GA4 event strategy: building an events and conversions plan that maps to KPIs

A proper GA4 event strategy fixes that. It gives you a clean, shared plan that connects:

• Business goals (revenue, leads, retention, efficiency)
• KPIs (cost per lead, enquiry-to-sale rate, average order value, pipeline value)
• User behaviour (what people do on your site/app)
• Tracking (events, key events/conversions, audiences, reporting)

The aim isn’t “track everything”. The aim is to track what matters, consistently, and in a way you can trust.

Below is a practical way to build an events + conversions plan that maps directly to your KPIs — and stays usable long after the initial setup.

Start with the KPI, not the tag

Before you name a single event, get clear on what you’re trying to improve.

A KPI is only useful if it drives decisions. So write yours like this:

KPI = what you want + how you’ll measure it + how often you’ll use it

Examples:

• Increase qualified leads per month from organic search by 20%
• Reduce cost per lead (CPL) from paid search to under £120
• Increase ecommerce revenue by £50,000/month
• Improve quote-to-sale conversion rate from 8% to 12%
• Reduce support contact rate per customer by 15% (by improving self-serve content)

Now connect each KPI to the behaviours that would indicate progress.

If your KPI is “more qualified leads”, the behaviours might include:

• Viewing key service pages
• Using pricing/quote tools
• Clicking email/phone CTAs
• Submitting a form with meaningful fields
• Booking a call
• Downloading a high-intent asset (not a random PDF)

This is the foundation. If you skip it, you’ll end up arguing about button colours while your reporting tells you nothing about pipeline.

If you want help aligning tracking to commercial goals, this is exactly the sort of work that sits inside Insight & Strategy.

Define your measurement model (what “success” means in GA4)

GA4 gives you a few levers that matter here:

• Events: anything you track
• Key events (conversions): the events that represent success
• Audiences: groups of users based on behaviour (great for remarketing and analysis)
• Parameters: the extra context that makes an event useful

Your job is to decide what counts as:

1. Primary conversions (direct business value)
2. Secondary conversions (strong intent, not the final goal)
3. Diagnostic events (quality control, UX issues, funnel drop-offs)

A simple example for lead gen:

Primary conversions

• generate_lead (form submit)
• book_consultation (calendar booking confirmed)
• call_click (only if call tracking confirms it connects)

Secondary conversions

• view_pricing
• download_guide
• start_form
• chat_qualified (chatbot qualifies a lead)

Diagnostic events

• form_error
• validation_fail
• booking_abandon
• internal_search_no_results

This structure keeps GA4 readable and stops your “conversions” report turning into a junk drawer.

If you’re building this properly, you’ll almost always want your tracking implemented and governed through Tag Manager so changes don’t become a dev-ticket saga.

Map your funnel stages to events

Most KPI reporting becomes easier when you can see a funnel that matches how your business works.

A clean approach is:

1. Acquire (how people arrive)
2. Engage (do they show intent?)
3. Convert (did they do the thing?)
4. Value (what was it worth?)
5. Retain (do they come back / keep buying?)

Now map each stage to your site.

Example: B2B lead gen funnel

Acquire

• session_start (GA4 default)
• Campaign tagging (UTMs)

Engage

• view_item equivalent for services: service page views (tracked via page_view + content grouping)
• view_pricing
• case_study_view
• video_progress (if video is key)

Convert

• start_form
• generate_lead
• book_consultation
• call_click

Value

• Lead value passed from CRM (ideal)
• Or a proxy value (carefully)

Retain

• returning_user
• newsletter_signup
• account_login (if relevant)

The key is not the names. It’s that each stage has 1–3 events you actually trust.

This is a big part of what we do inside Data & Analytics Agency work: turning “we want better reporting” into a measurement system that survives contact with real life.

Create an event taxonomy you can maintain

Event chaos usually happens because everybody names things differently.

So set a simple taxonomy:

1) Naming rules

Keep event names:

• lowercase
• verb_noun
• consistent
• future-proof

Good:

• start_form
• submit_form
• book_consultation
• click_phone
• click_email
• view_pricing

Avoid:

• Form Submit Homepage
• Lead
• ButtonClick7
• ContactUsSubmitFINAL

2) Parameter standards

Parameters are what make events useful later.

For lead events, you might standardise:

• form_id
• form_name
• form_location (page path or component)
• lead_type (quote / enquiry / demo)
• service_line
• value (if you have it)

For ecommerce:

• item_category, item_name, price, quantity, etc. (GA4 has recommended specs)

For content:

• content_group
• author
• topic
• read_depth (if you measure it)

3) Documentation (non-negotiable)

If it isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist.

At minimum, keep a simple tracking sheet:

• Event name
• Trigger definition
• Parameters
• Example pages
• Owner
• Status (live / planned / deprecated)

This makes audits fast. And it stops you re-litigating tracking decisions every quarter.

A proper SEO Audit Agency style audit mindset helps here too: clear definitions, clean checks, no assumptions.

Decide what becomes a “key event” (conversion)

A common GA4 mistake is setting too many conversions. You end up with a conversion report where everything looks “good” and nothing is actionable.

A better rule:

• 3–8 key events per property for most businesses
• Split by business model if needed (ecommerce vs lead gen vs subscription)
• Make sure each one maps to a KPI someone cares about

Lead gen example (sensible set)

• generate_lead
• book_consultation
• call_click (only if validated)
• newsletter_signup (only if it feeds pipeline)

Ecommerce example

• purchase
• begin_checkout
• add_to_cart (sometimes)
• sign_up (if account creation matters)

If you’re unsure what should count, build your plan around how you report performance in your marketing channels — especially if you’re investing serious budget in Paid Advertising Agency London activity where conversion quality directly affects spend efficiency.

Assign values (carefully) so GA4 can speak “money”

Your KPIs live in revenue, profit, pipeline, or cost savings — usually in £.

GA4 can handle value, but you need to do it sensibly.

Option 1: Real revenue (best)

• Ecommerce purchase value
• Subscription revenue
• Transaction value

Option 2: CRM-backed lead value (strong)

If you can pass lifecycle stages back (lead → MQL → SQL → won), you can report:

• Value per channel
• Value per landing page
• Value per campaign

Option 3: Proxy values (use with caution)

If you must use proxy values, base them on real numbers:

• Average close rate
• Average deal value
• Lead-to-sale rate by source (if you have it)

Example:
If an enquiry is worth £5,000 on average and 10% close, then an average enquiry might be worth £500 as a proxy.

The warning: proxies can create false confidence. Use them to compare directionally, not to forecast the next 12 months of revenue like it’s guaranteed.

Build your event plan around your real website journeys

This is where most plans fall apart: they track the “happy path” and ignore how users actually behave.

So pressure-test your plan against:

• Mobile vs desktop journeys
• Returning visitors vs new users
• SEO landing pages vs PPC landing pages
• Different service lines
• Different form types

Also include events that protect data quality:

• cookie_consent_update
• form_error
• 404_view
• site_search
• outbound_click (only where it matters)

If your site is being redesigned or rebuilt, it’s the perfect time to bake tracking into the build rather than bolting it on later through Website Design & Development.

Use GA4 recommended events where it makes sense

GA4 has recommended event names for common behaviours (especially ecommerce). You don’t have to follow them, but there are benefits:

• Easier integrations
• Cleaner reporting templates
• Less “translation” work later

Where possible:

• Use recommended ecommerce events if you sell products
• Use consistent custom events for lead gen
• Avoid duplicating the same behaviour under multiple names

The goal is not compliance for the sake of it. It’s reduced friction and fewer future rebuilds.

If your GA4 setup has become messy over time, this is exactly the sort of clean-up you’d include in a Google Analytics Agency London engagement.

Connect events to reporting that answers real questions

Once you’ve got the right events, make sure you can answer questions like:

• Which channels drive the highest quality leads, not just the most?
• Which landing pages contribute to the pipeline?
• Where do people drop out of the funnel?
• Which service pages influence conversions (assist value)?
• What is the cost per conversion by campaign, in £?
• Are we improving month-on-month, or just generating more noise?

Build reporting around:

• Funnels (exploration)
• Segment comparisons (new vs returning, paid vs organic)
• Landing page performance
• Key event rate trends
• Value (where possible)

And remember: GA4 is not a dashboarding tool first. If you want stable reporting, consider a proper reporting layer — which is often part of a broader measurement approach alongside SEO Performance Agency work.

Governance: keep it clean after launch

A good event strategy is a living thing.

Put simple governance in place:

• Only 1 person/team can approve new key events
• All tracking changes must be documented
• Quarterly tracking review (events, conversions, broken tags, parameter coverage)
• Deprecate old events instead of letting them linger forever

This isn’t bureaucracy. It’s how you stop GA4 turning into a graveyard of half-built ideas.

If you’re also running joined-up acquisition work (SEO + paid + content), governance becomes even more important — and it’s easier when it’s part of a wider SEO / Organic Marketing approach rather than a one-off tracking job.

A simple GA4 events plan template you can copy

Here’s a straightforward structure you can use:

For each KPI:

1. KPI name + target (in £ if relevant)
2. Primary conversion event(s)
3. Secondary intent event(s)
4. Required parameters
5. Where it triggers (pages/components)
6. Owner
7. QA checklist (how you confirm it works)

Example (lead gen):

• KPI: Reduce CPL to £120 and increase qualified leads by 20%
• Primary: generate_lead, book_consultation
• Secondary: start_form, view_pricing, case_study_view
• Params: lead_type, service_line, form_id, form_location
• Triggers: Contact form, service page CTAs, booking widget
• QA: test submissions, dedupe checks, debug view validation

Do this across your core KPIs and you’ll have a plan that’s actually usable — by marketing, sales, and leadership.

Bring it all together (so you can act on the data)

A working GA4 event strategy should leave you with:

• A small, clear set of key events that map to KPIs
• A consistent event taxonomy
• Parameters that make analysis possible
• Reporting that answers commercial questions
• Governance that stops tracking drift

And most importantly: confidence that when you make a decision based on GA4, you’re not guessing.

Want help building a GA4 events + conversions plan that matches your KPIs?

If you want this done properly — from KPI mapping to GTM implementation, QA, and reporting — speak to Totally Digital. Start with Contact and tell us what you’re trying to measure and what “success” looks like for you.

If you’re tired of traffic that doesn’t convert, Totally Digital is here to help. Start with technical seo and a detailed seo audit to fix performance issues, indexing problems, and lost visibility. Next, scale sustainably with organic marketing and accelerate results with targeted paid ads. Get in touch today and we’ll show you where the quickest wins are.