How to Easily Get a Custom Email Alert in Google Analytics (2 Ways)

We used to obsessively check Google Analytics multiple times a day to see if anything important had changed on our blog. It was time-consuming and, honestly, pretty inefficient.

That’s when we discovered how to set up custom email alerts – and it completely changed how we monitor our website performance.

Custom email alerts give you real-time notifications, delivered straight to your inbox. This way, you can see all of the important changes on your WordPress site as soon as possible.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) offers built-in custom alerts, but setting them up can be tricky. That’s why we use MonsterInsights on WPBeginner because it allows you to configure everything in just a couple of clicks.

In this article, we’ll walk you through 2 methods for how to get a custom email alert in Google Analytics. One uses GA4’s native features, and the other uses MonsterInsights for a more user-friendly approach. 🙌

What Are Custom Email Alerts in Google Analytics? And Why Do You Need Them?

Imagine waking up one morning to find out that your website traffic has suddenly dropped. Or your social media post went viral overnight, bringing in thousands of new visitors.

Wouldn’t you want to know right away? That’s exactly what custom email alerts in Google Analytics (GA4) do for you! 🚨

These alerts are called Custom Insights in GA4. They automatically notify you of big changes in your website data, so you don’t have to check analytics all the time. GA4 refers to these changes as anomalies.

With Custom Insights, you can create alerts for key anomalies, like:

• A drop in overall or organic traffic
• A spike in direct traffic
• A sudden decrease in sales or ad revenue
• A big jump in traffic or conversions

These alerts help you act fast, whether to fix an issue or make the most out of a new opportunity.

How to Get a Custom Email Alert in Google Analytics

Now that you know the benefits of custom email alerts in Google Analytics, let’s go over two ways to set them up.

If you use WordPress, then the easiest option is the MonsterInsights plugin. It sets up alerts for you so you don’t have to deal with complex settings. Plus, you can manage everything right from your WordPress dashboard.

If you don’t use WordPress or prefer a hands-on approach, then you can also set up alerts manually in Google Analytics. This method takes more steps but works for any website.

Feel free to use these jump links to go to your preferred method:

Let’s get started!

Method 1. Get Custom Email Alerts Using a Google Analytics Plugin

Navigating Google Analytics can be confusing at times. If you’re looking for an easy way to create custom Google Analytics email alerts, then this method is for you. That said, do note that this will only work for WordPress users.

Here, we’ll be using MonsterInsights, which is the best Google Analytics plugin on the market. It brings Google Analytics 4 (GA4) right into your WordPress dashboard and makes reports much easier to understand for beginners.

Plus, it has the Exception addon that automatically spots unusual spikes or drops in your data. With this addon, you’ll always be in the loop without the extra work!

✋ At WPBeginner, we trust MonsterInsights to track everything across our website, including our form, button, and referral link conversions. Learn more about the tool in our complete MonsterInsights review and see why we love it!

Step 1. Install and Activate the MonsterInsights Plugin

First, let’s create a MonsterInsights account. On the website, you can simply click on the ‘Get MonsterInsights Now’ button and choose your plan.

After that, simply follow the instructions for the checkout process.

With that done, you can install and activate the MonsterInsights plugin in your WordPress dashboard. For details, you can see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Step 2. Connect MonsterInsights to Your Google Analytics Account

Once you’ve installed MonsterInsights, the next step is to connect it to your site and Google Analytics.

To do this, you’ll need to click on the ‘Insights’ menu from your WordPress admin area.

Then, go ahead and click the ‘Launch the Wizard’ button to start the setup process.

Next, you’ll need to choose the category that best describes your website – whether it’s a blog, business site, or online store.

After choosing a category, click ‘Save and Continue.’

In the next steps, simply follow the prompts to sign in to your Google Analytics account and select the website you want to track.

Once you see the ‘Complete Connection’ button, just click it – and you’re all set!

For a detailed walkthrough, you can read our guide on how to install Google Analytics in WordPress.

Step 3. Set Up the MonsterInsights Exceptions Addon

In this step, we’ll add the Exceptions addon to track 16 types of unusual activity, such as sudden drops in traffic, conversion spikes, unexpected bounce rate changes, and more!

Whenever something ‘exceptional’ happens, you’ll get a detailed record in your Exceptions report. This means you can spot issues early and take action before they turn into bigger problems.

To get the Exceptions addon set up, let’s go to Insights » Add-ons.

In the ‘Exceptions’ box, you can click the ‘Download & Activate’ button. Then, simply click on the switch when it appears.

Upon activation, the addon will start tracking irregularities.

You can see the report by navigating to the dedicated ‘Exceptions’ tab from your ‘Reports’ page.

Note: Not using a MonsterInsights Agency account? No worries – you can still monitor your site’s key metrics right from your WordPress dashboard. 💡

Just go to the Insights » Reports page, where you’ll find useful insights on your website’s traffic, campaigns, and site speed, for example.

Step 4. Get MonsterInsights Exception Alerts

Now, it’s time to set up email alerts to keep track of sudden shifts on your site.

To do this, you can head over to Insights » Settings » Advanced.

From here, let’s locate the ‘Exception Alerts’ section.

To get alerts, simply toggle the switch to ‘Enabled.’

Next, you can add the email addresses that should receive notifications.

You can enter up to 5 email addresses. Just click the ‘Add Email’ button to include more.

With that done, you’ve successfully set up Exception Alerts using MonsterInsights. Note that you’ll start getting alerts one day after an exception is detected.

Bonus Step: Set Up Weekly Email Summaries

With MonsterInsights, you can also receive weekly email summaries to track your WordPress site’s performance.

You can start by enabling the ‘Email Summaries’ feature under Settings » Advanced.

Next, you’ll have to add email addresses to receive notifications and customize the email header for your alerts.

For step-by-step instructions, you can check out this guide on how to get automated Google Analytics email reports on the MonsterInsights blog.

Method 2. Get Custom Email Alerts in Google Analytics

With this method, we’ll show you how to set up email alerts directly in the Google Analytics dashboard.

This approach works for any website, making it a great option if you don’t use WordPress or prefer to manage everything inside GA4. However, it requires more manual setup, which takes more time and effort.

Before we start, let’s look at the 2 types of GA4 insights you can use for tracking important changes:

• Automated Insights – Google’s machine learning helps identify trends and unexpected changes for you.
• Custom Insights – You define the conditions to track exactly what matters most to your business.

Now, let’s walk through how to set each one up!

Step 1. Create Google Analytics Insights

First, you’ll want to sign in to your Google Analytics account.

Simply click on the ‘Sign in to Analytics’ button and enter your credentials.

From here, let’s go to the ‘Reports’ tab.

Scroll down to the ‘Insights’ section and click on the ‘Create’ button.

On the next screen, you’ll see Google’s suggested alerts. These include unusual activity related to daily events, users, views, and revenue.

Here, you can check the ones you want. For example, we checked all the boxes like this:

With that done, go ahead and click ‘Create selected’ to activate your suggested insights.

Step 2. Set Up Custom Google Analytics Insights

If you scroll down this page, you’ll see that Google Analytics lets you create custom alerts from scratch or use suggested insights.

If you want full control over what triggers an alert, then click ‘Create new’ under the ‘Start from scratch’ section. This lets you set your own conditions based on the metrics that matter most to you.

Expert Tip: You don’t have to choose between custom and suggested insights. You can use both to stay on top of key changes in your data! 🚀

Next up, you’ll need to set your conditions:

• The ‘Evaluation frequency’ can be hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly. This means how often Google Analytics will look at the data to see if it matches the conditions you set up.
• ‘Segment’ lets you focus on a specific group of visitors for your alert.
• ‘Metric’ allows you to set factors to track. For example, you might focus on conversions, page views, and revenue.
• The ‘Condition’ dropdown is where you set a trigger for your alert. This might be an anomaly (something that is higher or lower than usual) or a specific number for the metric you choose.

After defining your rules, you can name your alert.

This is the name that will appear in your email notifications, so make sure it’s obvious and easy to refer to.

Then, go ahead and enter your email addresses for notifications.

Once everything looks good, don’t forget to click the ‘Create’ button in the top right corner to save your custom alert.

And that’s it – you’ve set up custom email alerts in Google Analytics!

Step 3. Manage Google Analytics Insights Alert

In this step, we’ll show you how to manage your custom Google Analytics insights alerts. This will enable you to turn alerts on and off, edit them, and delete them.

To do this, let’s navigate to Insights » View all insights from your ‘Reports snapshot’ screen.

Once inside, you can click the ‘Manage’ button.

This will open a slide-in menu to see all your custom alerts.

Here, you can toggle email notifications on or off as needed.

You can also click the three dots to edit or delete an alert.

And if you want to create more alerts, simply use the ‘Create’ button and repeat the process.

Further Reading: More Analytics and Tracking Guides

Want to dive deeper into analytics and tracking? Here are more helpful guides to level up your insights and help you make data-driven decisions:

That’s it!

We hope this article has helped you learn how to set up custom email alerts in Google Analytics. Next up, you might want to read our guide on how to set up Google Analytics goals and our expert picks for the best analytics solutions for WordPress users.

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