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GA4 measurement settings for the online booking system when using an external URL

Help for setting up Google Analytics 4 measurements when using an external URL for the booking interface

Anett Hirschmann avatar
Written by Anett Hirschmann
Updated over 2 months ago

We make it a priority to ensure that our customers always have access to the latest and best measurement technologies. Although our existing metering will work without an upgrade, it is worth reviewing our metering settings from time to time to ensure that our accommodation are using the latest technologies. Our v2 update includes settings for the new technologies Google Consent Mode v2, Google Enhanced Conversions, Meta Advanced Matching and Conversions API.

We believe it's important for our customers to see the behaviour of their visitors and the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns not only on their websites, but also on RESnWEB interfaces, which is why we have hired analytics experts to help us prepare our systems for Google Analytics measurements.

For the settings required on the accommodation side, we have received the following help file from DataCrew, which guides you through the steps of the setup.

It's important to know that we develop the online booking system, Google Tag Manager and measurement settings are not our area of expertise, so if you have any questions, you can contact your own analytics colleague or analytics experts. We do provide the ability to measure bookings and gift voucher purchases on our interfaces, but the experts will be able to help you with the settings.

Our analytical expert partner

Péter Juhász - Nagy

resnweb@datacrew.agency

Data structure

Once set up correctly, the following events will be sent to Google Analytics:

Page view event

  • page_view - all page views

Ecommerce events

  • view_item_list - display room, voucher, extra service list

  • view_item - room, voucher, extra service display

  • add_to_cart - add room, voucher, extra service to cart

  • begin_checkout - personal data page for booking / delivery page for gift voucher purchase

  • add_payment_info - when choosing a payment method

    Parameter:

    payment_type - selected payment method

  • purchase - successful purchase

Parameters

The following parameters are sent to Analytics:

  • [item_name] - Package, upsell product or gift voucher name

  • [item_id] - Package, upsell product or gift voucher ID

  • [item_brand] - Accommodation name

  • [item_category] - Type of room or gift voucher

  • [currency] - Currency

  • [quantity] - Quantity

  • [price] - Price

  • [item_variant] - Given room/all rooms | given gift voucher/all gift vouchers

  • [guest] - Number of guests in the given room

  • [adults] - Number of adults in the given room

  • [children] - Number of children in the given room

  • [children_years] - Age of children in the given room

  • [arrival] - Date of arrival

  • [departure] - Date of departure

  • [arrival_week] - Number of weeks of arrival in the year

  • [nights] - Number of nights

Other events

  • exit_popup_shown - Display exit popup

  • search_saved - Sign up in the exit popup
    Parameter:

    offers - If the visitor subscribes to the newsletter, then true, otherwise false

  • redeem_voucher - Redeem gift voucher
    Parameter:

    code - Gift voucher code entered

  • newsletter_signup - Successful newsletter subscription

  • quotation_success - Submit of request for proposal
    Parameters:
    ​arrival - Planned arrival date

    departure - Planned departure date

    arrival_week - Number of weeks of arrival in the year

    nights - Number of nights

    rooms - Number of rooms

Consent Mode

Please do not proceed without a properly designed consent solution (e.g. CookieYes) and consent mode on the accommodation site, as the operation of the measurements may be compromised. RESnWEB recommends the use of CookieYes and we will help you to easily set up this system. You can request the use of CookieYes from CM Design, who are also resellers of CookieYes in Hungary. If you are not sure, please contact your analytics colleague or an analytics expert.

The online booking system automatically records the level of consent you have given on the accommodation's website (Supported Cookie Banner systems: CookieYes, CookieBot, OneTrust)

The following settings are only used to link RESnWEB to the website for analytical measurement. It is assumed that the basic GA4 settings are already configured on the websites.

1. GOOGLE ANALYTICS SETTINGS

Custom dimension

To handle the custom dimensions sent in Analytics, a minor adjustment is needed:
​

In the Admin menu of the Google Analytics 4 property of the accommodation, select Custom definitions:

Here we can add custom dimensions by clicking on the Create Custom dimensions button:

GA4-custom-dimension.png (765×432)

It is important that Event Scope is selected for the following parameters:

  • offers

  • code

  • arrival

  • departure

  • arrival_week

  • nights

  • rooms

It is important that Item Scope is selected for the following parameters:

  • guest

  • adults

  • children

  • children_years

  • arrival

  • departure

  • arrival_week

  • nights​

Cross-Domain Tracking

For external booking (and gift voucher) pages, the following setting is also required:

In the Analytics Admin interface, in the Property column, select Data Streams and here select the Web type (not named) stream:

stream.png (1497×566)

Here, select the Configure tag settings menu item in the Google Tag section, and then select Configure your domains:

configure.png (948×294)

This is where we need to set up our accommodation and external domain names:

configure.jpg (1954×660)

In the example, the domain name of the accommodation is szallashelyem.hu and the external booking site is nethotelbooking.net.

2. GOOGLE TAG MANAGER SETTINGS

Get Measurement ID

In order to set up the GTM, we first need the measurement ID for the Google Analytics 4 property of the accommodation. This can be obtained from the Google Analytics Admin interface.

In the Analytics Admin interface, in the Property column, select Data Streams and here select the Web type (not named) stream:

Data-stream.png (1497×566)

You will need the Measurement ID found here, which can be copied with 1 click:

measurement-id.png (969×167)

GTM container settings

Two GTM containers are needed for the correct configuration in case of an external url booking system. The accommodation's own container and the booking system's container.

1. The accommodation's GTM container

By clicking on the button below you can download the template container to be imported into the existing (website) container of the accommodation. Import the file in the compressed (.zip) file (rnw_ga4_main_frame_v2_2.json) into the container.

Download

To import, select the Import Container in the GTM Admin interface and add it to your container using the Merge function.

File version: if-mf-202410281507-v7

import-container.png (980×554)

For security reasons it is strongly recommended to work in a new workspace and to select the Rename conflicting tags, triggers and variables option.

This tag will pass the amount of the visitor's cookie consent to the external booking surface.

Once this is done, you can arm the container by clicking the Submit button in the top right corner.

2. Online booking system container

Then you have to import the file you can download below into the GTM container you received from RESnWEB.

If you already have access to the RESnWEB GTM container, import the file in the compressed (.zip) file (rnw_ga4_external_v2_2.json) into the RESnWEB GTM container in Google Tag Manager (similar to step 1):

Download

For access to the RESnWEB GTM container, please contact our colleagues at support@resnweb.com.

File version: if-mf-202410281509-v6

If you have already imported a RESnWEB .json file before 19 June 2024, you still need to select the Import Container, but you need to add it to your container using Merge => Overwrite conflicting tags, triggers and variables.

Next, find the Const - GA4 Measurement ID variable in Variables and enter the Measurement ID of your accommodation:

const.png (1217×358)

Once you are done, you can arm the repository by clicking the "Submit" button in the top right corner.

3. RESnWEB admin settings

Then you only need to enter the analytics IDs in the RESnWEB admin interface under Hotel information / For Web developers:

Here you should now only use the Google Analytics 4 option to add the IDs (the other options are still present for backwards compatibility). The Measurement ID can be retrieved from the GA4 admin interface as already described above.

The Measurement Protocol API secret key can be generated by selecting the menu and pressing the Create button:

After entering the analytical identifiers in the RESnWEB interface, save the changes.

IMPORTANT! For Google Analytics 4 settings, it is essential to have a unique subdomain setting. Without this, Google Analytics will not be able to accurately link conversions (bookings / request for proposal / gift voucher purchases) to the correct source. For more information on the details of subdomain setup and how to set it up, please see our help.

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