Welcome (or welcome back!) to our Google Analytics blog series: A blog-style crash course in using GA4. Here, we walk you through exactly how to use GA4 like a marketing pro. Because business owners and mid-level marketers don’t have time to fiddle.
In this blog, we’re spilling the tea on:
- How GA4 is intended to be used
- The most important steps in setting up your GA4 account
The second bullet is pretty juicy, so we’ll get right into it. But before you fire up your Notes app (which we highly recommend), remember to read blog 1 in this series for a little more context.
How Is GA4 Intended to Be Used?
GA4 is designed to give you a comprehensive view of the customer journey across devices and platforms. Unlike the older Universal Analytics, which focused primarily on pageviews and sessions, GA4 tracks events: specific user interactions like button clicks, video plays, or scroll activity.
While it doesn’t measure scroll depth in the same visual way as tools like Hotjar, you can set up events tied to key elements such as images, CTA buttons, or embedded videos. This gives you insight into how users are engaging with your content and how far they’re scrolling down the page. Think of it as a smart GA4 workaround for visual engagement tracking.
It’s built to help you:
- Understand user behavior, not just page visits.
- Track actions (or engagements) that align with your business goals.
- Customize reporting so you can focus on the data that matters most to your strategy.
In short, GA4 helps you move from guessing what your audience wants to knowing what’s driving results. No. More. Spaghetti. (If that doesn’t make sense, read this blog.)
How to Set up GA4 for Best Results
Getting GA4 up and running the right way is the difference between “kinda helpful” data and “this changes everything” data. The default setup is fine for surface-level tracking, but to make GA4 your SEO sidekick, you’ve got to dig deeper.
Here’s how to make it work smarter for you.
Curated by ClickUp.
1. Define and Configure SEO-Specific Conversion Events
Traffic is great, but conversions are better. Before you start analyzing, decide what counts as a “win.” In GA4, this means setting up conversion events that reflect real SEO results.
Consider tracking these events:
- Contact form submissions
- Clicks on key CTAs
- Phone calls (via click tracking)
- Newsletter sign-ups
- Scroll or engagement events for longer content
You can create these manually in GA4 or automate them with Google Tag Manager. This feature is not just important – it’s critical to pinpointing your marketing successes.
Example: If you’re a local business, tracking clicks on your “Get a Quote” button helps you connect the dots between organic search traffic and actual leads. That’s valuable proof your SEO is paying off.
2. Integrate Google Search Console to Track High-Intent Keywords
Here’s the thing: GA4 doesn’t show keyword data on its own. But when you link it with Google Search Console, you unlock a whole new level of insight. (Tip: Make sure you link it!)
Now you can:
- See which search queries are driving visitors to your site
- Translation: What keywords should you be using?
- Compare impressions to clicks to spot weak meta titles or descriptions
- Translation: How many times an ad is shown vs. how many times it’s clicked. High impressions and low clicks? Your ad copy needs improvement.
- Focus on keywords that drive conversions, not just traffic
- Translation: Which keywords captivate the customers who buy?
- Identify ranking gaps or new content opportunities
- Translation: Compare your content to your competitors’ to find new ways of doing things.
Example: Maybe you discover that your “AC repair near me” page gets tons of impressions but few clicks. That’s your cue to punch up the meta description and get that click-through rate climbing.
3. Monitor Landing Page-Level SEO Performance
Don’t stop at overall traffic. GA4 can show you which landing pages are actually pulling their SEO weight.
Look for metrics like:
- Engagement rate
- Conversion rate
- New users from organic search
- Scroll and click events
This tells you which pages are attracting qualified leads, and which ones need a little TLC.
Example: If your “Furnace Installation” page ranks well but doesn’t convert, it might need a clearer CTA or stronger visuals. GA4 gives you the data to spot those gaps before they hurt your bottom line.
4. Segment Organic + New Visitors for Clearer SEO Insights
Want to see how well your SEO is bringing in new audiences? GA4 makes that easy. Segment your traffic by:
- Channel group = Organic Search
- Translation: This traffic is free and comes from users who found your site after searching for a keyword, not from paid ads.
- User type = New vs. Returning
- Translation: People who haven’t been to your site previously vs. repeat visitors.
This view helps you measure how effectively your SEO is expanding your reach (not just re-engaging people who already know you).
Example: If new visitors are landing mostly on your blog posts while returning users head straight to your contact page, congratulations! You’ve built a content funnel that’s doing exactly what it should. If data indicates this is not the case, you know where to focus next.
5. Set Up Custom Events for User Behavior Tracking
GA4 actually lets you track engagement depth, or how active your visitors are on your site. For example, how long do they spend on your site, and how do they interact with your website? Custom events let you measure how far users scroll, which buttons they click, and how they interact with videos.
Try setting up:
- Scroll depth triggers at 25%, 50%, and 75%
- Translation: When a user scrolls down 25% of your webpage, a trigger will send a signal.
- Click events on outbound links or CTAs
- Translation: Did the visitor click your “Call Today!” button or an external link?
- Video play and completion events
- Translation: Was the video played, and if so, did the visitor watch until the end?
Example: If you notice most users stop scrolling halfway through a blog, consider breaking up long text with images or subheadings to keep them engaged longer. Similarly, not finishing a video could mean you need to get to the point faster or otherwise keep the viewer engaged.
Turn GA4 Into Your Growth Engine
When you set up GA4 with SEO in mind, you’re not just tracking traffic; you’re tracking performance. You’ll know what’s working, what’s wasting time, and how to fine-tune every part of your digital strategy.
Think of GA4 as your marketing GPS: it won’t drive the car for you, but it’ll make sure you never miss a turn.
This is just the beginning of what GA4 can do for your business! In our next post, we’ll dig deeper into the powerful data that GA4 provides – and how you can use it to level up your business.
And if you haven’t already, go ahead and sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss the next one! Just don’t be surprised when your marketing coworkers start asking where you learned it all!
