Track Which Pages Bring You Leads With Google Analytics 4

Visits are nice; leads pay the bills. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) can show how many people contacted you through your website and where they came from, but only if you tell it what a lead looks like. This guide uses Google’s own help pages and doesn’t need any code beyond the standard GA4 tag. If you haven’t picked keywords and pages yet, start with our guide to free keyword research.

How do you set up GA4 for a small business website?

Google’s setup guide walks through creating a property and a web data stream for your site. A few points from it:

• When you create the web data stream, you can turn enhanced measurement on. Google says it “automatically collects page views and other events” and recommends enabling it.
• To connect your website, find your Measurement ID: in Admin, under Data collection and modification, click Data streams, choose the stream and copy the ID, which starts with “G-”.
• Paste the ID into the field your website platform provides. Many WordPress themes and plugins have one. Add GA4 in only one place, or visits may be counted twice.

What does enhanced measurement track on its own?

Google’s enhanced measurement page lists events GA4 can collect without extra code, including page views, scrolls, outbound clicks, site search and form interactions. Two matter most for leads:

• form_start: “the first time a user interacts with a form in a session.”
• form_submit: “when the user submits a form.”

Google says these two let you compare how many people started a form with how many submitted it. A large gap can mean the form is too long; see our lead page guide. Google also notes that form parameters such as the form ID only show in reports if you create custom dimensions for them. Automatic form tracking doesn’t work the same way on every form, so check that the events appear in GA4’s Realtime report after you submit a test.

How do you count a lead as a key event?

A key event is GA4’s name for an action that matters to your business. Google says “any event you collect can become a key event.” The simplest lead event uses your form’s confirmation page. Google’s help page gives this no-code method:

1. In Admin, under Data display, click Events.
2. Click Create event and give it a name, such as thank_you or lead.
3. Optionally, turn on Mark as key event.
4. Under Choose how to create an event, select Create without code.
5. Choose page_view as the event and enter your thank-you page URL.
6. Click Create.

Google notes the new event won’t appear in the Recent events list until Analytics processes it, and that you need at least Viewer access to create the event and Marketer access or above to mark it as a key event.

If your form doesn’t have its own thank-you page, ask your web person to send GA4’s recommended generate_lead event when a form is submitted. Google’s list of recommended events describes it as firing when a user “submits a form or a request for information.” This website’s own theme does that on its contact form.

How do you see which emails, posts and ads bring leads?

Add UTM parameters to links you control, such as links in emails, social posts and your Google Business Profile website link. Google’s help page says to include all three of utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign whenever you add parameters to a URL. For example:

https://www.example.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=spring_cleanup

Keep the names consistent and lowercase so reports don’t split one campaign into several. If you send marketing emails, also follow the CAN-SPAM rules.

Which reports show your leads?

Google’s “About key events” page says many reports, such as the Landing pages and User acquisition reports, include a Key events column. That gives you two useful views:

• Landing pages: which pages people first arrived on before they contacted you.
• User acquisition: which channels (search, social, email, referral) brought people who became leads.

Pair GA4 with Google Search Console, which shows the searches your site appeared for. GA4 tells you what visitors did; Search Console tells you how they found you in Google.

What about leads that call instead of filling in a form?

GA4 can’t see a phone call on its own. Practical options: ask every new caller how they found you and keep a simple log, as described in our guide to answering leads fast; and for website visitors, count taps on your phone number link with help from your web person. Google’s lead generation events, such as qualify_lead and close_convert_lead, can also be sent for leads that convert offline, but that takes some setup.

How do you check that tracking works?

Test it yourself before you trust the numbers:

1. Open your website in a private browser window and submit your contact form with a test message.
2. In GA4, open the Realtime report. Google’s help page notes that its Event count by Event name card shows the parameters associated with each event as they come in.
3. Look for your lead event (for example thank_you or generate_lead) and form_submit.
4. Check again the next day that the key event appears in the Key events column of your reports.

Two habits keep the data clean. First, don’t put names, emails or phone numbers in URLs or event names; a thank-you page should be the same address for everyone. Second, write down what you changed and when, so a sudden jump in leads can be traced to a real change and not a tracking mistake.

Do you need a privacy notice for GA4?

Yes, say in your privacy policy that you use Google Analytics, what it collects and how people can opt out. Depending on where your visitors live, consent rules may apply. Our own privacy policy shows how this site describes it.

GA4 lead tracking checklist

• GA4 tag installed in one place only.
• Enhanced measurement on, with form interactions checked in Realtime.
• A thank-you page event or generate_lead event created and marked as a key event.
• UTM tags on email, social and Business Profile links.
• Landing pages and User acquisition reports checked monthly.
• Phone leads logged by hand.
• Privacy policy mentions Google Analytics.