Why is GA4 showing (direct) / none for my Shopify checkout sales?

When users navigate from WordPress to a separate Shopify domain checkout, GA4 loses client ID cookies and generates a brand-new session. GA4 Linker fixes this by automatically appending the _gl parameter to cross-domain links.

Does GA4 Linker support slide-out AJAX carts and popup checkout buttons?

Yes! The Pro and Agency plans use a high-performance MutationObserver that detects dynamically injected DOM elements and AJAX cart drawers in real-time.

Is coding required to set up GA4 Linker?

Zero coding required. Simply install the plugin, enter your Shopify checkout domain(s) in the WordPress admin panel, and GA4 Linker handles link and form decoration automatically.

How does GA4 Linker preserve UTM parameters?

On Personal, Pro, and Agency plans, GA4 Linker captures incoming utm_source, utm_campaign, utm_medium, and gclid parameters from your landing page and persists them through internal navigation directly into the Shopify checkout destination.

🛠️ Setup Tutorial

How to Setup GA4 Cross-Domain Tracking Between WordPress and Shopify

By Dimsquid Engineering•Published Aug 4, 2026•5 min read

Running a WordPress website for content, landing pages, or WooCommerce alongside a separate Shopify store for checkout is one of the most popular e-commerce architectures. However, without proper cross-domain tracking, Google Analytics 4 treats every single Shopify purchase as a separate session originating from (direct) / none.

In this step-by-step guide, we will walk through how GA4 cross-domain tracking works, how to configure domain streams, and how to decorate links between WordPress and Shopify to ensure 100% session continuity.

Step 1: Configure Data Streams in GA4 Admin

Before decorating URLs, you must tell Google Analytics 4 that your WordPress domain and your Shopify domain belong to the same property stream:

Open Google Analytics 4 and navigate to Admin → Data Streams.
Select your Web Data Stream and click Configure Tag Settings.
Under Settings, click Configure Your Domains.
Add a rule: Match type = Contains, Domain = yoursite.com (your WordPress domain).
Add a second rule: Match type = Contains, Domain = myshopify.com (or your custom Shopify checkout domain).
Click Save.

Step 2: Enable Link Decoration on Outbound Links

Configuring domains in GA4 tells Google Analytics to allow cross-domain parameters, but it does not add the parameters to your WordPress buttons automatically.

When a visitor clicks a checkout button on WordPress, the destination URL must contain the _gl query parameter:

https://yourstore.myshopify.com/cart/add?id=123&_gl=1*1a2b3c*ga*MTIzNDU2Nzg5...

You have two choices for decorating your WordPress links:

Option A: Manual GTM Container

Requires creating custom Javascript DOM listeners in Google Tag Manager. Warning: GTM triggers fail on slide-out AJAX carts and form actions.

Option B: GA4 Linker Plugin

Zero code required. Install the plugin, enter your Shopify domain, and it automatically decorates links, forms, and slide-out AJAX carts.

Step 3: How to Test & Verify Your Cross-Domain Tracking

Once configured, test session stitching in your browser:

Open an Incognito browser window and navigate to your WordPress landing page with a test UTM parameter: yoursite.com?utm_source=test_source.
Click any button pointing to your Shopify store.
Inspect the destination Shopify address bar — confirm that _gl=1*... appears in the query string.
Open GA4 DebugView — verify that events on WordPress and checkout on Shopify appear under the exact same Client ID.

Automate GA4 Cross-Domain Linking in 60 Seconds

Skip the manual GTM scripts. GA4 Linker for Shopify decorates links, forms, and dynamic cart drawers automatically on WordPress.

Download GA4 Linker Plugin →