What must you implement to start collecting and reporting data in Google Analytics for your website?

To start collecting and reporting data in Google Analytics for your website, implementing an analytics tag is essential. The analytics tag, specifically the GA4 configuration tag, is a JavaScript snippet that you place on your website. This tag is responsible for sending data to Google Analytics about user interactions and behavior on your site.

When correctly implemented, the analytics tag captures important data points such as page views, sessions, and events. This data is subsequently utilized to generate reports in the Google Analytics dashboard, enabling website owners to analyze user behavior, track conversions, and measure the effectiveness of their marketing strategies.

While a data layer, measurement protocol, and tracking pixel may be relevant tools or concepts associated with web analytics, they are not necessary to start collecting data with GA4. The data layer provides a structured way to pass data from the website to the analytics tag but is not a standalone requirement. The measurement protocol is used for sending data to GA4 programmatically but assumes that you have already set up tracking through an analytics tag. A tracking pixel is typically a method used in other analytics setups or advertising but is not the standard method for GA4 implementation. Therefore, the analytics tag is the fundamental component needed for data collection in GA4.