2026年11月12日
This article is a localized edition of the Japanese original. Read the Japanese original
Site Kit by Google is a WordPress plugin made by Google. It shows key numbers from Search Console, Google Analytics (GA4), PageSpeed Insights and other services in the WordPress admin area, and it also places the GA4 tracking tag for you.
Following the plugin's official description and documentation as of November 2026, this article covers, in order:
- Requirements before you start
- Installation and initial setup (connecting Search Console)
- Connecting GA4 and the settings to check
- Avoiding duplicate tracking tags
- Reading the reports and sharing them with other users
- What to check when no data appears
Requirements before you start
The official documentation lists these requirements (as of November 2026).
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Environment | WordPress 5.2 or later, PHP 7.4 or later |
| Site visibility | The site must be reachable from the internet. Setup does not work in maintenance mode, behind a "coming soon" page or with password protection |
| Production site | Set it up on the production site. How to show production data on a staging environment is explained on a separate official page |
| REST API | The WordPress REST API must be working (you can check this under Tools > Site Health) |
| Who can set it up | Users with the Administrator role. Each administrator connects their own Google account |
Use the Google account that manages Analytics and AdSense (or an account with access to them). If you connect a different account, you will not be able to select your existing Analytics property.
Step 1: Install the plugin
In the admin area, go to Plugins > Add New Plugin, search for Site Kit, then install and activate "Site Kit by Google". With WP-CLI:
wp plugin install google-site-kit --activateOnce activated, a "Site Kit" item is added to the admin menu.
Step 2: Connect Search Console during initial setup
- Open Site Kit > Dashboard. The first screen has a checkbox for connecting Google Analytics as part of setup. Check it if you also want GA4.
- Click "Sign In with Google" and choose the Google account to connect.
- On the permissions screen, check the empty boxes and continue. Without them, Site Kit cannot read the data it needs.
- Next is site ownership verification. If the site is already verified in Search Console, you move straight on; if not, Site Kit verifies it by placing a verification file on the site (or an HTML tag if that fails).
- Allow Site Kit to show metrics in the admin area, and if the site is not yet registered in Search Console, follow the on-screen prompts to add it.
If a Search Console property for the same site already exists, Site Kit selects it. Otherwise it creates a URL-prefix property (https:// and http:// are treated as separate properties). If the site sits at the root of its domain, a Domain property may be connected instead.
Search Console is a required connection in Site Kit and cannot be disconnected. To switch to a different property, change it under the connected services in Site Kit > Settings.
If you stop partway through, you can resume setup from Site Kit > Dashboard.
Step 3: Connect GA4
If you checked Analytics during initial setup, the GA4 setup screen follows. To connect it later, choose Analytics from the list of services not yet connected in Site Kit > Settings.
- Select the Analytics account, property and web data stream. If you do not have them yet, you can create new ones from Site Kit.
- Once you confirm the settings, Site Kit places the GA4 tracking tag (the Google tag) on every page of the site.
A newly created property can take a day or two before data shows up.
Settings to check
After connecting, open the Analytics edit screen under the connected services in Site Kit > Settings to check these items.
| Setting (as labeled in the English UI) | What it does |
|---|---|
| Place Google Analytics code | Whether Site Kit places the tracking tag. If no existing tag is found, it is set to place the tag by default |
| Exclude Analytics | Excludes logged-in users from tracking. By default, all logged-in users are excluded |
| Enable enhanced measurement | Turns on GA4 enhanced measurement (automatic tracking of file downloads, video plays and so on). Used when the data stream does not have it enabled yet |
On membership sites, excluding logged-in users also excludes members' visits from tracking. If you want to measure what members do, review this setting. To exclude internal traffic by IP address, create an internal traffic rule in the Google Analytics admin rather than in Site Kit.
Step 4: Avoid duplicate tracking tags
If you already added a GA4 tag through your theme settings, another plugin (such as MonsterInsights) or directly in header.php, and Site Kit also places one, every page is counted twice and page views come out higher than they really are.
When Site Kit finds another Analytics tag during setup, it tells you. In that case, do one of the following:
- Keep the existing tag: connect Site Kit to the same property and have Site Kit not place a tag (turn "Place Google Analytics code" off)
- Let Site Kit handle it: remove the existing tag (from the theme settings or plugin) and let Site Kit place the tag
To check how many tags a page has, view the page source and search for gtag/js?id=G-. To check whether Site Kit is placing the tag, open the Info tab in Tools > Site Health, expand "Site Kit by Google" and look at the item that shows whether the Analytics tag is placed.
The differences from MonsterInsights and how to set it up are explained in "How to set up MonsterInsights". Whichever you use, keep to one plugin that adds the GA4 tag.
Step 5: Reading the reports
| Where | Main content |
|---|---|
| Site Kit dashboard | A summary of Search Console impressions and clicks, Analytics visits and more. Each card links through to Search Console or Google Analytics |
| Widget on the WordPress Dashboard | Unique visitors, average time on page, the 28-day trend, top content and so on |
| Admin bar (toolbar) while viewing the site | Impressions and clicks, users and sessions for the page you are viewing |
| Speed (PageSpeed Insights) | Mobile and desktop scores. Lab data (measured under consistent conditions) and field data (real users over the past 28 days), plus suggestions for improvement |
PageSpeed Insights is connected automatically once initial setup is complete, and no API key or other setup is needed. Data is fetched when you open the plugin dashboard.
Site Kit does not show real-time data. To see whether anyone is visiting right now, use the Realtime report in Google Analytics. Numbers in Site Kit and in Google Analytics can also differ slightly because of differences in how they are calculated.
Showing reports to other users (dashboard sharing)
You can give view-only access to users other than administrators (roles with the edit_posts capability, such as Authors and Editors). Use the sharing icon at the top of the Site Kit dashboard to choose which roles can see each service. Search Console, Analytics, PageSpeed Insights and AdSense can be shared.
What to check when no data appears
| Symptom | What to check |
|---|---|
| The "gathering data" message does not go away | Right after connecting, or with a new property, it can take about 48 hours for data to appear. If nothing changes after several days, ask on the official support forum |
| Analytics records no visits | Whether the tag is placed (Site Health info), whether you are checking while logged in (logged-in users are excluded), whether a cookie consent plugin is blocking tracking, and, if wp-config.php sets WP_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE, whether its value is production |
| A REST API error appears during setup | Whether Tools > Site Health reports a REST API error, and whether a security plugin or server setting is blocking /wp-json/ |
| A message says you lack permissions | Whether the connected Google account has at least Viewer access to the Analytics property |
To start over, use "Reset Site Kit" in the Admin Settings of Site Kit > Settings (or under Tools > Available Tools). Resetting removes all users' connections, Site Kit's settings and the tags Site Kit placed. Your Google Analytics and Search Console accounts and data stay as they are.
Summary
- Set up Site Kit by Google on a live production site, with an administrator connecting their own Google account.
- Initial setup connects Search Console, and Site Kit also handles ownership verification. Connect GA4 during initial setup or later from Site Kit > Settings.
- Logged-in users are excluded from tracking by default. When testing, log out or use a different browser.
- If you already have a GA4 tag, either have Site Kit not place its own tag or remove the existing one, so there is only one tag.
References: Site Kit by Google (WordPress.org), Site Kit – Install and setup, Site Kit – Analytics, Site Kit – Search Console, Site Kit – PageSpeed Insights, Site Kit – Dashboard sharing, Site Kit – Reset Site Kit
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