How to set up conversions and audiences in GA4

The most important thing you can do to make your GA4 reporting valuable is track conversions on your website. And in order to get even more out of GA4, once you have created your conversions, you need to configure audiences to match these conversions.

What are Conversions?

In the context of website tracking and digital marketing, a "conversion" refers to a specific action that a visitor takes on a website that fulfills the goal set by the site owner or marketer. It's a key metric used to measure the success of an online marketing campaign or the effectiveness of a website in achieving its objectives.

Examples of conversions include filling out a form, finalizing a purchase, signing up for an event, or performing other key actions on your website. It's important to set up conversions for all your primary or top tasks.

Before you can track a conversion, you must first set up an event to track the action you want to mark as a conversion. Let’s start by how you might set up these events. 

Setting up an event

There are two methods to set up an event. For complex tracking, Google Tag Manager is probably your best choice. But for straightforward events, particularly those ending on a specific page, you can set them up directly in the GA4 interface.

Google Tag Manager

Google Tag Manager is a free tool offered by Google that allows users to manage and deploy marketing tags such as Google Analytics, snippets of code or tracking pixels on their website without having to modify the code directly. It simplifies the process of adding and updating tracking, enabling marketers and webmasters to easily integrate and manage multiple analytics and marketing tools.

If you have access to some development resources and/or access to an analytics implementation specialist, we recommend using Google Tag Manager (GTM) to set up your events. Our team also offers implementation help.

Using the GA4 Interface to setup your event

To configure a straightforward event directly in GA4, go to the Admin interface. 

1. Select Events 
2. Click Create Event. Select the data stream for your website. If you only have one datastream, GA will skip this step. Click Create. 
3. Add or select your custom event name:
   * Under Parameter select page_location. 
   * Under Operator, select equals, contains or matches regular expression.
   * Under Value, enter the value that will match on your receipt page. 
4. Click Create to save the event. 

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Marking your event as conversion

Please note that this step is optional, yet highly recommended. We advise using conversion tracking for significant interactions on your website that advance your organization's goals, rather than minor actions whose impact is uncertain.

Once the event is tracking, you can mark it as a conversion by click on the toggle button:

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Or if you don’t see the event in GA4 (it can take up to 24 hours to see new data), then head back to the Admin interface. 

1. Click Conversions
2. Click new conversion event
3. Type in the name of the event and it will start tracking as a conversion as soon as it records the event. 

As I mentioned above you will want to configure an event for each conversion that you want to track. Not every event should be a conversion.

What are Audiences 

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), "audiences" refer to groups of users who share common attributes or behaviors. Audiences in GA4 are more flexible and dynamic than in previous versions of Google Analytics. They allow marketers and analysts to segment users based on a wide range of criteria, enabling more targeted marketing efforts and deeper insights into user behavior.

It’s important to know that audiences do not go back in time. So the sooner you create these audiences the sooner you will be able to measure content performance and demonstrate the value of your work.

How to create an audience for your event/conversion

In the Admin interface

1. Click Audiences
2. Click the New audience button. 
3. Select create a custom audience. 

The next step is to build your audience. 

To create an audience from an event, search for your event name and click on it. For example, here’s how I configured an audience for a join_waitlist event/conversion on this website. 

Once your conversions and audiences are set up and your audiences have started collecting data you’ll be able to see if a page on your website contributes to a conversion.