GA4 Event Tracking — What You Need to Know

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google’s latest analytics platform, replacing Universal Analytics (UA) with a more flexible, event-based model. Unlike UA, which focused on sessions and pageviews, GA4 tracks every user interaction as an event, giving you deeper insights into user behavior across websites and apps.

Event tracking is central to GA4's operation. Everything is recorded as an event, from clicks and scrolls to video plays and purchases, making it easier to understand what users are doing and optimize accordingly.

Throughout this blog, we’ve covered the types of events in GA4 (automatic, enhanced, recommended, and custom), how to do GA4 event setup, and practical GA4 event tracking examples to help you get started.

What Is Event Tracking in GA4?

In Google Analytics 4 (GA4), everything is an event — from pageviews to button clicks. This is a significant shift from Universal Analytics (UA), where only specific interactions were tracked as events using Category, Action, and Label.

Instead of that rigid structure, GA4 uses event names and parameters, offering far more flexibility. For example, a download event could be named file_download with parameters like file_name: brochure.pdf.

Key Benefits of GA4's Event-Based Model:

• Flexible tracking tailored to your business needs
• Unified measurement across websites and apps
• Detailed analysis through customizable event parameters
• Future-ready with privacy and cookieless tracking in mind

GA4’s event model gives you a more straightforward, more adaptable way to understand user behavior.

Types of Events in GA4

Events in GA4 are categorized into four main types—each serving a distinct purpose and requiring different levels of setup. Here’s a breakdown of each type:

1. Automatically Collected Events

These events are tracked by GA4 as soon as you add the GA4 tracking code to your website or app—no extra configuration needed. They're essential for capturing basic user behavior and session data.

Examples:

• page_view – triggered when a user views a page
• session_start – marks the beginning of a new session
• first_visit – indicates a user's first visit to your site

2. GA4 Enhanced Measurement Events

GA4 allows you to capture additional interactions via Enhanced Measurement—no coding required. These events are toggle-based and can be enabled or disabled directly from the GA4 interface.

Examples:

• scroll – when a user scrolls to 90% of the page
• click – for outbound link clicks
• file_download – when a user downloads a file
• view_search_results – tracks internal site searches

Where to enable/disable:

1. Go to Admin > Data Streams
2. Select your Web Data Stream
3. Under Enhanced Measurement, click the gear icon to manage event toggles

3. GA4 Recommended Events

Recommended Events are not tracked by default but are suggested by Google for specific use cases. They offer standardized naming conventions to ensure consistent reporting across different properties and integrations (like Google Ads or BigQuery).

Examples:

• sign_up – when a user registers
• login – when a user logs into an account
• purchase – for completed transactions

4. Custom Events

The GA4 custom Events are user-defined and offer the highest flexibility. Use them when:

• There’s no built-in or recommended event that suits your needs.
• You want to track a unique action specific to your site or app.

When to create:

• Tracking interactions like video progress, tool usage, or non-standard conversions.
• Capturing button clicks that don’t fall under Enhanced Measurement.

How to Set Up Event Tracking in GA4

Tracking events in GA4 allows you to track user interactions GA4 on your website, like clicks, video plays, form submissions, and more. Here’s how you can set it up using different methods:

A. Using Google Tag Manager (GTM)

Event tracking with Google Tag Manager GA4 makes it easy to set up event tracking without modifying your website's code directly. Here’s a step-by-step to create a new tag and trigger:

1. Set Up a New Tag

• Log in to your GTM account and select your container.
• Click on “Tags” → “New”.
• Choose “Tag Configuration” → Select “Google Analytics: GA4 Event”.
• Under “Configuration Tag”, select your GA4 Configuration tag.
• Name your event (e.g., button_click, form_submit) in the “Event Name” field.
• Optionally, add custom Event Parameters like button_text or page_path.

2. Create a Trigger

• Click on “Triggering” → “+” to add a new trigger.
• Choose the trigger type (e.g., Click – All Elements, Form Submission, or Custom Event).
• Set conditions, such as triggering only on specific buttons or URLs.
• Save the trigger and link it to your tag.

Finally, Preview your container to test if the event fires correctly, then Publish the changes.

B. Using Plugins (for WordPress or Shopify)

Third-party plugins can simplify GA4 event tracking on platforms like WordPress or Shopify.

For WordPress:

• GTM4WP (Google Tag Manager for WordPress): This plugin integrates your WordPress site with Google Tag Manager. 
• MonsterInsights: A beginner-friendly plugin that adds GA4 to your WordPress site and automatically tracks common events such as outbound link clicks, downloads, and form submissions.

For Shopify:

• Shopify GA4 Integration Apps: Several apps (like Analyzify or Elevar) help integrate GA4 with Shopify stores, offering pre-configured event tracking for eCommerce activities like add-to-cart, purchases, and more.

Gafix AI helps you set up, optimize, or audit your GA4, search console and Google tag manager  

Understanding GA4 Event Parameters

Event parameters are additional information you can attach to an event to provide more context about what happened. While the event name (like purchase or sign-up) tells you what action occurred, parameters help explain the details of that action. For example, a purchase event might include item ID, transaction value, and currency parameters.

Commonly Used Parameters

Here are some of the most commonly used event parameters in tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4):

• Value: The numeric value associated with the event and often used for revenue or scores.
• Currency: The currency of the transaction, usually in ISO 4217 format (e.g., "USD", "EUR").
• item_id: A unique identifier for the item involved in the event.
• Method: The method used to complete the event, such as email, Google, or manual.

How to Define and Send Parameters

You can define and send event parameters either through Google Tag Manager (GTM) or directly in your code.

In Google Tag Manager (GTM):

1. Go to your tag that fires the event.
2. In the "Event Parameters" section, add a new row.
3. Set the parameter name (e.g., value) and define its value using a variable, constant, or custom JavaScript.
4. Save and publish your changes.

Viewing Events in GA4

Once you’ve set up event tracking in GA4, knowing how to view and analyze the collected events is crucial. GA4 offers multiple ways to monitor and dive into your event data, from real-time validation to in-depth exploration.

1. Realtime and DebugView

Start with the Realtime report to validate whether your events are firing correctly. You can access this under the "Reports" section in GA4. It gives you a live snapshot of user activity on your site or app, showing events triggered in the last 30 minutes.

Use DebugView (found under Admin > DebugView) for a more detailed look during implementation. 

2. Events Section (Standard Reports)

GA4’s Events report (found under Reports > Engagement > Events) lists all events tracked on your property. This includes standard events like page_view and scroll and custom events you’ve set up.

You can see metrics like event count, number of users who triggered the event, and even revenue (if tied to ecommerce tracking). 

3. Using Explore to Dig Deeper

For more advanced analysis, head to the Explore section. This is GA4’s custom report builder, allowing you to create detailed explorations using your event data.

Start with a Free Form exploration, where you can drag and drop dimensions (like event name, page path, device category) and metrics (like event count or engagement time) into a customizable table or chart. 

Common Use Cases & Examples

Below are some of the most common and valuable use cases for website event tracking:

1. GA4 Form Submission Tracking

Whether it’s a contact form, newsletter signup, or lead generation form, tracking form submissions helps you understand user intent and measure the performance of conversion points on your site. 

Example: A B2B company tracks the number of users who submit the "Request a Demo" form and attributes those conversions to marketing channels like Google Ads or email campaigns.

2. Button Clicks or CTA Interactions

Not all user interactions result in a page load, so it's crucial to track button clicks and call-to-action (CTA) interactions. This includes clicks on “Learn More,” “Download,” “Contact Us,” or navigation menu items.

Example: An eBook landing page tracks clicks on the "Download Now" button to measure the success of its content offer.

3. Video Engagement (YouTube Embedded Videos)

Understanding how users engage with video content can be insightful for content-rich websites. You can track metrics such as video starts, pauses, completions, and even how long someone watches a video.

Example: A SaaS company embeds YouTube tutorial videos on its onboarding page and tracks the number of users who watch at least 75% of the video to assess the content's effectiveness.

4. Ecommerce Tracking (Product Views, Add-to-Cart, Purchase)

E-commerce tracking provides granular insights into user behavior throughout the shopping journey. From viewing a product to completing a transaction, you can track each step to identify bottlenecks and opportunities to optimize the funnel.

Example: An online apparel store tracks when a product is viewed, added to the cart, and purchased. This data powers dynamic remarketing campaigns and helps the team understand product performance by category.

Tips & Best Practices

Follow these tips to make the most of your tracking setup:

1. Keep Event Naming Consistent: Consistency is key. Use a transparent and standardized naming convention for all your events. For example, use lowercase letters, underscores instead of spaces, and a uniform verb-noun structure like click_button or submit_form. 
2. Use Recommended Events When Possible: GA4 has a list of recommended events already optimized for reporting and analysis. Whenever possible, align your event tracking with these predefined names and parameters (e.g., login, purchase, search).
3. Avoid Unnecessary Custom Events: Custom events are powerful, but overusing them can lead to messy, unstructured data. Before creating a custom event, ask yourself: Is there a recommended or existing event that covers this use case? Only create custom events GA4 for actions that are unique to your business and truly need tailored tracking.
4. Document Your Tracking Setup: A well-documented tracking plan is invaluable. Keep a central record of all events, parameters, and triggers — including where and why they’re implemented.

Troubleshooting Google Analytics 4 Event Tracking

When setting up event tracking on your website, it's not uncommon to encounter issues where events aren't showing up in your Google Analytics 4 (GA4) reports. Fortunately, there are several strategies you can use to debug and fix these problems. 

1. Events Not Showing in Reports

If your events aren’t appearing in your GA4 reports, the first step is to ensure that the event is configured correctly in both Google Tag Manager (GTM) and GA4. Here are some possible causes:

• Event Not Firing
• Delayed Reporting
• Incorrect Event Parameters

2. Debugging with Tag Assistant or GA4 DebugView

To get to the root of the issue, Google offers several debugging tools:

• Tag Assistant (by Google): This browser extension allows you to monitor all the tags firing on your website. It can help confirm that the correct tags are triggered when specific actions occur on your site. 
• GA4 DebugView: DebugView in GA4 setup lets you see events in real-time, including data sent by your GTM setup. This is incredibly helpful when troubleshooting why certain events aren’t showing up in your reports.

3. Common Misconfigurations in GTM

Misconfigurations in Google Tag Manager are often the culprit when events don’t track as expected. Here are a few common mistakes to watch for:

• Incorrect Trigger Setup
• Missing or Incorrect Variables
• Tag Firing Order
• Blocked Tags

Conclusion

GA4 event tracking offers powerful flexibility by capturing detailed user interactions, helping businesses make data-driven decisions. As the digital landscape evolves, planning your measurement strategy is key to capturing relevant data. Set up events strategically and integrate with other tools for optimal results.

Don’t miss out on optimizing your event tracking—use GAFix.ai for a smoother, more effective GA4 experience!