GA4 Event Tracking: A Guide to Tracking Events in Google Analytics 4

In the digital world, knowing what users do on your site is a prerequisite for growth. While the previous generation of Analytics (Universal Analytics) focused on page views, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has moved to a fully event-driven world. In this guide, we'll walk through event tracking, the heart of GA4, in the simplest terms possible.

What is a GA4 event and why does it matter?

What is a GA4 event? Every interaction a user performs on your website or app is called an "event". Clicking a button, watching a video, scrolling down a page, completing a purchase... in the GA4 world, all of these are events.

Why does it matter? GA4 collects data through events rather than sessions. If you don't set your events up properly, you can't measure user behaviour on your site, you can't optimize for conversions (now called Key Events), and you end up spending your ad budget blindly.

(Note: Google updated the name of the "Conversion" term inside GA4 to Key Event a short while ago. We'll come back to this detail in the frequently asked questions at the end of the article.)

GA4 event types: which action should you track and how?

In GA4, events fall into four basic categories:

• Automatically Collected events: These run on their own in the background the moment you add the GA4 code to your site.

• Example: session_start, first_visit.

• Enhanced Measurement events: These are useful, code-free measurements you can switch on and off with a single toggle in the admin panel.

• Example: scroll, file_download, click (outbound link clicks).

• Recommended Events: These are events Google has standardized by industry, but you have to set them up yourself for them to fire. The algorithm understands these standard names better.

• Example: purchase, generate_lead (form submissions), login.

• Custom Events: These are actions entirely specific to your own business, named outside the standard set.

• Example: whatsapp_tiklama, kredi_hesaplama_basarili.

How do you set up a GA4 event?

There are two basic ways to create custom events in GA4: using its own interface, or going through Google Tag Manager (GTM).

Creating an event through the GA4 interface

This method is ideal for creating a new event by modifying one that already exists (a page view, for example).

• From the bottom-left menu in GA4, click the Admin tab.

• Data Display is where you'll find the Events section — open it.

• Create Event — click this button.

• Custom event name: Type the name of the new event (e.g. iletisim_sayfasi_goruntuleme).

• Conditions:

• event_name -> equals -> page_view

• page_location -> contains -> /iletisim

• Save. From now on, whenever someone visits the contact page, this custom event will be counted.

Setting up a GA4 event with Google Tag Manager (GTM)

For button clicks, form submissions or custom interactions, GTM is the soundest and most professional method.

• Open your GTM panel and choose Tags > New from the left menu.

• Choose Google Analytics: GA4 Event as the tag type.

• Enter your Measurement ID (G-XXXXXXX) or link your GA4 configuration tag.

• Event name: Give the action you want to track a clear name (e.g. sepete_ekle).

• Trigger: Choose when this event should fire (e.g. when a button with the class 'add-to-cart' is clicked).

• Save the tag and press Submit to push it live.

GA4 event parameters: making sense of the data

Events answer the question "What happened?" Parameters answer "How, where and with what details did it happen?"

• page_location: Shows exactly which URL on the site the event took place on.

• link_url: Holds the destination address of the outbound link or button that was clicked.

• value & currency: Reports the monetary value and the currency of the transaction in purchase or quote events.

• item_name: On e-commerce sites, reports the name of the product added to the cart or bought.

Post-setup check: using DebugView

You don't have to wait to find out whether your setup is working correctly.

The DebugView tool in the GA4 admin panel is your live test screen. As you run test actions on your site, you can watch the data landing in DebugView in real time. In a matter of seconds you can check here whether the event name came through correctly and whether every parameter is working.

Frequently asked questions

1. What is a key event? Why did GA4 conversion measurement change its name?

In GA4 reports, Google renamed the word "Conversion" and now uses Key Event in its place. The GA4 key event definition: the standard events that are the most critical for your business (a purchase or a form submission, for example) and that you have specifically marked.

2. What are the main differences between a key event and a conversion?

This change was actually made to bring Google Ads and Analytics data into line. The differences between a GA4 key event and a conversion can be summed up like this: the events that matter to your business are measured as a Key Event in GA4 reports. Once you import that data into your Google Ads account and use it for campaign optimization, the name it takes for Google Ads is Conversion instead.

3. Should I mark every click or event as a GA4 Key Event?

No. You should only mark the events that contribute directly to your main business goals (sales, qualified lead forms, phone calls and so on) as Key Events. Turning ordinary page views or simple menu clicks into Key Events ruins the quality and focus of your reports.