Google Analytics 4 for business: how to set it up and what to look at instead of the old Universal Analytics

Why we had to learn it all over again

Universal Analytics was shut down, and the whole world moved to Google Analytics 4. The problem is that GA4 is not an “updated interface” but a different logic: instead of sessions and pageviews, everything here is built on events. Those who opened the old analytics out of habit get lost in GA4. Let’s lay out what a business actually needs.

The event model in plain words

In the old analytics the base unit was a pageview. In GA4 the base unit is an event: a pageview, a click, a scroll, a form submission, an add-to-cart. Even opening a page technically counts as an event. This gives flexibility (you can track anything) but requires setup: out of the box GA4 counts the basics, and everything important for your business needs to be defined explicitly.

Installation: 20 minutes

1. Create an account and a property at analytics.google.com, get the stream ID (G-XXXXXXX).
2. Put the code on all pages — directly, via Google Tag Manager or a CMS plugin.
3. Turn on Enhanced Measurement — GA4 will itself start counting scrolls, outbound-link clicks and file downloads.
4. Check the “Realtime” report: open the site and make sure you are visible.

Tip: install GA4 via Google Tag Manager rather than directly in the code. Adding events and pixels later will be many times easier, without editing the site.

Conversions — what it is all for

As with Yandex Metrica, without configuring goals, analytics shows traffic but not the business result. In GA4 a conversion is an event you marked as important:

• a request-form submission (a generate_lead or form_submit event);
• a click on the WhatsApp button or phone;
• placing an order (purchase);
• reaching the “Thank you” page.

You mark the needed events as key (formerly “conversions”) — and they appear in reports and are passed to Google Ads for ad optimization.

Five reports for a business owner

1. Traffic acquisition — where people come from: search, ads, social, direct.
2. Key events (conversions) — how many leads and from which sources. The main report.
3. Pages and screens — which pages are popular and which people enter through from search.
4. E-commerce — if it is a store: revenue, products, the cart funnel.
5. Tech → devices — the mobile share and the conversion difference with desktop.

Audiences and linking to ads

A strength of GA4 is audiences: “added to cart but did not buy”, “were on the service page twice”. They can be passed to Google Ads for retargeting. Link GA4 to your ad account — then conversion data flows both ways, and the ads learn to bring exactly those who leave requests. The logic is the same as in end-to-end analytics: count money, not clicks.

GA4 or Yandex Metrica

Not “or” but “and”. Metrica is more convenient for the Russian web: Session Replay, click maps, a familiar interface, and it understands Yandex traffic better. GA4 is indispensable if you run Google ads, work abroad or are already tied into the Google ecosystem. For most businesses in Russia it makes sense to keep both — they are free and complement each other.

Conclusion

GA4 is scary only at first: the event model, a new interface, its own names. But the basic set is the same — traffic, conversions, behavior. Install it via GTM, set up 3–5 key events, link it to ads — and you get a full picture. We will set up analytics turnkey and teach you to read the reports — write to us.