How to Set Up GA4 Conversion Tracking: A Step-by-Step Guide

Editor’s note: On March 21, 2024, Google announced “conversions” would beryllium renamed arsenic “key events.” GA4 volition proceed to usage the word “conversions” successful lone 1 circumstantial context: reports that measurement your Google Ads run performance. The rollout is gradual, truthful you whitethorn inactive spot the word “conversion” successful your reports. We’ll update this nonfiction with the latest accusation erstwhile the modulation is complete.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) tracks web interactions that are important for your business. They’re known arsenic conversions (or “key events”) and subordinate to however you execute concern goals.

For example, a completed merchantability for an online store is simply a conversion. The aforesaid goes for a signifier submission connected a B2B tract oregon an online edifice reservation.

In this guide, you’ll larn however to acceptable up GA4 conversion tracking for your website. And however conversions (key events) tin assistance you recognize your business’s performance, truthful you tin marque your selling efforts much effective.

Why Conversion Tracking Is Important

Conversion tracking turns Google Analytics 4 into a much almighty instrumentality that helps you recognize if your website is doing its job. And lets you uncover insights astir your tract and web visitors that tin assistance you thrust much business.

Let’s accidental you’re a selling manager for a dental signifier with locations successful respective cities. And you privation to get caller appointments from patients. 

For you, conversions equate to assignment requests submitted done your website. In GA4, you acceptable this arsenic a cardinal lawsuit called “generate_lead.”

Here are 3 important things you’ll beryllium capable to larn astir your concern successful GA4:

1. Which Traffic Sources Perform Best

Conversion tracking reveals which postulation sources are champion helping you scope your goals. So you tin absorption your selling efforts and fund accordingly.

As you tin spot below, your tract produced 112 “generate_lead” conversions successful the past 30 days. And you tin adhd a Google Analytics dimension (an property that helps you summation an in-depth knowing of your data) to your conversion information to spot its postulation sources. 

In this case, you tin spot the originating postulation root utilizing the “Session root / medium” dimension.

Based connected the supra data, you whitethorn determine to proceed focusing connected your integrated (meaning unpaid) hunt efforts. After all, integrated postulation from Google drives the bulk of your conversions (key events). 

You besides reason that your societal media efforts aren’t moving well. And determine to trial a caller attack connected Facebook to spot if it’s much effective.

2. How Profitable Your Google Ads Are

Google Ads information integrates with Google Analytics to amusement run performance. Which helps you negociate your fund due to the fact that you tin spot however overmuch you’re paying for a caller diligent inquiry. 

Let’s accidental you’re consenting to walk up to $300 to get a caller patient. You tin spot that your mean “Cost per conversion” is $154.30—which is good wrong your budget.

The supra advertisement campaigns some make a akin outgo per conversion. Should that alteration successful the future, you’ll person the accusation you request to reallocate the fund betwixt campaigns. 

You tin support an oculus connected this important metric each month. Ensuring that your campaigns proceed to beryllium profitable for your business.

3. What Characteristics You Should Know About Your Audience

You tin usage cardinal lawsuit information successful customized Google Analytics reports to larn much astir the radical who usage your site. So you tin amended conscionable their preferences.

If you’re a dental signifier selling manager liable for respective markets, you’ll privation to cognize wherever your integer selling efforts execute best. 

To get that information, make a study successful GA4 that shows the metropolis and postulation root for each of your converting visitors. Like this one:

Now, you tin comparison your campaigns for each market. To tease retired what did and didn’t work. 

Or possibly you privation to redesign your website to marque it faster and easier to usage for your patients. It’s adjuvant to cognize that implicit 63% of your converted visitors utilized a mobile device. 

With that knowledge, you tin absorption much connected the mobile acquisition during the web redesign process. 

How GA4 Conversion Tracking Works

Google Analytics 4 collects each web interactions arsenic events—visitor interactions similar views, record downloads, scrolls, clicks, and purchases. They’re the instauration of each tracking successful GA4 and indispensable to conversion (key event) tracking.

Google Analytics volition grounds immoderate events by default without immoderate enactment from you. You tin work our GA4 lawsuit tracking guide to larn astir those.

But immoderate events similar signifier submissions necessitate you to acceptable them up. 

How to Set Up and See Conversions successful GA4

To commencement utilizing cardinal lawsuit information, you request to place a invaluable enactment and travel a fewer steps to way it.

Let’s spell backmost to our dental signifier example. 

As with galore different businesses, the website generates caller lawsuit inquiries done a interaction form. So, your archetypal measurement is to way that important enactment arsenic an event.

Set Up a GA4 Event

To make an lawsuit successful GA4, log successful to Google Analytics. Click “Admin” successful the bottom-left country of immoderate screen.

From the “Admin” area, click “Events” nether “Property settings” > “Data display” from the left-hand navigation barroom oregon successful the main view.

Then, click “Create event” to acceptable up a caller customized event.

And click “Create” erstwhile more.

You’ll spot an lawsuit configuration model wherever you tin commencement by naming your lawsuit successful the “Custom lawsuit name” field. This is the sanction you’ll spot successful your reports whenever the lawsuit takes place.

Choose thing similar “form_submission,” “thank_you_page,” oregon “generate_lead.” The second matches Google’s recommendation. 

Now, it’s clip to acceptable the matching conditions that volition find erstwhile your “generate_lead” lawsuit fires. 

Your interaction signifier redirects to a convey you leafage erstwhile it’s submitted. So, you tin look for views of that leafage to grounds your customized event.

You’ll request 2 conditions to execute that. 

First, acceptable the pursuing parameter truthful the lawsuit sanction equals “page_view.” This limits your customized lawsuit lone to interactions wherever a caller leafage is loading.

Click the “Add condition” button.

Then, acceptable your adjacent information to bounds your customized lawsuit to your convey you page. 

Set the “Parameter” by typing “page_location” oregon choosing it from the drop-down list. Set the “Operator” to “contains.” 

Type the leafage way of your convey you leafage URL successful the “Value” field. Your leafage way is the portion of the URL that comes aft the domain name.

Adjust the worth depending connected the circumstantial URL of the convey you leafage connected your site.

Finally, click “Create.”

Once you do, you’ll spot your caller customized lawsuit successful a summary list.

You’re present signaling lawsuit information that you tin find successful your GA4 reports. But it won’t number arsenic a conversion (key event) until you instrumentality an other step.

Mark an Event arsenic a Key Event

Now that you’ve created your customized event, click “Conversions” nether “Admin” > “Property settings” > “Data display” to acceptable up GA4 conversion events. Then, click “New conversion event.” 

Type the sanction of your caller lawsuit successful the “New lawsuit sanction *” tract and click “Save.”

Your caller conversion lawsuit volition look successful a list.

Next, let’s reappraisal wherever to find your conversion data.

View Your Conversion Reports successful GA4

Google Analytics has a built-in study wherever you tin spot each your conversions (key events).

To get there, click “Reports” from the left-hand navigation bar. Select “Engagement” followed by “Conversions.”

You’ll spot a study listing immoderate conversion events you’ve created truthful far. And a illustration showing however often they hap implicit time. 

To get much information, adhd a secondary magnitude by clicking the “+” motion adjacent to the lawsuit name.

A dialog container volition look showing assorted dimensions for much granular analysis. 

Click “Traffic source” to analyse wherever your conversions came from.

Then, prime “Cross-channel” followed by “Session root / medium.”

This is simply a mode to place your astir important Google Analytics postulation sources—what’s moving well. It besides helps you uncover postulation sources wherever you mightiness person opportunities to effort caller tactics.

For example, the postulation information shows lone a azygous conversion from Facebook. This mightiness awesome that it’s clip to look deeper astatine your societal media contented strategy.

Here are a fewer ways to get adjacent much insights astir your conversions:

Conversion Rates

Your conversion complaint tells you however efficiently users are converting. To assistance you recognize whether there’s country for improvement.

There are 2 conversion rates successful GA4:

• Session conversion (key event) rate: The fig of sessions (visits) resulting successful a conversion divided by the full fig of sessions. And multiplied by 100 to get a percentage.
• User conversion (key event) rate: The fig of users (unique visitors) with a conversion divided by the full fig of users. Also multiplied by 100.

Going backmost to our dental signifier scenario, let’s accidental your website receives 10,000 visits successful 1 period and generates 105 conversions. Your league conversion complaint is 1.05%.

But galore of your visitors travel to the tract much than erstwhile implicit that period. The full fig of users is 5,000. And truthful your idiosyncratic cardinal lawsuit complaint is 2.10%.

You mightiness take to analyse 1 oregon the different depending connected what question you’re trying to answer. And the insights you’re looking to glean. For instance:

• How apt is simply a azygous sojourn to effect successful a conversion? Look into league conversion rate.
• What are the chances that a visitant volition yet convert? User conversion complaint tin assistance here.

Let’s accidental you privation to forecast conversions based connected a postulation goal. 

For example, your enactment squad wants to summation website postulation by 20,000 visits successful the twelvemonth ahead. You tin expect that this volition person a concern interaction of 210 caller assignment requests (20,000 x .0105 = 210).

Here’s however you tin get conversion complaint information successful your GA4 reports.

First, click “Traffic acquisition” from the “Acquisition” drop-down of your GA4 reports section.

You’ll spot 2 graphs astatine the apical and a elaborate information array below. Your conversion (key event) counts are disposable successful the 2nd file from the right, alongside different important metrics similar “Users” and “Sessions.”

Click the pencil icon successful the apical close to customize your report.

You’ll spot a “Customize report” model to the right. Click “Metrics.”

Now, click the “Add metric” tract astatine the bottommost of your metrics list. You tin besides delete immoderate irrelevant metrics from your array by clicking “x.”

Begin typing “conversion” and prime “Session conversion rate” erstwhile it appears. Your database of metrics volition alteration to see your caller addition. Click “Apply” to update your reporting view.

You’ll present spot a caller file astatine the acold close of your table: “Session conversion rate.” By default, this volition amusement the conversion complaint for each your conversion events.

Click the down arrow to the close of “All events” to take which circumstantial conversion lawsuit you privation to analyze.

Choose your desired conversion from the dialog container and your study information volition refresh.

In this case, we lone person the azygous “generate_lead” conversion (remember that “purchase” is simply a GA4 conversion by default). Click connected it.

The file header volition update automatically truthful you tin spot what you’re analyzing.

To marque your changes to the study permanent, click “Save” arsenic shown below. Then, prime “Save changes to existent report.” 

Click “Save” 1 past time.

As you proceed to make caller GA4 events and people them arsenic lawsuit conversions, you’ll beryllium capable to usage your conversion complaint information to analyse idiosyncratic conversions.

Attribution

Attribution is the process of assigning “credit” for conversions (key events) to assorted Google Analytics postulation sources.

Let’s accidental you had a visitant who purchased from your ecommerce tract aft 3 visits.

1. The archetypal sojourn came done integrated search
2. The 2nd sojourn came from email marketing
3. The 3rd sojourn was via integrated societal media

Google Analytics tin springiness each the recognition to societal media for driving the past visit—called last-click attribution. Or usage data-driven attribution, which gives GA4 the flexibility to admit aggregate channels.

The data-driven attribution exemplary is the default and what Google recommends. Google says this exemplary is advertiser-specific and uses information unsocial to each website and advertiser to recognition conversions properly. 

You tin comparison the attribution models utilizing GA4’s exemplary examination report. 

Start by clicking “Advertising” from the left-hand navigation menu. Then, click “Model comparison” to spot the 2 attribution models broadside by side.

For this peculiar ecommerce business, you tin spot that the data-driven exemplary assigns much recognition to email and little to integrated societal than the last-click model.

Conversion Paths

Conversion paths assistance you recognize each the postulation sources factored into your conversions.

Let’s spell backmost to our dental signifier illustration and click the “Conversion paths” report. By default, this study volition amusement information for each conversion events combined. 

If you privation to bounds your conversion way investigation to a azygous conversion (key event), click the “conversion events” drop-down astatine the apical of the page. Use the toggles to take a conversion and click “Apply.”

You’ll spot which paths are astir communal for that circumstantial conversion. In this case, the astir communal conversion way is 2 abstracted visits via integrated search.

To alteration however you radical postulation sources, click the “Default transmission group” drop-down arrow.

You’ll spot a dialog container with antithetic postulation root options. Here’s what they mean:

• Source: The circumstantial root sending the postulation (like Google, Bing, oregon DuckDuckGo)
• Medium: The benignant of postulation (like integrated oregon cost per click)
• Campaign: Traffic coming from a circumstantial selling campaign
• Session transmission group: Rule-based definitions of postulation groups (for example, the integrated hunt channel)

Select “Medium” to radical your conversion postulation based connected the benignant of postulation that drove the visit.

Further reading: Google Analytics Traffic Sources: An In-Depth Guide

Limitations of GA4 Conversion Tracking

There are respective limitations to GA4 conversions, which we outline below.

Few Conversion Types

There isn’t a elemental mode to way league duration conversions oregon pages/screens per league conversions.

Since everything is an lawsuit successful GA4, these types of conversions aren’t disposable arsenic they are successful immoderate Google Analytics alternatives.

Some Tracking Requires Google Tag Manager

You can’t way everything with lone GA4. For immoderate things, you request to usage Google Tag Manager to assistance with the setup process. 

Examples see fastener click tracking, submitted forms that don’t redirect to a convey you page, and ecommerce tracking.

Limited Attribution Options

You tin lone usage last-click oregon data-driven attribution with GA4. 

Other web analytics tools see further options similar these: 

• First-click attribution gives 100% of the recognition to the transmission that brought the archetypal visit, careless of erstwhile the visitant converted
• Linear attribution splits the recognition arsenic crossed immoderate and each postulation sources progressive successful the visitor’s travel earlier conversion
• Time-decay attribution assigns astir of the recognition to the postulation root that brought the last visit, with decreasing recognition assigned to preceding visits

In GA4, you don’t person the flexibility to presumption immoderate different of these attribution models.

No Assisted Conversions Report

There isn’t a dedicated assisted conversions study successful GA4 that summarizes however galore times each postulation transmission participated successful a conversion path.

Use the conversion paths study we outlined earlier to visualize the assorted postulation channels that contributed to your conversions.

The Next Step After GA4 Conversion Analysis

When you person the conversion information to recognize your website, you tin spot however to thrust show into the future.

Let’s accidental your dental signifier aspires to get 50% much caller patients successful the adjacent 12 months. And you admit that driving much integrated postulation is 1 of the astir feasible ways to bash that.

Keyword Magic Tool is simply a large mode to commencement moving connected your postulation maturation goals. 

For example, you mightiness hunt for “pain escaped dentistry” due to the fact that patients person precocious started asking astir this. 

Enter the keyword and click “Search” to spot if they’ve been searching astir it arsenic well. 

With a comparatively precocious hunt measurement (“Volume”) and debased keyword trouble (“KD %”), some “pain escaped dentistry” and “pain escaped dentistry adjacent me” person large potential. 

You’ve already spotted a large accidental that you could people with a caller work leafage oregon elaborate blog post. 

And you could see a nexus to your assignment petition signifier wrong that contented to assistance thrust readers toward converting.