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How to set up GA4 and track your leads

Live guide · Checked 28 October 2026 · Updated 28 October 2026 · Checked every week against Google Analytics 4's own help pages

Create a GA4 property, connect it to your site, and mark form enquiries as key events so you can see which channels bring in leads.

Time
30 minutes
You will need
  • A Google account for the business
  • Google Tag Manager on your site (see the Tag Manager how-to), or access to your site's code
  • A form or booking page that leads arrive through
Stuck?
Troubleshooting or ask us a question

Step by step

  1. Create a property

    Go to https://analytics.google.com, open Admin and click Create > Property. Set your time zone and currency, then fill in the business details.

  2. Add a web data stream

    Choose Web, enter your website address and a stream name. Leave Enhanced measurement on. Copy the Measurement ID (starts G-).

  3. Connect it to your site

    In Tag Manager, add a Google tag with that G- ID on Initialization - All Pages and publish. Or paste the ID into your site's GA4 setting.

  4. Send a lead event

    When someone sends a form, send an event called generate_lead. In Tag Manager this is a Google Analytics: GA4 Event tag with the event name generate_lead, fired on your form-sent trigger.

  5. Check it arrives

    Send a test enquiry, then open Reports > Realtime in GA4. You should see generate_lead within a minute or two.

  6. Mark it as a key event

    Go to Admin > Data display > Events, find generate_lead (it can take up to a day to appear) and turn on Mark as key event.

  7. Keep checkout pages from stealing credit

    In Admin > Data streams > your stream > Configure tag settings > List unwanted referrals, add your payment or booking provider's domain, for example gumroad.com, so returning buyers keep their original source.

  8. Link Google Ads

    Go to Admin > Product links > Google Ads links and link your Ads account, so key events and audiences can be used in your campaigns.

Tips from people who set these up every week

  • Set data retention to 14 months under Admin > Data collection and modification > Data retention, so year-on-year comparisons work.
  • Only mark real business outcomes as key events: leads, bookings and sales. Page views and scrolls make the numbers look busy and the ads worse.
  • Add your own IP address as internal traffic so your own visits do not count.

Troubleshooting: questions and answers

Realtime shows nothing.

Check the Tag Manager container is published and the Google tag uses the right G- ID. If a cookie bar is on your site, accept cookies first, because GA4 waits for consent.

My event shows in Realtime but not in Admin > Events.

New events can take up to 24 hours to appear in the list. Wait a day, then mark it as a key event.

Leads in GA4 don't match my inbox.

Ad blockers, declined cookies and spam all cause gaps. A difference of 10 to 30% is normal; much more usually means the event fires on the wrong page or twice.

Official help pages

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