Setting Up Cross-Domain Tracking with Google Analytics 4: A Step-by-Step Guide

Cross-domain tracking in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) allows you to track user behavior across multiple domains seamlessly, giving you a comprehensive understanding of user interactions with your websites. This step-by-step guide will walk you through setting up cross-domain tracking with GA4 to gain valuable insights into your users’ journey across your websites.

Step 1: Create a GA4 Property (If You Haven’t Already)

1.1 Visit Google Analytics (https://analytics.google.com/) and log in using your Google account.
1.2 Click the ‘Admin’ (gear icon) in the bottom left corner of the page.
1.3 In the ‘Account’ column, choose an existing account or create a new one.
1.4 In the ‘Property’ column, click ‘Create Property.’
1.5 Provide the required details and choose ‘Google Analytics 4’ as the property type.
1.6 Click ‘Create’ to generate your new GA4 property.

Step 2: Configure Your GA4 Property for Cross-Domain Tracking

2.1 In your GA4 property, click ‘Data Streams’ under the ‘Data Collection’ section in the ‘Property’ column.
2.2 Select the appropriate data stream (Web) or create a new one by clicking ‘Add stream.’
2.3 Scroll down to the ‘More Tagging Settings’ section and click on ‘Configure your domains.’
2.4 Enter the domains you want to track in the ‘Domains’ field, separated by commas (e.g., example1.com, example2.com).
2.5 Save your changes by clicking ‘Save.’

Step 3: Update Your GA4 Tracking Code

To enable cross-domain tracking, you need to modify your GA4 tracking code to include the linker parameter. This parameter ensures that client IDs are carried over when users navigate between the domains you’ve specified.

3.1 Locate your GA4 tracking code on your website. It should look like this:

gtag(‘config’, ‘G-XXXXXXXXXX’, {
‘page_title’ : ‘…’,
‘page_path’: ‘…’
});
3.2 Update your GA4 tracking code to include the linker parameter:

gtag(‘config’, ‘G-XXXXXXXXXX’, {
‘page_title’ : ‘…’,
‘page_path’: ‘…’,
‘linker’: {
‘domains’: [‘example1.com’, ‘example2.com’]
}
});

Replace ‘example1.com’ and ‘example2.com’ with the domains you want to track.

3.3 Ensure that the updated GA4 tracking code is added to all pages on the domains you want to track.

Step 4: Verify Cross-Domain Tracking

4.1 Visit one of the domains you’ve set up for cross-domain tracking.
4.2 Use a browser extension like Google Tag Assistant to check that the GA4 tag is firing correctly and that the linker parameter is included.
4.3 Navigate to the other domain and repeat the process to ensure that the GA4 tag and the linker parameter are working on both domains.

Conclusion

By following this step-by-step guide, you have successfully set up cross-domain tracking with Google Analytics 4. With this configuration, you can now track user behavior across multiple domains, gaining a more comprehensive understanding of user interactions with your websites. Leverage GA4’s powerful tracking capabilities to gain valuable insights and optimize your online presence.