How to create Google Analytics for a client's site

A client with no Google Analytics yet can get it in one go. ContentForge creates a new GA4 property in your Google Analytics account, adds a web data stream for the client's site, links the property to the client (so the Analytics tab, reports, the client portal and Zeus use it) and puts the measurement ID on the site. Creating it is free.

Before you start

• Someone in your agency has connected Google in Settings → Google Connection. See How to connect Google.
• Your Google login has a Google Analytics account to create the property in, and the Editor role (or higher) on that account. Google doesn't let apps create the account itself. If you don't have one yet, create it once at analytics.google.com, then come back.
• The client has a Mount Olympus site, and no GA4 property is linked yet. If one is linked, this button doesn't show.

Create it

1. Open the client and go to Client → Settings. Under Google Integrations → Google Properties, click Create Google Analytics for this site. You can also open the site in the editor, click Settings → Google Tools and use the Google Analytics card.
2. If the client has more than one site, pick the site under Site for Google Analytics first.
3. Pick the Google Analytics account. The account you used last time is already picked and marked Last used.
4. Check the details:
   • Property name: "client name – site domain", for example "Smith Roofing – www.smithroofing.com".
   • Website: the site's main domain, or its published address if it has no domain yet.
   • Reporting time zone: taken from the client's Business app, or from the state in the business address. Change it if it's wrong.
   • Currency: the client's Google Ads currency if Ads is linked, else from the client's country, else USD. The industry category is set from the business category when ContentForge recognizes it (for example roofing → Home & Garden).
5. Click Create property. The steps tick off while it works. It takes a few seconds.

You see Analytics is set up. Measurement ID G-XXXX added to (your domain). with the details and Open in Google Analytics.

What ContentForge sets up

• The GA4 property in the account you picked, and a web data stream for the site.
• Enhanced measurement on (page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video and file downloads).
• Data retention set to 14 months, the longest Google allows for standard properties.
• The property linked to the client's Google Integrations, so reports and Zeus read it straight away.
• The measurement ID added to the site's Settings → Google Tools → Tracking codes (it replaces an old GA4 ID if there was one).
• If the client also has a Google Ads account linked, the new property is linked to it, as described in How to connect Google.

Put it live

The Google tag goes on the live site the next time you publish. From the client page click Open the editor to publish; in the editor, click Publish. The site's cookie banner rules still apply: with a banner, Analytics only loads after a visitor accepts. With tracking switched off in Settings → Privacy, nothing loads.

Examples

• New client, new site: after the first publish, click Create Google Analytics for this site, pick your agency's Analytics account, click Create property, then publish. Visits start showing in the client's Analytics tab within a day.
• The time zone is wrong: the business address is in Arizona but the client reports in Pacific time. Pick Pacific Time under Reporting time zone before you click Create property.

Limits and what it can't do

• It can't create a Google Analytics account. Google requires you to accept its terms in the browser once.
• It can't link Search Console to the property: Google doesn't let apps do it. In Google Analytics open Admin → Product links → Search Console links and add it there.
• One GA4 property per client. To use a different one, unlink the current one in Google Integrations first (Edit), or pick an existing property there instead of creating one.
• Only agency people with the Clients tool see it. Clients never do.
• Google limits how many properties one Analytics account can have. When an account is full, pick another account.

Troubleshooting

• "You need a Google Analytics account first — create one at analytics.google.com (one-time), then come back.": the connected Google login has no Analytics account. Click Open analytics.google.com, create the account, then click Check again.
• "Reconnect Google to let ContentForge create Analytics properties.": your Google connection was made before ContentForge asked for the Analytics edit permission. Click Reconnect Google and approve everything; your links stay.
• "Your Google login can’t create properties in this Analytics account.": ask the account's owner to give your Google account the Editor role in Google Analytics → Admin → Account access management, then try again. Or pick another account.
• "This Analytics account has reached Google’s limit on properties.": pick another account, or delete properties you no longer use in Google Analytics.
• "The Google Analytics Admin API isn’t enabled…": ContentForge's Google access needs switching on for Analytics. Contact support with the message.
• "The Analytics property … was created, but Google couldn’t add the website’s data stream": the property exists and is linked to the client, but it has no stream yet. In Google Analytics open Admin → Data streams → Add stream → Web for the site, then paste the measurement ID in Settings → Google Tools → Tracking codes and publish.
• "This site has no web address yet.": publish the site or connect its domain first.
• The button isn't there: the client already has a GA4 property linked, nobody in the agency has connected Google, the client has no Mount Olympus site, or you don't have the Clients tool.