How to connect Google Analytics to your Herald website

Google Analytics helps you understand how people find your church’s website and which pages they visit. Follow these steps to connect Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to your Herald-powered site.

Before you begin, make sure your website is live and you have access to both Herald and your church’s Google Analytics account.

1. Set up Google Analytics

If your church already has a GA4 property and web data stream for this website, continue to Step 2.

1. Visit Google Analytics and sign in with a Google account your church manages.
2. If you’re new to Analytics, click Start measuring and follow the prompts to create an account. If you already have an account, go to Admin → Create → Property.
3. Name your property—for example, “Grace Church Website”—and choose your reporting time zone and currency.
4. Complete the questions about your organization, create the property, and accept Google’s terms when prompted.
5. Choose Web as your platform.
6. Enter your live website address and a stream name. Leave Enhanced measurement enabled, then click Create stream.

2. Copy your Measurement ID

1. In Google Analytics, select your church’s property.
2. Go to Admin → Data streams.
3. Open the web stream for your website.
4. Under Stream details, copy the Measurement ID. It will look similar to G-XXXXXXXXXX.

3. Add the Measurement ID to Herald

1. Sign in to Herald.
2. Go to Website → Settings → General.
3. Find the Google Analytics field.
4. Paste your Measurement ID, including the G- at the beginning.
5. Save your changes.

Enter only the Measurement ID in this field—not the full tracking script. Herald adds the tracking code to your website automatically.

4. Confirm that tracking is working

Open your live website in another tab and visit a few pages. Then return to Google Analytics and open Reports → Realtime to look for activity.

Allow up to 30 minutes for initial data collection to begin. Other reports may take 24–48 hours to populate.

If you don’t see activity, confirm that you saved your changes and that the Measurement ID in Herald matches the web stream you’re viewing in Google Analytics.

Already using Google Tag Manager?

Google Tag Manager (GTM) is an alternative way to install and manage Google Analytics. You don’t need it to complete the direct setup above.

If you use GTM, enter your GTM-… container ID in Herald’s Google Tag Manager field. You must also configure a Google tag for your Analytics property inside GTM and publish the container changes. Adding the container ID alone does not set up Analytics.

Use one installation method for the same GA4 property. If GTM already runs your Analytics tag, leave Herald’s Google Analytics field empty to avoid duplicate tracking.

For more details, see Google Tag Manager (GTM) compared to Google Analytics (GA).

Need help finding the right field in Herald? Contact our support team.