Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can show how people use your website. It is most useful when the data helps you decide what to improve.
Start with your business questions. Which pages lead to enquiries? Where do useful leads come from? Do people leave part-way through the form?
Track actions with a clear meaning
An event is a recorded action, such as opening a form or sending an enquiry. Decide what each event means before you add tracking.
A useful set may include:
- Opening the project form.
- Reaching the second form step.
- Sending the form successfully.
- Clicking the booking link.
- Completing a confirmed booking, if your system can verify it.
A button click does not prove that a form was sent or a call was booked. Keep those actions separate so reports do not overstate results.
Choose the actions that matter most
GA4 calls an important business action a key event. A successful enquiry may be a key event. A page view usually gives context, but does not show the same level of intent.
Keep names consistent. Write down each event name, when it should fire and who owns it. See Google’s guide to GA4 key events for the current settings.
Respect visitors’ choices
Use your site’s consent settings to control optional tracking. Keep names, email addresses, phone numbers and form messages out of analytics events and page URLs.
Check what session recording tools can see. Mask form fields and avoid recording private details. Your privacy notice should explain the tools you use and the choices visitors have.
Test before you trust the report
Use a clearly labelled test enquiry. Check that the success event happens only after the form reaches your system.
Test a failed submission too. It should not count as a successful lead. Check that retries do not count the same enquiry twice.
Repeat the main journey on a phone. Test with optional cookies accepted and rejected. If a booking opens on another site, check how that change affects your reports.
Keep campaign links tidy
Campaign tags, often called UTM parameters, label the source of a visit. Agree one naming style for your team.
For example, use a source for the platform, a medium for the channel and a campaign name for the offer. Keep names lower case and avoid putting personal details in links.
Use the same rules for ads and email campaigns. This makes it easier to compare sources without splitting one campaign across several names.
Build a short weekly report
Choose a few measures:
- Successful enquiries.
- Leads that fit your service and budget.
- Confirmed calls, if verified.
- Sources of useful leads.
- The change you will make next.
GA4 cannot tell you everything about lead quality. Compare it with your CRM, where your team records sales progress. Consent choices, blocked tags and different reporting rules can cause totals to differ.
Turn a finding into a task
If people open the form but rarely finish, review the fields and any errors. If many enquiries are a poor fit, make the service and price clearer.
Change one thing, record the date and review enough data to judge the result. See our 90-day plan for a simple review routine.