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How to Set Up GA4 Conversion Tracking (2026 Guide)

• CRO Audits Team

Google Analytics 4 is the foundation of CRO measurement. But many sites have it misconfigured—or not configured at all for conversions.

This guide walks you through proper GA4 conversion tracking setup, from basic to advanced.

GA4 Basics: Events and Conversions

GA4 is event-based. Everything users do—pageviews, clicks, scrolls, purchases—is tracked as an event.

Conversions in GA4 are simply events you’ve marked as important. Any event can become a conversion with one toggle.

Event Categories

Automatically collected events:

  • page_view (pageviews)
  • session_start (new sessions)
  • first_visit (new users)
  • scroll (90% scroll depth)
  • click (outbound link clicks)

Enhanced measurement events (optional, toggle in settings):

  • scroll
  • outbound_click
  • site_search
  • video_start, video_progress, video_complete
  • file_download
  • form_start, form_submit

Recommended events (you implement): Google defines standard event names for common actions:

  • purchase
  • add_to_cart
  • begin_checkout
  • sign_up
  • generate_lead
  • login

Custom events (you define): Anything specific to your business not covered above.

Step 1: Verify GA4 Is Installed

Before configuring conversions, confirm GA4 is working.

Check in GA4 Interface

  1. Go to your GA4 property
  2. Navigate to Reports → Realtime
  3. Open your website in another tab
  4. You should see yourself in the realtime report within seconds

Check with Tag Assistant

  1. Install Google Tag Assistant browser extension
  2. Navigate to your site
  3. Click the extension
  4. Look for your GA4 tag (G-XXXXXXXXXX)
  5. Green = working, Red = problem

Common Installation Issues

No data showing:

  • GA4 code not installed or installed incorrectly
  • Wrong measurement ID
  • Code placed in wrong location

Duplicate events:

  • GA4 installed multiple times (directly + via GTM)
  • Check for multiple gtag installations

Step 2: Enable Enhanced Measurement

Enhanced measurement automatically tracks common events without code changes.

How to Enable

  1. GA4 Admin → Data Streams → Select your stream
  2. Click Enhanced Measurement gear icon
  3. Toggle on desired events:
    • Page views (usually on by default)
    • Scrolls
    • Outbound clicks
    • Site search
    • Video engagement
    • File downloads
    • Form interactions

For most CRO purposes, enable:

  • ✅ Scrolls (tracks 90% scroll depth)
  • ✅ Outbound clicks (tracks exits)
  • ✅ Site search (if you have search)
  • ✅ Form interactions (tracks form engagement)

Step 3: Set Up E-commerce Tracking (If Applicable)

For e-commerce sites, proper purchase tracking is essential.

Shopify

Shopify has native GA4 integration:

  1. Go to Online Store → Preferences
  2. Enter your GA4 Measurement ID in the Google Analytics section
  3. Enhanced e-commerce events are automatically tracked

WooCommerce

Use a plugin like “GA4 for WooCommerce” or implement via Google Tag Manager:

  1. Install and activate the plugin
  2. Enter your GA4 Measurement ID
  3. Configure which events to track

Custom Implementation

If building custom, implement these events:

// Purchase event
gtag('event', 'purchase', {
  transaction_id: 'T12345',
  value: 59.99,
  currency: 'USD',
  items: [{
    item_id: 'SKU123',
    item_name: 'Product Name',
    price: 59.99,
    quantity: 1
  }]
});

Key e-commerce events:

  • view_item — Product page view
  • add_to_cart — Item added to cart
  • remove_from_cart — Item removed
  • begin_checkout — Checkout initiated
  • add_payment_info — Payment step
  • add_shipping_info — Shipping step
  • purchase — Order completed

Step 4: Mark Events as Conversions

Now designate which events are conversions.

Method 1: In GA4 Interface

  1. Admin → Events
  2. Find your event in the list
  3. Toggle “Mark as conversion” to ON
  4. Event now appears in Admin → Conversions

Method 2: Create New Conversion

If the event doesn’t exist yet:

  1. Admin → Conversions
  2. Click “New conversion event”
  3. Enter the exact event name
  4. When that event fires, it’s automatically a conversion

E-commerce:

  • purchase (primary)
  • begin_checkout (micro)
  • add_to_cart (micro)

SaaS:

  • sign_up (primary or micro)
  • Custom event for paid conversion (primary)
  • generate_lead for demo requests

Lead Generation:

  • generate_lead or custom form submission (primary)
  • form_start (micro)

Step 5: Set Up Custom Events

Many valuable actions aren’t automatically tracked. Use Google Tag Manager (GTM) for custom events.

Example: Track Button Clicks

  1. In GTM, create a new Tag:

    • Tag type: Google Analytics: GA4 Event
    • Event name: cta_click
    • Add parameters if needed (button_text, button_location)

  2. Create a Trigger:

    • Trigger type: Click - All Elements
    • Configure to fire on specific button (CSS selector, click text, etc.)

  3. Test in GTM Preview mode

  4. Publish

Example: Track Scroll Depth Milestones

Enhanced measurement only tracks 90% scroll. For more granular data:

  1. In GTM, enable the Scroll Depth built-in variable

  2. Create a Trigger:

    • Trigger type: Scroll Depth
    • Vertical scroll depths: 25, 50, 75, 90

  3. Create a Tag for each milestone or one tag with scroll_percentage parameter

Example: Track Time on Page

  1. Create a Timer Trigger:

    • Interval: 30000 (30 seconds)
    • Limit: 1
    • Conditions: specific page or all pages

  2. Tag fires after 30 seconds, indicating engaged visitor

Step 6: Verify Your Setup

After configuration, verify everything works.

Use GA4 DebugView

  1. Install GA4 Debugger Chrome extension
  2. Enable debug mode on your site
  3. In GA4, go to Admin → DebugView
  4. Perform conversion actions
  5. Watch events appear in real-time with full detail

Test Conversions

For each conversion event:

  1. Trigger the action (submit form, complete purchase, etc.)
  2. Verify in DebugView that event fires
  3. Check parameters are correct
  4. Wait 24-48 hours for data to appear in standard reports

Common Verification Issues

Event fires but not marked as conversion:

  • Double-check the conversion toggle is on
  • Verify event name matches exactly (case-sensitive)

Duplicate events:

  • Multiple tags firing for same action
  • Check GTM for conflicting triggers

Missing parameters:

  • Parameter names case-sensitive
  • Check GTM tag configuration

Step 7: Create Conversion-Focused Reports

With tracking in place, build reports for CRO analysis.

Funnel Exploration

  1. Explore → Funnel exploration
  2. Define steps (page_view → add_to_cart → begin_checkout → purchase)
  3. Analyze drop-off between steps
  4. Segment by traffic source, device, etc.

Conversion Path Report

  1. Advertising → Attribution → Conversion paths
  2. See touchpoints leading to conversion
  3. Understand multi-session journeys

Landing Page Performance

  1. Reports → Engagement → Landing page
  2. Add secondary dimension: Session source/medium
  3. Compare conversion rates by landing page and source

Advanced: Attribution Settings

GA4 offers multiple attribution models affecting how conversions are credited.

Configure Attribution

  1. Admin → Attribution settings

  2. Choose reporting attribution model:

    • Data-driven (recommended if enough data)
    • Last click
    • First click
    • Linear
    • Position-based
    • Time decay

  3. Set conversion window (how far back to look)

For CRO Purposes

Last-click attribution is often clearest for CRO since you’re optimizing the final conversion experience. But consider the full journey for strategic decisions.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

No Conversion Data

  1. Verify event is firing (DebugView)
  2. Confirm event marked as conversion
  3. Check event name spelling exactly
  4. Wait 24-48 hours for processing

Conversion Numbers Don’t Match Platform Data

  • GA4 and Shopify/WooCommerce may count differently
  • Check for duplicate transactions
  • Verify currency settings
  • Account for attribution differences

Events Show But No Parameters

  • Parameter implementation incorrect
  • Check data layer or gtag call
  • Use DebugView to inspect full event payload

Too Many Events

  • You might be tracking too granularly
  • Focus on meaningful actions
  • Remove noisy events that don’t inform decisions

Your GA4 Conversion Checklist

  • GA4 installed and receiving data
  • Enhanced measurement enabled appropriately
  • E-commerce tracking configured (if applicable)
  • Primary conversion events marked
  • Micro conversion events tracked
  • Custom events implemented for unique actions
  • Setup verified via DebugView
  • Funnel reports configured
  • Attribution settings reviewed

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