GA4 set up so every number can be trusted.
Most GA4 properties are installed once and never checked. We set up the events, key events, consent and storage properly, test every one, and give you reports you can act on.
What a clean setup covers
- Tag Manager container with a clear naming system
- Key events tied to enquiries, calls and sales
- Internal traffic and duplicate tags removed
- Consent Mode v2 where it applies
- 14-month retention and optional BigQuery storage
- Dashboard, monthly report and tracking plan
Why most GA4 setups quietly fail
The property collects something, so nobody checks it. Months later the numbers do not match the business.
Nothing is marked as a key event
Page views are counted, but form submits, calls and purchases are not, so you cannot tell which channel brings enquiries.
Your own visits are in the data
Team visits, staging sites and test orders inflate sessions and distort conversion rates.
Data expires after 2 months
The default retention for detailed event data is 2 months. Year-on-year analysis is impossible unless it is changed and exported.
Tags fire twice or not at all
A plugin and a Tag Manager tag both send page views, or a thank-you page event never fires. Totals look fine and are wrong.
No consent handling
With EU or UK visitors, missing consent signals can mean lost data or compliance risk.
Nobody owns the setup
No tracking plan, no change log, and a new developer breaks an event without anyone noticing.
What we set up
Everything below is configured, tested and documented, not just switched on.
Property and streams
Correct account structure, data streams, time zone, currency and access.
Tag Manager
One organised container with consistent names and a version history.
Events
Enhanced measurement plus custom events for forms, calls, WhatsApp, downloads and more.
Key events
The 3 to 5 actions that matter, linked to Google Ads and Search Console.
E-commerce
Data layer for product views, cart, checkout and purchase on Shopify, WooCommerce or custom stores.
Data hygiene
Internal traffic filters, referral exclusions, cross-domain tracking and clean UTM rules.
Consent
Cookie banner set-up with Consent Mode v2 for EU and UK traffic.
QA and handover
Every event tested in DebugView, then a tracking plan and a walkthrough call.
What you actually get to see
Three things you keep. The examples below use sample data for an imaginary store, not real client numbers.
A dashboard you can read in a minute
A Looker Studio dashboard connected to your GA4: traffic by channel, top pages, key events and the path from visit to enquiry or sale. It updates itself, and you can share a link with your team.
- Plain labels, not GA4 jargon
- Compare any period with the one before
- Branded for your business
Sessions per day
Key events per day
Sessions by channel
Top pages
| Page | Sessions | Events |
|---|---|---|
| / | 8,410 | 212 |
| /services/ | 4,120 | 388 |
| /pricing/ | 3,340 | 301 |
| /contact/ | 2,215 | 427 |
Headline numbers
29,710 sessions, 1,349 key events, 4.5% key event rate. Top channel: organic search.
What changed
- Organic sessions grew 14% after the new service pages were indexed.
- Paid search sent 17% of traffic but only 9% of form submissions.
- The contact page converts at 19%, the best of any page.
Next actions
- Send paid traffic to the matching service page.
- Add a click-to-call event on mobile.
- Review form drop-off between start and submit.
A monthly report that says what to do next
Not a pile of charts: the headline numbers, what changed, why it matters and the next three actions, in one page you can read in five minutes.
- Written for owners, not analysts
- Same structure every month, so trends are easy to spot
- Actions tied to your goals
A tracking plan that protects the setup
Every event, its trigger, its parameters and where it is tracked, with the date it was tested. When a developer or an agency changes the site, this is how you know what must keep working.
| Event | Trigger | Key parameters | Key event | QA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
generate_lead | Contact form submitted | form_id, page_location | Yes | Passed |
click_to_call | Tap on phone number | link_url, page_location | Yes | Passed |
whatsapp_click | Click on WhatsApp button | link_url, placement | Yes | Passed |
add_to_cart | Add to cart pressed | items, value, currency | No | Passed |
purchase | Order confirmation loaded | transaction_id, value, items | Yes | Passed |
Data storage that you own
GA4 keeps detailed event data for 2 or 14 months, depending on the setting. For long-term analysis, the standard answer is BigQuery, Google’s data warehouse, which receives a copy of your raw GA4 events every day.
The BigQuery project lives in your own Google Cloud account. We set it up and get access, but the data and the bill stay with you. A standard property can export up to 1 million events a day, and for most small and medium sites the cost sits inside BigQuery’s free tier.
Figures from Google’s BigQuery export and BigQuery pricing documentation, checked October 2026.
Retention
We switch event data retention from 2 to 14 months, the maximum for a standard property.
Export
Daily export to BigQuery keeps raw events for as long as you choose.
Ownership
Your cloud project, your billing account, your data.
Cost
Usually near zero at small scale. We show you the estimate before turning it on.
Packages
Pick the one that matches where you are. Every package is quoted after a short call, because the work depends on your site.
GA4 audit
For sites that already have GA4 and do not trust it.
- Review of property, tags and events
- Duplicate and missing event check
- Written, prioritised fix list
GA4 setup
For new or rebuilt tracking.
- Property, Tag Manager and events
- Key events and data hygiene
- Consent set-up, QA and tracking plan
Setup, reporting and storage
For lead-gen and e-commerce sites that want answers.
- Everything in GA4 setup
- Looker Studio dashboard
- Monthly report template
- 14-month retention and BigQuery export
Monthly care
For teams that want it kept right.
- Checks for broken events
- Monthly insight report
- Tracking plan updates
How it works
Five steps, and you see the plan before anything is changed.
Questions we get asked
How long does a GA4 setup take?
Most small and medium sites take 3 to 7 working days including testing. An e-commerce store with a full data layer, or a site with several domains, takes longer. You get a timeline before any work starts.
What access do you need?
Editor access to your Google Analytics property and Google Tag Manager container, and for some events the ability to add a small snippet to your site or theme. We never need your Google account password.
Who owns the data and the BigQuery storage?
You do. The BigQuery project sits in your own Google Cloud account on your billing account, and we are given access. If we part ways, the data stays with you.
Is storing GA4 data in BigQuery expensive?
For most small and medium sites it costs little or nothing. BigQuery’s free tier covers the first 10 GiB of storage and the first 1 TiB of queries each month. Beyond that, storage is about $0.023 per GiB per month and queries cost $6.25 per TiB. The optional streaming export adds $0.05 per GB.
Why do I need BigQuery at all?
GA4 keeps detailed event data for only 2 or 14 months (14 is the maximum on a standard property), and the interface samples and limits some reports. BigQuery keeps the raw events for as long as you choose, so you can analyse long-term trends and join GA4 with other data.
Do I need a cookie banner?
If you have visitors from the EU or UK, usually yes. Consent Mode v2 passes each visitor’s choice to Google. This is not legal advice, so check the requirements for your business with a lawyer.
Can you fix a GA4 setup that already exists?
Yes. That is what the GA4 audit is for: we review the property, tags and events, and give you a written, prioritised list of fixes. You can have us fix them or hand the list to your own developer.
Curious about newer traffic sources? Read how to track traffic from Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity in GA4.
Find out what your GA4 is really telling you
Tell us about your site and what you want to measure. We will reply with what to fix first and a clear quote.
Get a GA4 audit and quote