Practical examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples that actually matter

If you’re looking for real, practical examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples stand out as the most common in 2024: using a plugin, adding the tracking code manually, and integrating via Google Tag Manager. Those three patterns cover almost every WordPress setup you’re likely to run into, from a simple blog to a high-traffic ecommerce site. In this guide, we’ll walk through those three main patterns and then layer in more specific use cases so you can see how people actually use them in the wild. These examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress include basic pageview tracking, enhanced ecommerce, event tracking for forms and buttons, and GA4 custom dimensions for logged-in users. By the end, you’ll not only understand the best examples of how to wire Analytics into WordPress, you’ll also know which approach fits your site, your stack, and your tolerance for code. No fluff, just real setups you can copy and adapt.
Written by
Jamie
Published
Updated

3 core examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress

Most site owners fall into one of three patterns when they wire up Analytics. When people talk about examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples come up over and over:

  • Using a dedicated WordPress Analytics plugin
  • Adding the GA4 tag manually to the theme
  • Routing everything through Google Tag Manager (GTM)

Let’s walk through each pattern, then we’ll stack on real examples from blogs, membership sites, and ecommerce stores.

Example 1: Connecting Google Analytics to WordPress with a plugin

For non-developers, a plugin is usually the fastest way to get reliable GA4 data into WordPress without touching code.

In this first example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress, imagine a content-heavy blog that publishes several articles a week and cares about:

  • Which categories drive the most traffic
  • Which authors keep readers on the page longer
  • How many visitors subscribe to the newsletter

The workflow looks like this:

You install a reputable Analytics plugin, paste in your GA4 Measurement ID, and the plugin injects the global site tag into every page. Most modern plugins also detect logged-in users and can exclude admin traffic, which keeps your data cleaner.

From there, you can configure a few practical extras:

  • Track outbound link clicks to affiliate partners
  • Track scroll depth to see if visitors actually read long-form posts
  • Track form submissions for your newsletter signup

These are not hypothetical. Real examples include:

  • A solo blogger using a plugin to track which posts convert readers into email subscribers, then prioritizing similar topics.
  • A small media site tagging each post with an “author” dimension so they can compare average engagement by writer.
  • A niche review site tracking outbound clicks to Amazon and other retailers as a proxy for revenue.

This is one of the best examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress for teams that want reliable tracking without a dev on standby. You trade some flexibility for speed and simplicity, but for most content sites, that’s a smart trade.

Pros and cons of the plugin-based example

This first of our examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples has very clear strengths:

Why people like it

  • Setup is fast: paste Measurement ID, click Save.
  • Many plugins add event tracking (scrolls, outbound links, downloads) automatically.
  • Non-technical marketers can manage settings from the WordPress admin.

Where it falls short

  • You’re limited by whatever options the plugin exposes.
  • Heavy plugins can add bloat if they try to do everything.
  • Complex GA4 setups (like advanced ecommerce) may still need custom code or GTM.

If your priorities are publishing content, tracking traffic, and measuring basic conversions, this plugin-driven example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is usually the right starting point.

Example 2: Manually adding the GA4 tag to your WordPress theme

The second of our examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples is the old-school method: paste the GA4 tag directly into your theme or a code snippets tool.

Picture a lean marketing site for a B2B SaaS product. The team is comfortable editing theme files or using a code snippets plugin and wants:

  • Full control over what loads and where
  • Minimal plugin footprint
  • Custom events tied to specific buttons and forms

The workflow for this example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress looks like this:

You grab the GA4 global site tag from the Google Analytics admin, then add it to the <head> area using either:

  • The theme’s built-in header script field
  • A child theme’s header.php
  • A lightweight code snippets plugin that injects code into the header

Once the base tag is in place, you can wire custom events directly in your templates or via small inline scripts. Real examples include:

  • Tracking clicks on a “Book a Demo” button as a GA4 event with parameters like plan type or page location.
  • Firing an event when a visitor reaches a pricing comparison section, to measure pricing-page engagement.
  • Logging a custom event when a user watches at least 50% of an embedded product video.

This manual example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress appeals to teams who care about performance and don’t want an extra plugin layer between their site and their analytics.

Pros and cons of the manual theme integration example

This second of our examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples trades convenience for control.

Benefits

  • You control every line of tracking code.
  • No dependency on a third-party plugin’s update cycle.
  • Potentially better performance if you keep scripts lean.

Drawbacks

  • Theme updates can overwrite your changes if you don’t use a child theme or snippets plugin.
  • Non-technical users may be nervous about editing code.
  • Scaling to complex tracking (multiple events, ecommerce, remarketing tags) becomes harder to manage.

If you have a developer or a technically-minded marketer, this example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is often a good fit for lean, high-performance marketing sites.

Example 3: Using Google Tag Manager as the integration hub

The third of our examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples is the most flexible: connect WordPress to Google Tag Manager (GTM), then manage Google Analytics and other tags from GTM.

Think about a mid-size ecommerce store or membership site that needs:

  • GA4 pageview and event tracking
  • Enhanced ecommerce events (add to cart, begin checkout, purchase)
  • Marketing pixels for ads, A/B testing, and remarketing

The WordPress side is simple: you add the GTM container code to your site (via a plugin or manually), and then you rarely touch WordPress again. All the real work happens inside GTM.

Real-world examples include:

  • An online store passing cart value and product IDs into a purchase event in GA4, alongside a Facebook Pixel and an ad network conversion tag.
  • A membership site firing a GA4 event when a user upgrades their plan, with parameters for old plan, new plan, and billing cycle.
  • A SaaS site tracking multi-step signup funnels, with each step logged as a GA4 event and visualized in the GA4 Funnel report.

This is widely considered one of the best examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress if you’re running serious marketing campaigns and want to avoid hard-coding every tracking change.

The analytics landscape in 2024–2025 is shaped by privacy regulations and the shift to GA4. A GTM-centered example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress adapts well to those trends:

  • You can integrate consent banners so tags respect user choices.
  • You can A/B test new events without pushing new code to WordPress.
  • You can manage multiple containers (for different regions or brands) from one interface.

For deeper background on privacy and analytics, it’s worth reading guidance from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on online tracking and consumer privacy at ftc.gov and, for broader digital policy context, resources from usa.gov. They won’t teach you GA4 syntax, but they will shape how you think about data collection.

6+ concrete use cases that build on these 3 examples

So far we’ve looked at the three main patterns. Now let’s stack more specific, real examples on top of them. These are the kinds of setups teams actually run in production.

1. Blog tracking author performance with a plugin

Using the plugin-based example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress, a multi-author blog configures GA4 custom dimensions for author and post_category. The plugin passes those values into each pageview.

The editorial team then builds GA4 Explore reports to answer questions like:

  • Which authors have the highest average engagement time?
  • Which categories drive the most newsletter signups?

They use this data to plan the editorial calendar and adjust contributor pay.

2. Nonprofit tracking donations with GTM

A nonprofit running WordPress for its main site and a donation plugin for payments uses the GTM-based example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress. They push donation data (amount, campaign, payment method) into a purchase event in GA4.

They then combine this with demographic and behavior data to see which campaigns generate the highest donor retention. For broader nonprofit digital strategy, they lean on resources from organizations like Nonprofit Tech for Good and data privacy guidance from NIST.

3. Local business tracking phone call clicks manually

A local service business (think HVAC or dental) takes the manual theme integration example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress and adds a small script that fires a GA4 event when someone taps the tel: link on mobile.

Now they can see which pages and campaigns drive the most call clicks. That’s a far better signal than raw pageviews if your business closes deals on the phone.

4. Membership site tracking onboarding completion in GTM

A membership-based learning site uses the GTM example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress. They send a custom event onboarding_completed when a new user finishes a tutorial sequence.

They then:

  • Compare churn rates between users who completed onboarding vs. those who didn’t.
  • Run experiments on onboarding steps and measure impact using GA4 funnels.

They also pull in general behavior research from education-focused organizations like Harvard Graduate School of Education to design better onboarding flows, even though the implementation remains strictly in WordPress and GA4.

5. Publisher tracking scroll depth and engagement with a plugin

A news site uses the plugin-centered example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress and enables automatic scroll tracking. They define a high_engagement audience in GA4 for users who scroll past 75% of long articles.

This audience is then synced to their ad platform to optimize campaigns for readers who actually consume content, not just bounce after a headline.

6. Ecommerce store combining GA4, GTM, and server-side data

A growing WooCommerce store uses the GTM example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress, but also experiments with server-side tagging to improve data quality as browser restrictions tighten.

They:

  • Send GA4 ecommerce events via GTM.
  • Mirror key purchase data server-side for redundancy.
  • Use GA4’s conversion modeling to fill gaps where cookies are blocked.

They track trends in analytics and privacy via resources from organizations like EDUCAUSE and policy notes from Congress.gov to stay ahead of regulatory shifts that could impact tracking.

These are not theoretical patterns; they’re representative of how teams are actually connecting Google Analytics with WordPress in 2024–2025.

How to choose between the 3 main examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress

By now you’ve seen multiple examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples at the core and several more layered use cases. The right path depends on three questions:

  • Who owns analytics on your team?
  • How often will your tracking change?
  • How complex is your site (blog vs. ecommerce vs. membership)?

If marketing owns analytics and wants minimal code, the plugin-based example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is usually the right call.

If you have a developer and a relatively simple tracking plan, the manual example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress gives you control without extra tooling.

If you run campaigns across multiple channels and need to manage many tags, the GTM example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is the most future-proof.

None of these is permanently locked in. You can start with a plugin, then migrate to GTM as your needs grow. The important part is that your tracking is intentional, documented, and aligned with your actual business questions.

FAQ: Real examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress

What are the most common examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress?

The most common examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress are: using a dedicated Analytics plugin, adding the GA4 tag manually to your theme or via a code snippets tool, and integrating WordPress with Google Tag Manager and then loading GA4 from GTM. Most real-world setups are variations of those three patterns.

Can you give an example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress for a small blog?

A practical example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress for a small blog is installing a lightweight Analytics plugin, pasting your GA4 Measurement ID, and enabling features like scroll tracking and outbound link tracking. You then create GA4 reports to see which posts drive email signups or affiliate clicks and adjust your content strategy accordingly.

What is an example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress for ecommerce?

For ecommerce, a strong example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is using Google Tag Manager. You add the GTM container to WordPress, configure GA4 ecommerce events (view_item, add_to_cart, begin_checkout, purchase) in GTM, and pass order details from WooCommerce or another plugin into those events. This lets you analyze product performance, funnel drop-offs, and campaign ROI directly in GA4.

Do I need Google Tag Manager, or can I rely on a plugin?

You don’t have to use GTM. If your tracking needs are simple—pageviews, a few conversions, some outbound clicks—a plugin example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress is perfectly fine. GTM becomes more attractive when you manage multiple tags, run frequent experiments, or need advanced event tracking without constant code changes.

Regardless of which example of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress you choose, you should think about consent and data minimization. Many consent plugins integrate with GA4 and GTM so tags only fire after users agree. For general guidance on privacy expectations in the U.S., review resources from usa.gov and the Federal Trade Commission. Then configure your WordPress and GA4 setup to honor those principles.

Connecting Google Analytics to WordPress is not about copying a snippet and hoping for the best. The best examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress are intentional: they start from the questions you need answered and then pick the plugin, manual, or GTM path that makes those answers reliable and repeatable.

Related Topics

Best examples of linking Microsoft Teams with project management tools in 2025

Read more

Real-world examples of implementing Single Sign-On (SSO) that actually work

Read more

The best examples of chatbot integration with Slack: practical examples that actually get used

Read more

Top examples of 3 practical examples of integrating payment gateways in 2025

Read more

Practical examples of connecting Google Analytics with WordPress: 3 examples that actually matter

Read more

Real-world examples of integrating third-party libraries in JavaScript

Read more

Explore More Integration Guides

Discover more examples and insights in this category.

View All Integration Guides