Five essential GA4 setup steps for content marketers

Executive overview

Most GA4 accounts are set up incompletely, leaving conversion tracking broken and campaign data unusable. Five configurations cover 80% of what you need.

The 20% effort that unlocks 80% of GA4's value is: data stream, enhanced measurement, UTM tagging, custom events, and conversion marking.

Data stream and tracking code

• GA4 uses data streams instead of properties as the data source — one web stream per property.
• Measurement IDs now start with G- rather than UA-; this distinguishes GA4 from Universal Analytics.
• Install the tag via your CMS, a plugin, or Google Tag Manager — every page needs it.

Enhanced measurement

• A single checkbox enables scroll tracking, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, and file downloads.
• Previously required custom JavaScript; now built in to GA4 by default.
• The gear icon lets you configure what each measurement type captures.

UTM campaign parameters

• Tag every link with source, medium, and campaign at minimum — source and medium are required, campaign is strongly recommended.
• Use Google's official URL builder to generate compliant GA4 URLs.
• GA4 adds new parameters beyond what Universal Analytics supported; the URL builder surfaces them all.
• Shorten final URLs via Bitly if needed — the link works in any browser regardless.

Custom events

• GA4 uses an event-based model rather than the hit-based model of Universal Analytics.
• Create custom events under Configure → Events → Create Event.
• Use snake_case: all lowercase, underscores between words, no spaces or special characters.
• Events must have occurred at least once before you can reference their parameters when building new events.
• Enhanced measurement auto-generates page-view events and parameters you can build on without additional code.

Marking conversions

• Any event visible in the Events report can be toggled as a conversion with one click.
• There is a one-day delay before newly created custom events appear — plan accordingly and set up conversions the day after creating the event.
• Conversions tie outcomes back to the traffic source, making campaign ROI measurable.