Google Analytics 4 is installed on your website. Now what? Most business owners either ignore it completely or get overwhelmed by data that doesn’t matter. Here’s what to actually pay attention to.
What should I set up in GA4 first?
Two settings. First, under Admin, Data Settings, Data Retention, change event data retention from 2 months to 14 months. It does not change your standard reports, but explorations and funnel reports can only look back as far as this setting allows. Second, mark the actions that matter to your business, such as form submissions and phone clicks, as key events.
What is a key event in GA4?
Key events are GA4’s name for actions that matter to the success of your business, such as an enquiry or a purchase. Any event you collect can be marked as one. The word “conversion” is now kept for actions used to measure and optimise ad campaigns.
The Metrics That Matter
Users and Sessions
How many people visit your site and how often. Look at the trend over time rather than absolute numbers. Consistent growth means your marketing is working.
Traffic Sources
Where your visitors come from: organic search (Google), direct (typed your URL), social media, referral (links from other sites), or paid advertising. This tells you which channels are driving results.
Top Pages
Which pages get the most visits. If your pricing page is your most viewed page, people are interested in buying. If your homepage has the highest bounce rate, something isn’t working.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of visitors who take your desired action, filling in a contact form, making a purchase, calling you. This is the single most important metric for measuring your website’s effectiveness.
Device Breakdown
What percentage of your traffic is mobile vs desktop. If 70% of your visitors are on mobile but your conversion rate is 3x higher on desktop, your mobile experience needs work.
Setting Up Conversions
GA4 calls these “key events.” You need to define what counts as a conversion for your business:
- Contact form submission
- Phone number click
- Email link click
- Purchase completion
- Download of a resource
Without conversion tracking, you’re measuring traffic but not results.
How Often to Check
Weekly glance at traffic trends and conversions. Monthly deep dive into sources, top pages, and device performance. Quarterly strategy review to adjust based on what’s working.
We set up GA4 with proper conversion tracking on every site we build. It’s included in every package.
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