Sound familiar?
- GA4 was installed by a plugin and nobody knows what it records.
- Your key events count page views rather than actual enquiries or sales.
- Staff visits and test orders inflate your numbers.
- Explorations only go back two months because retention was never changed.
- Your cookie banner either blocks GA4 completely or ignores consent altogether.
- The property belongs to a former agency or employee.
Key facts
- GA4 set-up starts from £95 + VAT as a one-off; conversion tracking for ad platforms is from £145 + VAT.
- Google's Analytics Help says conversions in GA4 are now called key events; key events shared with Google Ads count as conversions there.
- Standard GA4 properties keep user and event-level data for 2 or 14 months; Google says this setting does not affect standard aggregated reports.
- We set retention to 14 months so explorations and funnels can look back over a full year.
- GA4 is installed through Google Tag Manager with Consent Mode v2 so tags respect visitor choices.
- The GA4 property is created in, or transferred to, your own Google account.
What our GA4 set-up includes
Google Analytics 4 is free, but a default installation tells you very little. It counts page views and some automatic events, and leaves the important questions unanswered: how many people enquired, where did they come from, and which pages helped. dijitul marketing sets GA4 up properly from £95 + VAT one-off.
We create the property in your own Google account (or take over an existing one and check it), install it through Google Tag Manager, connect it to your cookie banner, and configure the events and settings that turn it into a useful tool. If you also need conversions sent to Google Ads and Meta, that is our conversion tracking service from £145 + VAT.
Key events: deciding what counts
Google's Analytics Help explains that what GA4 used to call conversions are now called key events. You mark the events that matter most to your business as key events, and those you share with Google Ads are treated as conversions there.
The most common mistake we find is a key event that fires on a page view, such as anyone visiting the contact page. That inflates numbers and misleads any ad campaign bidding on it. We set key events on real actions:
- Lead forms: fired on a confirmed submission, not on the button click
- Phone calls: taps on tel: links from mobile
- Email clicks: taps on mailto: links
- Bookings: completed bookings from your booking tool
- Purchases: the purchase event with transaction ID, value and currency, so refreshes do not double count
Settings people forget
| Setting | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Data retention | Google's Analytics Help says standard properties keep user and event-level data for 2 or 14 months. It does not affect standard reports, but explorations and funnels are limited to it. We choose 14 months. |
| Internal traffic | Excludes visits from your office and staff so they don't skew behaviour data. |
| Unwanted referrals | Stops payment gateways such as PayPal appearing as the source of a sale. |
| Cross-domain measurement | Keeps a visit as one session when it crosses to a booking or shop domain. |
| Enhanced measurement | Reviewed so automatic events such as form interactions do not create noise. |
| Product links | Google Ads, Search Console and Merchant Center linked for joined-up reports. |
Consent and the UK rules
GA4 uses cookies, so under PECR it needs to be connected to your cookie banner. We set up Consent Mode v2, which Google's developer documentation describes as passing the consent state for analytics_storage, ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization. In basic mode, Google tags do not load until the visitor chooses. In advanced mode, tags load with consent denied by default and send cookieless pings, which Google uses for modelling. We explain both and set up the one you are comfortable with.
The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 added new exemptions from cookie consent, including for some analytics used only to improve a website, and those provisions came into force on 5 February 2026 (SI 2026/82). Whether a particular GA4 set-up qualifies depends on the ICO's guidance and how the data is used, so we follow that guidance rather than assuming the exemption applies.
Ownership and handover
Your analytics data should belong to you. We create the GA4 property in your Google account, or have the current owner transfer it, and give ourselves only the access we need. If a former agency or staff member holds the only admin login, we help you recover it.
At the end you get a short written guide: which reports to check weekly, what each key event means, and how to tell if tracking has broken. If you want everything on one screen, we can add a reporting dashboard from £145 + VAT.
What you get
- GA4 property and web data stream created or reviewed in your Google account
- Installation through Google Tag Manager
- Consent Mode v2 connected to your cookie banner
- Key events for enquiries, calls, email clicks, bookings or purchases
- Data retention set to 14 months, internal traffic and unwanted referrals filtered
- Links to Google Ads, Search Console and Merchant Center where relevant
- A short guide to the reports that matter for your business
How it works and what it costs
Google Ads management from £150 a month, social media management from £125 a month and email marketing from £95 a month, all + VAT. Ad spend is separate and paid to the platform. No long contracts.
Free review
We look at your current ads, social, email and analytics, or your plans if you are starting out, and tell you plainly what we would change.
Plan and price
You get a written plan with targets, budgets and a fixed monthly fee before anything starts.
Set up properly
Tracking and consent first, then campaigns, audiences, content calendars or email flows, all in accounts you own.
Run and improve
We manage it every week: search terms, bids, creative, posts and tests, cutting what does not pay and doing more of what does.
Report in plain English
A monthly report on leads, sales and cost per result, not vanity numbers, with what we will do next.
Frequently asked questions
How much does GA4 set-up cost?
dijitul marketing sets up Google Analytics 4 from £95 + VAT one-off. Sending conversions to Google Ads and Meta is a separate conversion tracking service from £145 + VAT. GA4 itself is free for standard properties.
What are key events in GA4?
Key events are the actions you mark as most important, such as enquiries or purchases. Google's Analytics Help says they replaced the term conversions in GA4. Key events shared with Google Ads are counted as conversions in Google Ads.
How long does GA4 keep data?
According to Google's Analytics Help, standard properties keep user and event-level data for either 2 or 14 months. Standard aggregated reports are not affected, but explorations and funnels are. We set it to 14 months.
Does GA4 need cookie consent in the UK?
Usually yes, because it sets cookies. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 added some analytics exemptions from 5 February 2026, but whether your set-up qualifies depends on ICO guidance. We connect GA4 to your consent banner with Consent Mode v2.
Can you fix a GA4 property someone else set up?
Yes. We audit the existing property, fix key events, filters, retention and consent, and keep historical data intact. If access is held by someone who has left, we help you recover ownership.
Do you install GA4 directly or through Tag Manager?
Through Google Tag Manager in almost every case. It keeps all tags in one place, makes consent handling easier and lets us add or change events without editing the website code each time.
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Get a free marketing review
We'll look at your ads, social, email and tracking, and tell you plainly what we'd change. No obligation.