I have been running a website for my business since I launched Stacy Derrick Creative in April. And for the first few weeks, I had no idea whether anyone was visiting it because I hadn’t set up Google Analytics yet.”
Not because there was no traffic. Because I had no way to measure it.
That bothered me more than it probably should have. I help clients build operational systems. I believe in knowing your numbers. And here I was, flying blind on my own site. So last week, I sat down and I fixed it.
What Google Analytics 4 actually does
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a free tool from Google that tracks activity on your website. Once it’s installed, it collects data automatically: every page visit, how far people scroll, where they came from, what device they’re using, and whether they clicked on anything before they left.
It doesn’t require a developer. It doesn’t cost anything. And it runs quietly in the background once it’s set up.
For a small business owner, the most useful thing it tells you is this: are people actually finding my site, and what are they doing when they get there? Without that, you’re making marketing decisions based on nothing.
How I set it up
I use WordPress, so I’ll walk through what the process looked like for me. The steps are similar for most platforms.
Step 1: Create a Google Analytics account and property
Go to analytics.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Click “Start measuring” to create a new account. You’ll name the account after your business, enter your website URL as the property, set your time zone and currency, and select your business objectives — I chose Generate Leads and Understand Web Traffic.
Once you finish, Google creates a property with a unique Measurement ID. Mine starts with G-. Keep this — you’ll need it in the next step.
Step 2: Create a Web Data Stream
A data stream is how GA4 connects to your specific website. After creating your property, select “Web” as the platform and enter your URL.
Turn on Enhanced Measurement. This is a free feature that automatically tracks page views, scroll depth, outbound clicks, file downloads, and form interactions — without any extra setup. It takes about 10 seconds to enable and gives you significantly more data.
Step 3: Connect GA4 to your WordPress site
I used a free plugin called Site Kit by Google. You can find it by searching “Site Kit” in your WordPress plugin directory.
Once installed, activate it and click through the connection flow. It will ask you to sign into your Google account and confirm which GA4 property to connect. The Measurement ID populated automatically for me once I selected the right account.
That’s it. GA4 is now collecting data on your site.
How to know it’s working
Wait 24-48 hours after connecting, then go to analytics.google.com. Under the Reports section, look for “Realtime” — it will show anyone currently on your site. If you see your own visit, it’s working.
One thing to note: the data you see in the first few weeks is a baseline, not a report card. You’re establishing a starting point. The useful insights come after 30-60 days of consistent data.
What I’m doing next
GA4 tells me how many people visit my site and what they do there. Google Search Console will tell me how people found it — what search terms they used, what pages they landed on, and where I rank for specific keywords.
Those two tools together give a much more complete picture. Connecting Search Console to Site Kit is my next step.
After that, I’ll let 30 days of data accumulate before drawing any conclusions. Then I’ll review it monthly as part of my regular business rhythm and use what I see to guide what I write about next.
That’s the cycle. Measure, learn, create, repeat.
Ready to take the next step? Once Analytics is running, here’s how to get your website found on Google.
Before you close this tab
You don’t need a marketing team or a big budget to understand what’s happening on your website. You need a free tool and about 30 minutes.
If you’ve been putting this off because it felt technical. I get it. But it’s more straightforward than it sounds. And once it’s running, it runs quietly in the background while you focus on everything else.
If you want help setting this up for your own site, or you’re not sure where to start with your website visibility, that’s exactly the kind of work I do.
Stacy Derrick │ Founder, Stacy Derrick Creative, LLC │ stacyderrickcreative.com
If this was helpful and you want to support the work, you can buy me a coffee.
You may be wondering — did AI help write this? Yes, and I want to be upfront about that. The process, the client work, and the thinking behind every step are mine and they were worth reading before AI touched a word. AI just helped me pull it together more cleanly.
That is a system working the way it should.
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