Thread by @fred_pike

Four tips for GA4 Events.

I've worked on a few interesting GA4 implementations recently; here's some of what I learned.

A thread...

#GA4 #GoogleAnalytics4 #Measure

Tip 1a:
GA4 only allows 50 custom dimensions in the UI (120 for the paid version). Stretch that number by using existing parameters whenever you can. For example, don't create a custom "button_text" parameter when the existing "link_text" will work just fine.

Tip 1b:
At times you ＊will＊ need custom parameters. Use “type”, “sub_type”, and “text” as generic multi-purpose parameters.

You can use those three parameters multiple ways in different tags, and they'll only take up three of the 50 slots.

See example in the screenshot.

Tip 2:
Document your custom parameters to differentiate them from standard parameters. That way you’ll remember what you were thinking when you set them up.
Here’s how I registered those three custom parameters in GA4.

Tip 3:
Add a GTM container and version ID to the GA4 configuration tag.
This comes in super handy when you're troubleshooting why some tracking is no longer working. What version number broke it?
In GTM, make sure to enable the Container ID and Container Version variables.

Then in the GA4 config tag, add Container and Version as a field to set. Every GA4 event that uses the config tag will now include the GTM container and version.

As per usual, use lowercase for the field (or parameter) name and use underscores for spacing.

As an aside, I noticed similar tracking when I ordered my free COVID tests online. Nice - validation from the field!

Tip 4.
Add the tag name as a parameter.
Have you ever worked in GA and tried to figure out what GTM tag fired a specific event? This is particularly tricky if you are dealing with a large GTM container.
I’ve started adding the tag name as a parameter.

I’ve found having the tag name stored as an event parameter to be more useful than I expected, and it's something I always wanted in GA3.
The downside is that it’s manual; I’ve not found a way to automatically add the tag name to the value field. But it’s still pretty helpful.

These steps have definitely been useful in my GA4 implementations and debugging; hope they'll help you as well.

If you're just getting started with GA4, sign up for my free webinar on Feb 23 -
"Planning Your Move from GA3 to GA4"

nwsdigital.com/Workshops/Plan…