How to Add Google Analytics to Your Website (Step-by-Step 2026)

Short answer

Go to analytics.google.com, create an account and property for your website, copy the Measurement ID (starts with G-), add it to your website (via tag, plugin, or code), and wait 24 hours for data to appear. The hardest part is adding it to your site — the method depends on your platform.

New in GA4 for 2026: track your AI traffic

In mid-2026 Google added an AI Assistant channel to GA4's default channel grouping. Visits from people who reached your site through an AI assistant — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and a few others — are now grouped on their own instead of being buried under "Referral." It works automatically, with no setup.

To see it: Reports → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition, then set the primary dimension to Session default channel group and look for AI Assistant.

Two things to keep in mind:

Not every tool is covered yet — traffic from some assistants (such as Perplexity) can still show up under Referral.
A large share of AI visits arrive with no referrer information and fall into Direct, so this channel undercounts your real AI traffic rather than overcounting it.

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Free checklist

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Step 1: Create your GA4 account

Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with your Google account
Click "Start measuring"
Enter an account name (your business name)
Create a property — give it your website name and select your time zone and currency
Choose "Web" as your platform
Enter your website URL and stream name

You'll get a Measurement ID (format: G-XXXXXXXXXX). This is what you'll add to your site.

Step 2: Add GA4 to your website

The method depends on your platform:

WordPress — install the free "Site Kit by Google" plugin. It connects GA4 with one click and no code.

Squarespace — go to Settings → Advanced → External API Keys → Google Analytics, paste your Measurement ID.

Wix — go to Settings → Tracking & Analytics → New Tool → Google Analytics, paste your Measurement ID.

Shopify — go to Online Store → Preferences → Google Analytics, paste your Measurement ID.

Custom site (HTML) — paste the GA4 tracking code snippet in the <head> section of every page. The snippet is in GA4 under Admin → Data Streams → your stream → "Google tag."

Google Tag Manager — if you're already using GTM, add a GA4 Configuration tag with your Measurement ID and trigger it on "All Pages."

Step 3: Confirm it's working

Install the "Google Analytics Debugger" Chrome extension, visit your website with it active, and check GA4 → Reports → Realtime. If you see your visit showing up, it's working.

Data takes 24–48 hours to start appearing in standard reports.

What to set up after the basics

Mark conversions — in GA4, go to Events and mark phone clicks, form submissions, or purchases as conversions
Connect Search Console — links GA4 to your Google Search Console data
Set up goals — helps GA4 measure what matters to your business
Extend data retention to 14 months — GA4 keeps event-level data for only 2 months by default. Go to Admin → Data Settings → Data Retention and switch it to 14 months so year-over-year comparisons work. Do this on day one — the change isn't retroactive.
Turn on Consent Mode — if you get visitors in the EU or UK, Consent Mode adjusts how GA4 collects data based on your cookie banner. Most consent-banner tools (and the Site Kit plugin) can set this up for you.