Basic GA4 & Google Tag Manager Conversion Tracking Setup

This setup tracks website traffic in GA4 and records successful form submissions and phone-number clicks as conversions.

1. GA4 Setup

Step 1: Create a Google Analytics Account

1. Go to Google Analytics.
2. Sign in with the Google account that should own the account.
3. Click Admin.
4. Select Create → Account.
5. Enter the business name.
6. Complete the account setup.

Step 2: Create a GA4 Property

1. Go to Admin → Create → Property.
2. Enter the business name as the property name.
3. Select the correct time zone.
4. Select the appropriate currency.
5. Complete the business information.
6. Select Generate leads as the business objective, if appropriate.

Step 3: Create the Website Data Stream

1. Select Web.
2. Enter the website URL.
3. Enter the business/site name for the stream name.
4. Leave Enhanced Measurement turned on.
5. Click Create stream.
6. Copy the Measurement ID.

It will look similar to:

G-XXXXXXXXXX

Do not install the GA4 code directly on the website. GA4 will be installed through Google Tag Manager in the next section.

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2. Google Tag Manager Setup

Step 1: Create a GTM Account

1. Go to Google Tag Manager.
2. Click Create Account.
3. Enter:
   • Account Name: Business name
   • Country: Appropriate country
   • Container Name: Website domain
   • Target Platform: Web
4. Click Create.
5. Accept Google's terms.

Step 2: Install GTM on the Website

Google will provide two pieces of installation code.

1. Copy both code snippets.
2. Have the website administrator install them in the locations specified by Google.
3. Do not install the GA4 code separately.

This should be the primary tracking code installed on the website. Additional tracking can then be managed through GTM.

Step 3: Add GA4 to GTM

1. Open the GTM container.
2. Go to Tags → New.
3. Name the tag:

GA4 - Google Tag

4. Click Tag Configuration.
5. Select Google Tag.
6. Enter the GA4 Measurement ID:

G-XXXXXXXXXX

7. Click Triggering.
8. Select Initialization - All Pages.
9. Click Save.
10. Click Submit → Publish.

Step 4: Verify GA4

1. Open the website in an incognito/private browser window.
2. Go to GA4 → Reports → Realtime.
3. Confirm that your visit appears.

GA4 is now collecting website traffic.

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3. Form Conversion Tracking

The website's contact form and thank-you page will already be configured.

After a successful form submission, the visitor will be redirected to:

https://example.com/thank-you/

Use this thank-you page to track successful form submissions as conversions.

Step 1: Create the GTM Form Conversion Trigger

1. Open Google Tag Manager.
2. Go to Triggers → New.
3. Name it:

Contact Form Completed

4. Click Trigger Configuration.
5. Select Page View.
6. Select Some Page Views.
7. Set:

Page Path → equals → /thank-you/

8. Click Save.

Step 2: Create the GA4 Lead Event

1. Go to Tags → New.
2. Name it:

GA4 - Contact Form Lead

3. Select Google Analytics: GA4 Event.
4. Select the GA4 Google tag created earlier.
5. Enter the event name:

generate_lead

6. Under Triggering, select:

Contact Form Completed

7. Click Save.

Step 3: Test the Form Conversion

1. Click Preview in GTM.
2. Connect to the website.
3. Complete and submit the contact form.
4. Confirm that you reach /thank-you/.
5. Return to Tag Assistant.
6. Confirm that GA4 - Contact Form Lead fired on the thank-you page.
7. Return to GTM and click Submit → Publish.
8. Go to GA4 → Reports → Realtime.
9. Confirm that generate_lead appears.
10. Mark generate_lead as a Key Event in GA4.

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4. Call Button Conversion Tracking

This tracks visitors who click or tap a phone-number link on the website.

It does not confirm that a phone call was completed. It records the visitor clicking a tel: link with the intent to call.

Step 1: Enable GTM Click Variables

In Google Tag Manager:

1. Go to Variables.
2. Under Built-In Variables, click Configure.
3. Make sure the following are enabled:
   • Click URL
   • Click Text
   • Click Classes
   • Click ID

The important one for this setup is Click URL.

Step 2: Create the Phone-Click Trigger

1. Go to Triggers → New.
2. Name it:

Phone Number Click

3. 3. Click Trigger Configuration.
   4. Select Click - Just Links.
   5. Select Some Link Clicks.
   6. Set: Click URL → starts with → tel:

3. Save.

This will capture telephone links such as:

tel:5551234567

Step 3: Create the GA4 Phone Event

1. Go to Tags → New.
2. Name it: GA4 - Phone Call Click

3. Select Google Analytics: GA4 Event.
4. Select the GA4 Google tag.
5. Enter the event name:

phone_call_click

6. Under Triggering, select:

Phone Number Click

7. Save.

Step 4: Test Phone-Click Tracking

1. Click Preview in GTM.
2. Connect to the website.
3. Click a phone number on the website.
4. Return to Tag Assistant.
5. Confirm that GA4 - Phone Call Click fired.

Test more than one phone number if the website contains phone links in multiple locations, such as the header, footer, contact page, and mobile menu.

If everything works:

6. Return to GTM.
7. Click Submit → Publish.
8. Go to GA4 → Reports → Realtime.
9. Confirm that phone_call_click appears.
10. Mark phone_call_click as a Key Event in GA4.

The website is now tracking phone-number clicks as conversions.

Final Conversion Setup

Once completed, GA4 will collect:

Because GA4 also tracks the visitor's acquisition source, these conversions can then be analyzed by Google organic, Google Ads, Bing, social media, referral sites, UTM campaigns, direct traffic, and other traffic sources.