GA4 Debugging: Survive and Thrive

GA4 Debugging: Survive and Thrive Jonathan Moore Speakerdeck.com/nathanless Linkedin.com/in/moorejonathan @nathanless

What I do I solve problems and build capabilities About
me Technical SEO and Analytics Consultant

Why we are here today

How to spot common tagging issues

WHAT tag IDs and parameters are firing

HOW tags are firing

WHERE(abouts) tags are located

WHEN tags are firing

WHY tags are firing

Google Tag Checks

What is a Google Tag?

Google Tag Destination 1 Destination2

Google Tag Destination 1 Destination2 Single Tag

Google Tag Destination 1 Destination2 Multiple Destinations

GT-XXXXXXXXX

G-XXXXXXXXX

AW-XXXXXXXXX

Google Tag Checks

Data Streams > Web Stream Details > Configure Tag Settings

A brief note on Tag Diagnostics

Pay attention to Google Tag IDs

Check tag details for ignore duplicates

Review Google Tag settings

Potential to conflict with stream settings

Check for random domains

Strong indicator of legacy tag or bungled migratin

Make sure third-party payment gateways are added

Snippet Checks

What should the Google Tag snippet lookalike?

<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gta g/js?id=G-PSW1MY7HB4"></script> <script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-PSW1MY7HB4'); </script>

<html> <head> gtag() SNIPPET SHOULD BE HERE. </head> <body> </body>
</html>

Do the same for GTM

<html> <head> GTM <head> SNIPPET SHOULD BE HERE. </head> <body>
GTM <body> SNIPPET SHOULD BE HERE. </body> </html>

Use Screaming Frog to check tag is on every page

https://jonathanmoore.digital/bseo-oct-24

Use Little Warden to detect snippet changes

https://littlewarden.com/

Chrome Debugging Set up

Set up your own Chrome property for auditing

Add the Tag Assistant Companion Chrome extension

https://littlewarden.com/

Debugging 101 Using Tag Assistant

Navigate to the Tag Assistant site, input a domain and
connect

The site you are debugging will appear in a new
tab

The Summary will show you WHERE tags are firing.

Use the header to toggle between tags

You should see a Page View hit

The User Engagement hit is a can of worms

https://www.analyticsmania.com/post/user_engagement-event-in-google-analytics-4/

Use the timeline to inspect WHEN tags fired

Click individual tags to inspect the WHAT

Important debugging parameters

Measurement ID

Event Name

Client ID

Session ID

Click the trash icon to clear all messages

Navigate and interact with the page and reload as necessary

Debugging 201 GTM Preview Mode

Inside GTM you can also use preview mode to debug
tags

This helps you debug GTM triggers and variables

Triggers are the WHY

The Google Tag should use the Initialisation Trigger https://support.google.com/tagmanager/answer/9442095?hl=en

Variables are the WHAT

The debug_mode parameter checks the WHAT and WHEN

Data Display > Debug View

Debugging 301 Using Chrome Dev Tools

Navigate to the Network tab

Click the cog icon and select “Big request rows” and
“Screenshots”

Right-click the name panel and add “Domain” and “Initiator” as
columns.

Click “Disable cache” to emulate first time visits

Use the “Preserve log” checkbox to persist requests between pages

Use the “Stop” and “Clear” icons as necessary

Click the “Funnel” icon to toggle filters

Type collect?v= into the filter box to highlight GA requests

Add event_name to check for duplicate events

Type gtag/js into the filter box to highlight gtag requests

Type gtm.js? into the filter box to highlight GTM requests

Navigate to the Payload tab to see its parameters

Measurement Protocol Cheat Sheet https://www.thyngster.com/ga4-measurement- protocol-cheatsheet/

Navigate to the Initiator tab to see the request initiator
chain

Type domain:*google* to filter “Google” requests using a wildcard

Hover over request and hold shift to highlight dependencies

Right-click a request to block it

This is an easy way to check if GTM or
a CMP are causing problems

Finally, use Ctrl + Shift + F to search all
loaded sources

Best way to find random apps that are sending events

What we have learned

• Find tags • Check tag syntax • Review tag
settings • Find legacy tags • Perform bulk tag checks • Locate events that are firing twice • Check for broken journeys • Set up debug_mode • Block GTM

Thank You…

Any Questions? https://www.linkedin.com/in/moorejonathan/ https://x.com/nathanless

GA4 Debugging: Survive and Thrive

GA4 Debugging: Survive and Thrive

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