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Creating Conversions in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

A guide to setting up and tracking conversions in GA4 using Google Tag Manager (GTM)

This article provides instructions on how to set up and track conversions in Google Analytics 4 (GA4) using Google Tag Manager (GTM).

Step-by-Step Guide

Please note, the only conversions we are focused on tracking are as below:

Some conversions are automatically created in GA4, for example:

  • Purchases made online
  • Form submits (but thank you page tracking is more accurate, if they have one, you can ask the client for the thank you page for form submission or find it yourself if you have GA access)

Make sure that Form submits are automatically measured in GA4 � to do this go to Admin, Data Stream, select Web Data Stream, click on settings icon for Enhanced measurement, check that Form Submit and any other relevant settings are clicked so that GA4 measures these as an event.

If non eCommerce website

  • Phone Link Click � Need GTM
  • Email Link Click � Need GTM
  • Contact us form submit � GA4 automatically tracks this but has accuracy issues � see comment above about how to check that GA4 is measuring form submits

If the client has a thank you page after the contact us form submit (which is the optimal method of tracking forms), GA4 can track this by itself as well, needs extra steps to set up event though (ask ester).

If eCommerce website

  • Purchase � GA4 automatically tracks this and should be the main goal for the account. Do keep an eye on this though, sometimes GA4 has issues tracking this goal

If the client is interested in contact us form submit, GA4 automatically tracks this as well � see above about how to check that GA4 is measuring form submits.

Not a must but nice to have

  • Phone Link Click � Need GTM
  • Email Link Click � Need GTM
  1. In case the client wants to set up more advanced conversions in the future, GTM is needed.
  2. In order to cleanly set up conversions in a manageable platform, GTM is needed.
  3. Firing GA4 inside of GTM is highly advised for clients, rather than having it attached directly on the website.
  4. There are times when GA4's automatic form submission goal doesn't work as intended and GTM is required to track contact us forms, preferably thank you page is the best way of tracking contact us form submissions.
  5. Just good practice to have it installed on the website.

Google Tag Manager set up conversions

  • Use Measurement ID from GA4 (find it under Admin >> Data Stream)
  • Trigger: Initialization All Pages or All Pages Page View

2) Set up event Triggers (Go to Triggers >> New) - some examples below:

3) Set up Tags (Go to Tags >> New)

*GA4 can't read events if there is a space, for example email link click vs email_link_click*

  • Enter the URL. When the site loads, click on the events you want to test (e.g. contact us page, email, phone number)
  • Go back to Google Tag Manager tab and see if your tags fired
  • Fix any errors and try again

4) Submit & Publish

Type in a version name e.g. GA4 tags added

5) Mark Events as Conversions in GA4

Set a reminder to do this the day after you publish the GTM tags as it takes time for the events to appear in GA4

6) Import Conversions in Google Ads

Select + New Conversion Action >> Import >> select the conversions. If you can�t see them, wait for an hour or so and try again. If they still don�t work, check that the GA4 account has been linked to the Google Analytics.

Troubleshooting

If the conversions you have created are not showing as events in GA4, check the Measurement ID for the GA4 property is the same as the Measurement Tag in the GA4 Configuration Tag in Google Tag Manager. If it's not, the GA4 property and the GTM accounts are not linked to each other.

If you have any questions on this or would like a demo, please ask James

Useful example of how to set up triggers for Form Submissions where there isn't a thank you page: https://www.jordandigitalmarketing.com/blog/3-common-options-to-track-form-submissions-in-gtm

Then Why do we insist on GTM?

1) Set up Google Tag if it isn't there (this used to be called GA4 Configuration Tag) - See also Initial GTM Set Up in this Notebook

Email Link Click

Just Links

Click URL contains mailto:

(If Click URL isn�t in the drop-down, click on Choose Built-In Variable and select it from the list)

*Please do check if the email link is clickable on the website, if not, we cannot track it. Do let the sale rep know this so the clients developer can resolve this issue.

Phone Call Click

Just Links

Click URL contains tel:

*Please do check if the phone link is clickable on the website, if not, we cannot track it. Do let the sale rep know this so the clients developer can resolve this issue.

Thank You Page View after contact us form has been submitted �(you can also do this in GA4 but not as reliable as GTM)

Page View

Page URL contains xyz (text from URL, mostly will include /thankyou or thank-you)

  • type in a title e.g. Email Link Click
  • choose tag type = GA4 event
  • Measurement ID = copy from GA4 (find it in GA4 under Admin >> Data Stream) Full instructions are on a separate page of this Notebook.
  • write event name with underscores (see below), select relevant trigger
  • the event name is what shows in the GA4 Event list

Email Link Click - event name: email_link_click

Phone Call Click - event name: tel_link_click

Thank You Page View - event name: thank_you_page_view

3) Press Preview to check - this starts debug view.