Die sieben GA4-Setups, die wir bei jedem neuen Kunden korrigieren
GA4 ist gut. Die meisten GA4-Installationen sind es nicht. Die sieben spezifischen Dinge, die wir in Woche eins immer ändern.
Google Analytics 4 has been around for years now and most setups still get the same handful of things wrong. Here are the seven we fix on every new client.
Cross-domain tracking
If your site spans multiple domains (e.g. main site + booking subsystem), 70% of GA4 installations break cross-domain tracking. The fix is two settings in admin — but it is critical for accurate attribution.
Internal traffic filters
Your team browsing the site should not count as conversions. Set up internal traffic filters using IP-based or DEFINE-INTERNAL-TRAFFIC settings. Yes, it requires configuring your office IPs. Do it anyway.
Custom events for what actually matters
The default events GA4 fires (page_view, scroll, file_download) miss the events that actually matter for your business. Set up custom events for: form starts, form completions, video plays, search queries, add-to-cart, checkout steps. Use Google Tag Manager.
Conversion definitions
Mark only the events that genuinely indicate business value as conversions. “Pageview of contact page” is not a conversion. “Submitted contact form” is. Loose conversion definitions corrupt every downstream report.
Channel grouping
GA4 default channel grouping lumps things badly. Set up a Custom Channel Group that matches how you actually think about your channels.
Audience definitions
Build remarketing audiences in GA4 for the cohorts that matter — cart abandoners, blog readers, lead form starters. These can be shared to Google Ads automatically.
Data retention
GA4 defaults to 2 months of event-level data retention. Change it to 14 months in admin. You will thank yourself in a year.
Need help with this?
If any of the above feels like a problem you have, tell us a bit about your situation and we will come back within a working day. First conversation is 30 minutes, on us.