{"id":21827,"date":"2023-09-22T16:13:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T20:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/?p=21827"},"modified":"2023-09-14T16:33:24","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T20:33:24","slug":"how-to-set-up-and-track-goals-in-ga4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sanctuarymg.com\/academy\/performance\/how-to-set-up-and-track-goals-in-ga4\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Set Up and Track Goals in GA4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Describing the transition to GA4 (Google Analytics 4<\/a>) as controversial among marketers seeking to analyze and measure<\/a> their performance would be a considerable understatement. Of course, it doesn\u2019t particularly matter how you feel about this new version of analytics \u2013 it\u2019s here to stay and the only thing that is left to do is make the most of what it offers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the learning curve is undeniable, what\u2019s also true is that this platform offers an impressive set of abilities once you learn how it works and how you can use it to capture the information you need about your audience and track your marketing performance<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this article, we are going to address one very specific task \u2013 how to set up and track goals in GA4. Doing so has been frustrating for some users over recent months, but it\u2019s not quite as difficult as it seems at first. Use the guide below to get started and you\u2019ll be on the right track in no time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Has Changed?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost always necessary to start a discussion about GA4 by first talking about what has changed compared to Universal Analytics, or UA. That\u2019s because nearly everyone was used to UA and was comfortable with how it works, so this switch represented a dramatic revision to the processes used by countless site owners and managers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In GA4, the primary switch is that everything is now considered an event \u2013 and that means everything. So, a \u201cgoal\u201d in this context is just another event that has been defined as you wish to have it track a specific activity on your site. To accomplish essentially the same thing as a typical goal in UA when using GA4, you\u2019ll define an event as you would like and then mark it as a conversion to have it tracked in that way. It sounds a little awkward and clunky at first, but it can work out to be nicely streamlined and efficient once you get into it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"What<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thinking About Your Needs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you spend too much time getting lost in the weeds on GA4 regarding the nuts and bolts of how it works and how you can get it to do what you want it to do, you might wind up wasting a lot of time and not making much progress. We all know the feeling of just staring at the screen while not sure what to do next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we are going to recommend stepping away from your screen early in this process to simply think about what you want to get out of goal tracking in GA4. In fact, you might want to devolve your technology back to a simple piece of paper and a pen to get your thoughts straight. Ask yourself: What do you want to track and why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"What<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The possibilities here are virtually endless and depend entirely on your needs as a business and what you are trying to accomplish. For an e-commerce site, of course, things tend to be focused on sales conversions. So, you might set up a goal that measures how often a visitor lands on a given page and then winds up making a purchase. This kind of information can tell you if that landing page is leading them in the right direction and providing the information necessary to convince them to buy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alternatively, you could set up a goal that measures how many times visitors convert into subscribers to your email list. Or you might simply want to keep people on your site for as long as possible, so maybe you\u2019ll set up a goal that monitors how many people stay on the site for a given number of pages before they leave. The examples could go on and on. Spend whatever time you need to think about what you want GA4 to be able to tell you and then go about the process of making that happen within the software. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting Up Goals in GA4<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s use this section to get down to the business of actually setting up your goals, now called conversions, in GA4. Of course, we can\u2019t tell you what those goals will be \u2013 that\u2019s for you to decide \u2013 but we can sketch out the general process of where you should look in the software to make it happen, and what steps you should take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n