new clients for SEO services: the analytics history sits in a former contractor's account and nobody can get in.

One more note. Universal Analytics stopped processing data in 2023. If you find an old property with an ID that starts with UA-, it is dead. Everything below is for GA4, where the Measurement ID starts with G-.

How Google Analytics 4 Is Organized

GA4 has a three-level hierarchy, and knowing it saves you from the most common setup mistake (creating a new account when you only needed a new property).

When people search for how to add a website to Google Analytics, they usually mean one of two things: adding a web data stream to an existing property, or creating a brand-new property for a second site. Both are covered below.

Step 1: Create a Google Analytics Account

Skip this step if your company already has a GA4 account. Check first: sign in at analytics.google.com and look at the account picker in the top left. If a company account exists, jump to Step 2.

1. Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with the company Google account.
2. Click Start measuring if this is your first time. Otherwise click Admin (the gear icon, bottom left), then Create, then Account.
3. Enter an account name. Use the business name, not the website name. You will add websites as properties inside this account.
4. Review the data sharing settings. The defaults are fine for most businesses. Click Next.

Google walks you straight into property creation from here.

Step 2: Add a Property to Google Analytics

A property is the container for one website's reports. If you are adding a second website to an existing account, this is where you start: Admin, then Create, then Property.

1. Enter a property name. We name properties after the domain (example: acmeplumbing.com) so agencies and staff can find them fast.
2. Set the reporting time zone to where your business operates. This affects every date in every report, and you cannot change historical data later.
3. Set the currency. Revenue and ad cost metrics use it.
4. Click Next, fill in the industry category and business size, then choose your business objectives. The objectives only change which default report collection GA4 shows you. You can change them later.
5. Click Create and accept the terms of service.

Step 3: Add Your Website as a Data Stream

After creating a property, GA4 asks you to choose a platform. This is where you add your website.

1. Choose Web.
2. Enter the website URL. Pick https:// from the dropdown and enter the domain without the protocol (example: acmeplumbing.com).
3. Enter a stream name. The domain works.
4. Leave Enhanced measurement switched on. It records scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, file downloads, form interactions, and video engagement without extra code.
5. Click Create stream.

The stream details panel opens and shows your Measurement ID, which looks like G-XXXXXXXXXX. Copy it. Every installation method in the next step needs it.

To add a web stream to a property that already exists (say, the property was created for an app first), go to Admin, then Data streams, then Add stream, then Web. To add a completely separate website, create a new property instead. Running two unrelated websites through one property mixes their traffic and breaks every report, which matters a lot if you run an ecommerce store next to a content site.

Step 4: Install the Google Tag on Your Site

The Measurement ID does nothing until the Google tag runs on every page of your site. How you install it depends on the platform.

WordPress

Install the Site Kit by Google plugin, connect the Google account that owns the property, and pick the property. Site Kit places the tag for you. If you prefer no extra plugin, go to your data stream, click View tag instructions, then Install manually, and paste the snippet into the <head> through your theme's header settings or a lightweight header-and-footer scripts plugin. Avoid pasting it directly into header.php: a theme update wipes it.

How to Set Up Google Analytics on Wix

Wix has a built-in connection, so you never touch code. You need a Premium plan with a connected domain; the integration is unavailable on free sites.

1. In the Wix dashboard, open Marketing & SEO, then Marketing Integrations.
2. Find Google Analytics and click Connect.
3. Paste your Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXXXXX) into the field. Check IP anonymization if you serve EU visitors.
4. Click Save.

One Wix-specific setting matters. Wix loads pages as a single-page app, which can cause GA4's Enhanced measurement to double-count page views. In your GA4 web stream, open Enhanced measurement settings, expand Page views, click Show advanced settings, and uncheck Page changes based on browser history events. Wix handles those page views itself.

How to Add Google Analytics to Squarespace

Squarespace also has a native field for the ID.

1. From the site dashboard, open Settings, then Developer Tools (older accounts show this under Advanced).
2. Click External API Keys.
3. Paste the Measurement ID into the Google Analytics Account Number field.
4. Click Save.

Squarespace injects the tag on every page, including blog posts and product pages. If you also use Squarespace's own analytics, expect the two to disagree by a few percent; they count sessions differently.

Shopify, custom sites, and Google Tag Manager

On Shopify, install the Google & YouTube sales channel app, connect the Google account, and select the GA4 property. That path also wires up ecommerce events (view item, add to cart, begin checkout, purchase) that a plain tag would miss.

On a custom-built site, paste the Google tag snippet from the data stream's installation instructions inside <head> on every page template. If your web development team already runs Google Tag Manager, add a Google tag inside GTM with your Measurement ID and publish the container. GTM is the better long-term choice for any site that will need more than one tracking script, because marketing can add tags without a developer.

Whichever method you use, install the tag once. Two copies of the same Measurement ID (a plugin plus a pasted snippet, for instance) double every page view and inflate every metric you report to leadership.

Step 5: Verify Data Is Coming In

Do not wait 24 hours to find out the tag is broken. Test it immediately.

1. Open your website in a new browser tab and click through two or three pages.
2. Back in Google Analytics, open Reports, then Realtime.
3. Within about 30 seconds, you should see at least one active user and the pages you visited under Event count by Event name (look for page_view).

If nothing shows, check the usual causes in this order: an ad blocker or a consent banner on your own browser blocking the tag, a typo in the Measurement ID, a caching plugin serving an old version of the page, or the tag placed only on the homepage template. For a deeper check, open Admin, then DebugView, install the Google Analytics Debugger browser extension, and watch events arrive one by one.

Standard reports (Acquisition, Engagement, Monetization, and the rest) take 24 to 48 hours to populate. Realtime is the only report you should use to judge a fresh installation.

Settings to Change on Day One

A default GA4 property collects data but reports it badly. Five minutes here saves you months of arguing with numbers.

The key events step is the one with the most business impact. Once your CRM and form tools pass conversions into GA4, you can trace a closed deal back to the campaign or blog post that started it. That connection is the whole reason to run analytics at all.

How to Add Users and Admins to Google Analytics

You give access to Google Analytics by adding a Google account email and assigning a role. You can grant access at the account level (the person sees every property in the account) or at the property level (one website only). For agencies and most staff, property-level access is the right scope.

Steps to add a user

1. Click Admin (gear icon, bottom left).
2. Under the account column click Account access management, or under the property column click Property access management. Pick the level that matches the access you want to grant.
3. Click the blue + button in the top right, then Add users.
4. Enter the person's Google account email. Multiple addresses can go in at once.
5. Keep Notify new users by email checked so they receive a link.
6. Choose a role. Optionally tick No Cost Metrics or No Revenue Metrics to hide ad spend or revenue from that user.
7. Click Add.

Which role to give

• Administrator for the business owner and one backup. This is how you add an admin to Google Analytics: choose Administrator as the role. Two admins is the minimum; one is a single point of failure.
• Editor for the agency or developer configuring events, integrations, and tags. Editors cannot add or remove users.
• Marketer for whoever builds audiences for paid campaigns.
• Analyst for anyone who builds explorations and dashboards.
• Viewer for stakeholders who read reports. This is the safe default when you are unsure.

Only an Administrator can add users. If you cannot see the + button, you do not hold that role and need to ask whoever does.

How to Request or Get Access to a Google Analytics Property

GA4 has no request-access button. If you can see a property in your account picker but cannot open it, or you cannot see it at all, someone with the Administrator role has to add you. Your job is to find that person and give them the right information.

1. Identify who holds admin. Start with whoever launched the website: the web developer or the previous marketing agency, then the founder. If you already have any access to the account, open Admin, then Account access management, and the list shows every user and their role.
2. Send a specific request. Include the Google account email you want added, the property name or Measurement ID, and the role you need. A message that says "please add jane@company.com as Editor on the acmeplumbing.com GA4 property" gets done in two minutes. "Can I get access to analytics?" starts a week of back-and-forth.
3. Ask for the right level. If you are taking over marketing, request Administrator at the account level so you can manage users yourself going forward. If you are a vendor, Editor at the property level is appropriate.

If nobody at the company has access anymore (the admin left and used a personal account), Google offers an account recovery troubleshooter in the Analytics Help Center for verified site owners. You will need to prove ownership by showing the existing tag is installed on a domain you control, and the process typically takes several weeks. In our experience, creating a fresh property and starting clean is often faster than the recovery route, even though you lose the history. Either way, fix the root cause afterward by adding a second Administrator on a company-owned account.

How to Add Users to Google Search Console

Search Console access is separate from Analytics access. Adding someone to GA4 does not grant them Search Console, and vice versa. Since Search Console holds your query and indexing data, anyone doing content or technical SEO work needs both.

1. Open search.google.com/search-console and select the property.
2. Click Settings in the left menu, then Users and permissions.
3. Click Add user.
4. Enter the Google account email and choose a permission level: Full (view everything, take most actions) or Restricted (view only).
5. Click Add.

Only an Owner can add users. Owners come in two types: a verified owner proved control of the domain through DNS, an HTML file upload, a meta tag, or the Google tag, while a delegated owner was added by a verified owner. If the only verified owner leaves, delegated owners lose access too, so keep at least one verified owner on a company account. After adding the user, link Search Console to GA4 under Admin, then Product links, so search visibility data flows into your analytics reports.

How to Remove Users, Delete a Property, or Remove an Account

These three requests come up whenever a vendor relationship ends or a site gets retired. They are different actions with different consequences, so match the action to the goal.

Remove a user from Google Analytics

Go to Admin, then Account access management or Property access management, find the person, click the three-dot menu at the end of their row, and choose Remove access. You need the Administrator role. To remove yourself from an account you no longer work on, use the same menu on your own row and choose Remove myself. This is usually what people mean by "remove an account from Google Analytics": leaving a client's account so it stops appearing in your picker.

Delete a Google Analytics property

1. Open Admin and make sure the correct property is selected in the property column.
2. Click Property details (under Property settings).
3. Click Move to Trash Can in the top right, then confirm.

You need the Editor role or higher. The property sits in the Trash Can for 35 days, and any Administrator can restore it from Admin, then Trash Can (account column) during that window. After 35 days, Google deletes it permanently along with all its data. Before deleting a property that has history, export the reports you care about or connect it to BigQuery first.

Delete an entire Google Analytics account

Open Admin, then Account details (account column), then Move to Trash Can. This requires the Administrator role at the account level and deletes every property inside the account. The same 35-day restore window applies. Deleting the account is rarely the right move; removing users or trashing a single property solves almost every real situation, and keeps the history that a future local SEO or content audit will want.

Mistakes That Cost You Data

These are the setup problems we find most often when we inherit a property. Each one is a five-minute fix on day one and a permanent data gap if you find it a year later.

• Data retention left at 2 months. Explorations and funnel reports stop being able to look back beyond that window.
• Tag installed twice. A plugin plus a manual snippet doubles page views. Check Realtime for two page_view events per page load.
• Wrong time zone. Daily reports split at the wrong hour and never match your ad platforms.
• Only one Administrator, on a personal account. The single most expensive mistake on this list once that person leaves.
• No key events. Traffic reports without conversions tell you nothing about revenue. Your forms and calls to action need to fire events GA4 can see.
• Internal traffic unfiltered. A ten-person team refreshing the homepage can be 20 percent of a small site's sessions.
• Search Console never linked. You lose the only free source of query-level data, which is where authority-building and content decisions start.

Author

Michael Timi

Partner & Marketing Manager, eMac Media

Drives strategic partnerships and revenue growth through high-impact marketing initiatives, business development, and lead generation.

Editor

Princess Pitts

Director of Communications Strategy, eMac Media

Specializes in editorial strategy, content governance, and brand communications at scale.