Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Integration

Connecting your Libro reservation widget to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the key to unlocking powerful insights about your customers. This guide will walk you through the essential setup steps to ensure your data is accurate, complete, and ready to help you grow your business.

Why Connect Libro to Google Analytics 4?

• See Your Full Conversion Funnel: Pinpoint exactly where users drop off in the reservation process.
• Measure True Marketing ROI: Understand which channels (e.g., your Instagram profile, Google ads, or email newsletters) are actually driving reservations.
• Improve the Guest Experience: Identify and fix friction points in the booking process.

Is this the right tool for you?

The Google Analytics 4 Integration is a powerful tool for advanced analysis of the user journey inside your reservation widget.

If you only need a simple overview of your reservation sources or want to track the performance of a marketing campaign, this tool may be more than you need. For basic source tracking, the Statistics Page is the best place to start.

Learn more in our Guide to Choosing the Right Analytics Tool.

How to Setup the GA4 Integration

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you will need:

1. An active Libro account with administrative access.
2. An active Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property. You can create this by going in your GA4 account under Admin > Create > Account. 
3. Your GA4 Measurement ID. This ID starts with G- and can be found in your GA4 account under Admin > Data Streams. 

Connecting GA4 to your Libro Account 

1. Log in to your Libro Back Office.
2. Navigate to My Restaurants, then click on Settings.
3. Click on Analytics from the settings menu.
4. In the Google section, locate the field for Google Analytics 4 tag ID or Measurement ID.
5. Paste your GA4 Measurement ID into the field.
6. Click Save.

Your Libro widget will now start sending data to your GA4 property. Please note that it can take 24-48 hours for new data to appear in your standard GA4 reports. You can check the Realtime report in GA4 to see if events are coming through immediately.

Data Sent to Google Analytics

Our integration tracks user progression through the reservation widget in two ways: Events for key actions and Page Paths for each step of the funnel.

Key Events

Events are user interactions with your widget. These are automatically sent to GA4 to track important moments in the booking process.

Event Name	Description
reservation_search	Fires when a user searches for availability.
select_slot	Fires when a user clicks on a specific time slot.
reservation_form_view	Fires when the user is shown the form to enter their personal details.
reservation_complete	Fires when a user successfully completes a reservation. This is your primary conversion event.

 

Reservation Funnel Page Paths

Each step of the reservation process has a unique page path. You can use these to build funnel reports in GA4. The paths look like /[unique_hash]/[restaurant_code]/[step_name]. The key part is the step name at the end:

Step 1: Time Selection: Ends with /seat

Step 2: Guest Details: Ends with /identity

Step 3: Confirmation: Ends with /confirm

Step 4: Reservation Complete: Ends with /done

Building Your Reservation Funnel in GA4

One of the most powerful uses of this integration is to create a visual funnel report to see exactly where users are leaving the booking process. The best way to do this is by using the Funnel exploration report in GA4.

Here’s how to build it step-by-step:

1. Navigate to the Explore Section
   • In your Google Analytics account, click on Explore in the left-hand navigation menu.
2. Create a New Funnel Report
   • At the top of the page, click on Funnel exploration from the template gallery.
3. Configure the Funnel Steps
   • On the left side, in the "Tab Settings" column, you will see a section called Steps. This is where you will define the path your customers take.
   • Click the pencil icon to edit the steps:
     • Step 1: Time Selection
       • Name the step 1. Time Selection.
       • Under "Add new condition," search for and select Page path and screen class.
       • Set the filter to contains and enter /seat.
       • Click Apply.
     • Step 2: Guest Details
       • Click + Add step.
       • Name the step 2. Guest Details.
       • Select the condition Page path and screen class contains /identity.
       • Click Apply.
     • Step 3: Confirmation
       • Click + Add step.
       • Name the step 3. Confirmation.
       • Select the condition Page path and screen class contains /confirm.
       • Click Apply.
     • Step 4: Reservation Complete
       • Click + Add step.
       • Name the step 4. Reservation Complete.
       • Select the condition Page path and screen class contains /done.
       • Click Apply.
4. Analyze Your Funnel
   • Once you apply the steps, GA4 will automatically generate a bar chart in the main window. This chart will show you the total number of users who entered each step and the exact percentage that continued to the next.

This visual funnel is the clearest way to understand your user behavior. If you see a large drop-off between "Guest Details" and "Confirmation," for example, you know that's the area you need to investigate to improve your conversion rate.

For a more detailed guide on all the options available in funnel reports, you can refer to the official Google Help Center article:

[GA4] Funnel exploration - Google Analytics Help 

Practical Example: Analyzing Your Reservation Funnel

One of the most powerful uses of this integration is to see where users are dropping off. You can easily do this using the Pages and screens report in GA4.

1. Open the Report: In your Google Analytics account, navigate to Reports > Engagement > Pages and screens.
2. Filter for Libro Traffic: To focus only on your reservation funnel, you need to add a filter to your report.
   • Click + Add filter at the top of the report.
   • Set the Dimension to Page path and screen class.
   • Set the Match Type to contains.
   • Enter the following values one by one in the Value field:
     • /seat
     • /identity
     • /confirm
     • /done
   • Click Apply.

The report will now only show data for the pages in your Libro reservation widget. By comparing the number of "Views" for each page path, you can calculate the abandonment rate between steps. For example, if you have 100 views for /seat but only 70 views for /identity, you know that 30% of users dropped off after selecting a time slot.

Advanced Tracking

This section explains the advanced tracking concepts that ensure your data is accurate and provides guidance on where to get help for tasks outside the scope of the Libro support team.

Understanding Key Tracking Concepts

While we handle the data connection, understanding how Google tracks users will help you get the most out of your analytics.

• UTM Parameters (Tracking Your Marketing Campaigns) 🎯 UTM parameters are like special codes you add to your links to track the performance of your marketing. Think of them as unique coupon codes for each ad, email, or social media post. They answer the question: "Which specific marketing effort brought me this reservation?" This allows you to see in your GA4 reports that your summer_patio_promo on facebook drove 15 bookings, while your newsletter drove 20.
• Cross-Domain Linking (Connecting Your Website to Libro) 🔗 This is the technical process that connects the session when a user moves from your website (e.g., your-restaurant.com) to the Libro widget (booking.libroreserve.com). It works by adding a parameter to the URL (technically called _gl). This ensures Google Analytics sees one single, unbroken journey. Without this, your marketing attribution will be incorrect because the trail goes cold right when the user starts the booking process. The Cross-Domain Measurement setup in GA4 (mentioned in Step 2 of this guide) handles this automatically.

UTM Parameters

Now that your tracking is set up, you can measure your specific marketing campaigns. You do this with UTM parameters—special tags you add to your links.

What are UTMs? Think of them like special coupon codes for your links. If you print one coupon code for a newspaper ad and another for a flyer, you can see which one brings in more customers. UTMs do the same thing for your digital links.

There are three main parameters you'll use:

• utm_source: Where is the traffic coming from? (e.g., facebook, google, newsletter)
• utm_medium: What type of link is it? (e.g., social, cpc for paid ads, email)
• utm_campaign: What is the name of your promotion? (e.g., summer_patio_promo)

Example in Action: Let's say you're running a Facebook ad for your summer patio. Instead of using the normal link to your reservation page, you'd use this:

https://www.your-restaurant.com/reservations?**utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=summer_patio_promo**

Now, when someone books through that link, GA will credit the reservation_complete event to your "summer_patio_promo" campaign from Facebook. You can see this data in your Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition report.

Cross-Domain Measurement

This ensures Google Analytics sees a single, unbroken journey when a user moves from your website to the Libro booking widget.

Your website (e.g., your-restaurant.com) and the Libro widget (booking.libro.app) are on different domains. Without this step, GA sees them as two separate visits, which breaks your tracking and misattributes your marketing efforts. This step stitches the two sessions together.

Instructions:

1. In your Google Analytics account, go to Admin (the ⚙️ icon in the bottom-left).
2. In the Property column, click on Data Streams and select your website's data stream.
3. Scroll down and click on Configure tag settings.
4. Under Settings, click on Configure your domains.
5. Click Add condition and enter the following:
   • Match type: contains
   • Domain: libro.app (or the specific domain for your region)
6. Click Save.

Your tracking is now fully configured! It may take 24-48 hours for data to appear in standard reports, but you can check your Realtime report in GA4 to see if events are arriving immediately.

iFrame Embeds

Many restaurants choose to embed the Libro widget directly onto their website using an iFrame. An iFrame acts like a window from your website into the Libro booking system. Because these are technically two different domains, this can break session tracking.

The good news is that the Cross-Domain Measurement setup you just configured is designed to solve this automatically. It allows your main website to securely pass the session information into the iFrame, ensuring the user's journey is tracked as a single, uninterrupted visit.

No extra steps are needed! As long as you have configured your domains correctly, your iFrame tracking will be accurate.

For more information on the cross-domain tracking, please refer to the official Google help page.

Our Scope of Support

Our team's expertise is ensuring a successful connection and data flow from the Libro widget to your GA4 account. We make sure the data gets to you reliably.

For assistance with tasks within the Google Analytics platform itself, their official resources are the best source of truth. Areas outside our scope of support include:

• Creating custom reports, funnels, or dashboards within Google Analytics.
• Setting up, managing, or troubleshooting Google Ads campaigns.
• Interpreting your marketing campaign (UTM) data and providing marketing advice.
• Implementing custom solutions involving Google Tag Manager (GTM).

For help with these advanced topics, we recommend consulting Google's official Analytics Help Center or working with a digital marketing professional.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: How do I track conversions? A: You must mark the reservation_complete event as a conversion in GA4. To do this, go to Admin > Conversions, click New conversion event, and enter the name reservation_complete. This will allow you to properly measure the success of your marketing efforts.

Q: I embed the widget in an iFrame on my website. Does this still work? A: Yes! The Cross-Domain Measurement setup is specifically designed to solve tracking for both iFrames and direct redirects. By completing that step, you ensure the session data is passed correctly into the iFrame for accurate measurement.

Q: Why does the booking process redirect instead of using an iframe? A: We use a redirect method to ensure the most reliable tracking. Modern web browsers have privacy features that can block or limit tracking within iframes, causing critical data—including marketing attribution—to be lost. The redirect method ensures a stable and direct connection to Google Analytics for accurate measurement.

Q: How does this integration handle UTM parameters? A: GA4 automatically captures UTM parameters used for campaign tracking from the URL a user clicks. When a reservation_complete event occurs, GA4 associates the conversion with that campaign data. This allows you to see which campaigns are driving bookings in your Traffic acquisition reports.