GA4 setup
Verify tracking
Do this immediately after you install the tag. If tracking is broken, waiting doesn’t help — you just lose days of data.
Fastest check
- Open your website in a fresh tab (not a cached preview).
- In GA4, open the Realtime report and keep it open.
- Click around your site for a minute. If you see activity appear, you’ve confirmed the tag is sending data.
Google notes that brand-new setups can take time to fully process reporting data, but Realtime is the quickest sanity check.
Debug like an engineer (recommended)
- Use a tag debugging tool / browser extension to confirm the GA tag loads and sends requests.
- If you use GTM, open Tag Manager and click Preview. Google’s GTM guide walks through connecting Tag Assistant to your site URL.
- If you can access DebugView, confirm events arrive while you browse.
If you see nothing
- Confirm the Measurement ID in your site/GTM matches the Measurement ID shown in the GA4 web data stream.
- If you installed manually, confirm the tag is placed right after the opening <head> and included on every page.
- If this is a brand-new install, give it a little time. Google notes that some data can take up to 24 hours to be processed.
FAQ
What is the fastest way to confirm GA4 is working?
Open your site in a fresh tab and watch the GA4 Realtime report. If you see activity while you click around, the tag is sending data.
Why does GA4 show nothing in Realtime?
Common causes are an incorrect Measurement ID, the tag not being published, a trigger not firing on all pages (GTM), or testing in a cached preview. Try a clean browser profile and confirm the tag loads.
How long does GA4 take to show data?
Realtime is usually the quickest signal, but processed reporting data can take time to appear. For a brand-new install, allow time for processing after you’ve confirmed the tag is firing.
What should I verify for Fluxion specifically?
Confirm the tag is sending data into the same GA4 property you connected in Fluxion, and that events/pageviews appear consistently when you load pages.
Sources (official Google docs)
[GA4] Set up Analytics for a website and/or appSet up Google Analytics in Tag Manager[GA4] Troubleshoot tag setup on your websiteWhat “good” looks like for Fluxion
- Pageviews appear when you load pages.
- Events appear consistently (not only sometimes).
- You are sending data into the same property you will connect inside Fluxion (Settings → Google connection / GA4 properties).