Google Analytics 4 Explained: What GA4 Tracks and the Reports a Small Business Should Use
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google’s free website and app analytics tool: it records visits and actions as events, then shows where visitors came from, what they did and which actions led to enquiries or sales. It replaced Universal Analytics, which stopped processing data for standard properties on July 1, 2023. For a small business, a handful of reports and two or three key events answer most questions. This guide explains what GA4 tracks, the reports worth opening each month and the settings to check.
What is Google Analytics 4 for?
GA4 answers three questions about your website: how people find it, what they do on it, and whether they take the actions that matter to your business, such as sending a form, calling, booking or buying. It works across websites and apps in one property, and it connects to Google Ads, Search Console and other Google products so you can see marketing and site behaviour together.
What does GA4 track?
Everything in GA4 is an event. A page view is an event, a scroll is an event, a form submission is an event. Some are collected automatically once the tag is installed, others you switch on in the enhanced measurement settings, and the rest you set up yourself:
- Automatic: first visit, session start, page view, user engagement.
- Enhanced measurement: scrolls, outbound clicks, site search, video engagement, file downloads and some form interactions.
- Custom events: the actions specific to your business, such as a completed enquiry form, a click on your phone number or a booking confirmation.
Each event carries details, called parameters, such as the page, the traffic source, the device and the city, which is what lets you slice reports.
What is a key event in GA4?
A key event is an event you mark as especially important to your business. Google’s key events help page explains that the term replaced “conversions” inside Analytics, while “conversion” now refers to an action used to measure and optimize ads. You can create a Google Ads conversion from a GA4 key event so both tools count the same action. For most service businesses, two to four key events are enough: completed enquiry form, phone click, booking and, for stores, purchase.
What is replacing Google Analytics?
GA4 is the replacement. Google’s Universal Analytics page confirms that standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing hits on July 1, 2023, and 360 properties with a current order got a one-time extension to July 1, 2024. If you still look at an old Universal Analytics report, the data in it stops at those dates.
The GA4 reports a small business should use
You do not need every report. These cover most monthly reviews:
- Traffic acquisition (Reports, Acquisition): sessions and key events by channel, such as organic search, paid search, social, referral and direct. This tells you which marketing brings enquiries.
- Pages and screens (Reports, Engagement): your most visited pages and how long people engage with them. Low engagement on a key service page is a content or speed problem worth fixing.
- Events and key events (Reports, Engagement): counts of each event, so you can see whether forms and phone clicks are being recorded at all.
- Landing pages: where sessions start, and which entry pages lead to key events.
- Demographic details (Reports, User attributes): cities and regions, useful for checking that your local marketing reaches the right part of Canada.
- Realtime: what is happening right now, the fastest way to test that a new event fires.
Set the date range to the last 28 days and compare with the previous period, so seasonal swings do not mislead you.
Is Google Analytics an SEO tool?
Not on its own. GA4 shows what organic visitors do after they arrive, but not which searches they typed or where you rank. That comes from Google Search Console. Link the two in GA4’s admin settings and you can see search queries and landing pages next to engagement and key events, which is the useful view for SEO.
How long does GA4 keep data?
Standard reports keep aggregated data. The data retention setting, which you can set to 2 months or 14 months for standard properties, affects explorations and funnel reports, not standard reports. Google’s data retention page explains the setting. Most businesses should choose 14 months so year-over-year explorations work.
How do I track form submissions in GA4?
Track the confirmation, not the click on the submit button. The reliable methods are a thank-you page view, an event pushed when the form’s success message appears, or a server-side event when the entry is saved. Then mark that event as a key event and test it in Realtime with a real submission. Our guide to GA4 lead form tracking walks through setup and testing step by step.
What are the downsides of using GA4?
- The interface takes time to learn, and some familiar reports moved into explorations.
- Visitors who decline cookies or block scripts are only partly measured, so totals run lower than server logs.
- Small numbers can be hidden by data thresholds when certain privacy features are on.
- Events only exist if someone set them up; a missing form event means zero enquiries in reports, not zero enquiries in real life.
Consent and privacy in Canada
Canadian privacy law expects you to tell visitors what you collect and why in a privacy policy. Quebec’s privacy law adds stricter consent expectations for technologies that track or profile people, so many sites ask Quebec visitors for consent before analytics run and use Google’s consent mode to pass that choice to GA4. Never send names, emails, phone numbers, health details or other personal information to GA4 in event parameters or page URLs.
We test pages, forms and offers to turn more visitors into enquiries.
GA4 setup checklist
- One GA4 property per website, installed once (directly or through a tag manager, not both).
- Enhanced measurement on, and internal traffic filtered out.
- Two to four key events set up and tested: form, phone click, booking or purchase.
- Data retention set to 14 months.
- Search Console and Google Ads linked.
- Consent banner and consent mode configured where your audience needs it.
- A monthly look at traffic acquisition, landing pages and key events.
If your numbers look wrong, our GA4 audit checklist, guide to duplicate events and guide to cross-domain tracking cover the common problems. Our conversion rate optimization team sets up measurement first, then tests pages, forms and offers to turn more of your visitors into enquiries.
Frequently asked questions
What is Google Analytics 4 for?
GA4 shows how people find your website, what they do on it and whether they take the actions that matter, such as forms, calls, bookings or purchases.
What is replacing Google Analytics?
Google Analytics 4 replaced Universal Analytics. Standard Universal Analytics properties stopped processing data on July 1, 2023.
Is Google Analytics an SEO tool?
Not on its own. GA4 shows what organic visitors do on your site; Google Search Console shows the searches and rankings. Link the two for an SEO view.
What are the downsides of using Google Analytics?
A learning curve, partial measurement of visitors who decline cookies, data thresholds on small numbers, and events that only exist if someone set them up correctly.
What is the difference between GA4 and Universal Analytics?
GA4 records everything as events with parameters and works across websites and apps, while Universal Analytics was built around sessions and page views. Universal Analytics no longer processes data.
What is a key event in GA4?
An event you mark as especially important to your business, such as a completed form. Key events replaced the term conversions inside Analytics and can be imported into Google Ads as conversions.
How do I track form submissions in GA4?
Track the confirmation: a thank-you page view, a success-message event or a server-side event, then mark it as a key event and test it in Realtime. See our GA4 lead form tracking guide.
How long does GA4 keep data?
Standard reports keep aggregated data. The retention setting of 2 or 14 months for standard properties affects explorations and funnel reports; choose 14 months.
Is Google Analytics 4 free?
Yes, standard GA4 properties are free. Google sells a paid version, Analytics 360, for large organizations.
How to get Google Analytics 4 certification?
Google offers a free Google Analytics certification through Google Skillshop, with training modules and an exam.
Which GA4 reports should a small business check?
Traffic acquisition, pages and screens, events and key events, landing pages, demographic details and Realtime for testing. Review the last 28 days against the previous period.
Who can set up GA4 tracking properly?
Our conversion rate optimization team sets up measurement and key events, then tests pages and forms to win more enquiries.