How to Track Conversions and Goals in Google Analytics

Tracking conversions is the single most important part of your digital marketing strategy. Without it, you’re essentially flying blind, unable to see which of your marketing efforts are actually bringing in new customers and which are simply wasting your budget.

In the world of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), 'Goals' are now referred to as 'Key Events'. By setting these up, you can see exactly when someone fills out a contact form, clicks your phone number, or completes a purchase. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up conversion tracking specifically for Australian small business owners.

Prerequisites: What You’ll Need

Before we dive in, ensure you have the following ready:

• A Google Analytics 4 (GA4) Property: You should already have this installed on your website.
• Editor or Administrator Access: You need specific permissions to create events and mark them as conversions.
• A Live Website: You’ll need to be able to visit your site to trigger a test event.
• Google Tag Manager (Optional but Recommended): While you can do basic tracking in GA4, Tag Manager makes complex tracking much easier.

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Step 1: Understand the GA4 Event Model

Unlike the old 'Universal Analytics', GA4 tracks everything as an event. A page view is an event, a click is an event, and a form submission is an event. To track a 'Goal', you first need to ensure the event is being recorded, and then you simply 'toggle' that event to be a Key Event (Conversion).

Step 2: Access Your Admin Panel

Log in to your Google Analytics account. In the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, you will see a cog icon labelled Admin. Click this.

Step 3: View Existing Events

In the Property column, click on Data Display and then Events.

Step 4: Create a New Event for a 'Thank You' Page

The easiest way to track a lead is by using a 'Thank You' page (the page a user lands on after submitting a form).

• Click the blue Create event button.
• Click Create again in the slide-out menu.
• Custom event name: Enter something clear like generate_lead_contact_form (use underscores, not spaces).
• Matching conditions:

• Click Create.

Step 5: Track Button Clicks (Phone or Email)

If you don’t have a thank you page and want to track when someone clicks your phone number link (a 'tel:' link), you can use GA4’s 'Enhanced Measurement'.

• Go to Admin > Data Streams.
• Click on your website stream.
• Ensure 'Enhanced measurement' is toggled ON.
• Click the settings cog and ensure 'Outbound clicks' is enabled.

GA4 will now automatically track clicks to external sites. However, to make this a specific 'Conversion', you'll usually need Google Tag Manager to trigger a specific event when a user clicks a link containing tel: or mailto:.

Step 6: Test Your Event in DebugView

Before marking an event as a conversion, you must ensure it’s working.

• In the Admin menu, scroll down to DebugView.
• Open your website in a new tab (ideally using the Google Tag Assistant browser extension).
• Perform the action you want to track (e.g., fill out your contact form).
• Go back to GA4 DebugView. You should see your event (e.g., generate_lead_contact_form) appearing in the timeline.

Step 7: Mark the Event as a Key Event (Conversion)

Once you have confirmed the event is firing correctly, you need to tell Google it’s important.

• Go back to Admin > Data Display > Events.
• Find your new event in the list.
• Toggle the switch under Mark as key event (previously 'Mark as conversion').

Step 8: Verify Conversion Data in Reports

After 24-48 hours, data will begin appearing in your reports.

• Go to Reports > Engagement > Key events.
• Here you will see a list of your conversions, how many occurred, and the total revenue (if applicable).

Step 9: Link to Google Ads (Critical for AU Businesses)

If you are running Google Ads to find customers in Brisbane or across Australia, you must import these GA4 conversions into your Ads account.

• In GA4, go to Admin > Product Links > Google Ads Links.
• Link your account.
• In your Google Ads account, go to Tools > Conversions and choose Import from Google Analytics (GA4).

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using Spaces in Names: Never use spaces in event names. Use contact_form_submit, not Contact Form Submit.
• Case Sensitivity: GA4 is case-sensitive. If your URL is /Thank-You and you filter for /thank-you, it won't work.
• Tracking Every Page View: Don't mark page_view as a conversion. You only want to track high-value actions that represent a potential customer.
• Ignoring the ABN/Legal Requirements: For e-commerce tracking in Australia, ensure your currency is set to AUD in the Property Settings to avoid confusing conversion values.

Troubleshooting

• My event isn't showing up: It can take up to 24 hours for events to populate in the standard list. Use the DebugView to confirm it's working in real-time.
• Too many conversions are being counted: Check if your 'Thank You' page is indexable by Google. If a user finds your thank-you page via search and lands on it directly, it will trigger a conversion. Set your thank-you page to 'noindex'.
• The counts don't match my CRM: There is always a slight discrepancy between Analytics and your actual email inbox due to ad blockers or cookie consent settings.

Next Steps

Setting up conversion tracking is the foundation of successful digital marketing. Once this is running, you can start looking at 'Attribution'—identifying which channels (Social Media, Organic Search, or Paid Ads) are driving those conversions.

If you find this setup a bit overwhelming or want to ensure your tracking is 100% accurate for your Australian business, the team at Local Marketing Group is here to help. We specialise in technical GA4 setups that give business owners the data they need to grow.

Ready to scale your results? Contact us today for a digital marketing audit.