Short answer: To track leads in GA4, record each successful form submission as an event, ideally from a thank-you page or a Google Tag Manager trigger, and mark it as a key event (GA4's current name for what it used to call conversions). Track taps on your phone number as a separate click event, but remember a tap is not a completed call. To measure real calls by source, use a call tracking service with dynamic number insertion, then test every piece before you trust the numbers.
First, the vocabulary GA4 uses now
Google Analytics 4 records everything as events. A page view is an event, a scroll is an event, a form submission can be an event. Some events matter more than others, and you tell GA4 which ones by marking them as key events.
If you read older guides, you will see these called conversions. Google renamed them key events in GA4 in 2024. Google Ads still uses the word conversions, and when you import a GA4 key event into Google Ads, it becomes a conversion there. Same action, two names, depending on which tool you are in.
One more caution before the steps: Google moves menus around. The paths below describe where things lived at the time of writing (for example, in Admin, under Data display, Events). If a label has changed, search the GA4 help center for the feature name and you will find the current location.
Decide what counts as a lead before you touch settings
Write down every way a customer can raise their hand on your site. For most local businesses the list is short:
- Contact or quote request form
- Booking request or online booking
- Tap on the phone number (click-to-call)
- Tap on an email address or text link
- Newsletter signup, if it matters to you (usually not a lead)
Then decide which of these are true leads. Mark only those as key events. If you mark newsletter signups, page views of the contact page, or scrolls as key events, your numbers will look great and mean little, and if you import them into Google Ads, its bidding will chase the wrong thing. Our guide to the five numbers every marketing report should show explains why that distinction matters so much.
Three ways to track form submissions, from least to most reliable
Pick the most reliable method your site allows. Where you can, use one of the last two below.
Enhanced measurement form interactions
GA4's enhanced measurement can detect some form activity on its own and send events named form_start and form_submit. It is switched on per web data stream (in Admin, under Data collection and modification, Data streams, then your stream's enhanced measurement settings).
It is easy, and it is unreliable for many sites. It can miss forms built with certain plugins or embedded from third-party tools, and it can record a submit when the form was sent with errors or blocked by validation. Treat it as a hint, not your lead count.
A thank-you page
The simplest dependable method. After a successful submission, the form sends the visitor to a dedicated page, such as /thank-you. Only people who actually submitted see it. In GA4 you then create a custom event based on page views of that URL (in Admin, under Events, Create event, with a condition that the page location contains your thank-you path), name it something clear like generate_lead or form_submit_quote, and mark that event as a key event.
Use a different thank-you page for each form if you want to tell quote requests from booking requests. Keep thank-you pages out of your site navigation and out of search results, so stray visits do not inflate the count.
Google Tag Manager
When a form shows a success message on the same page instead of redirecting, Google Tag Manager is usually the right tool. GTM can fire a GA4 event when it sees a specific success message appear, when the form tool pushes a success signal into the page's data layer, or when a form submit trigger fires. Many form and booking tools document a success event or data layer push for exactly this purpose.
This takes more care to set up, but done right it is the most dependable option, because the event fires only on a confirmed success. Name the event clearly, send it to GA4 through a GA4 event tag, then mark it as a key event.
Phone taps are clicks, not calls
On a phone, a tel: link opens the dialer when someone taps your number. You can track that tap in GA4, usually with a Google Tag Manager click trigger that fires when the clicked link URL starts with tel:, sending an event such as click_to_call. Some sites mark it as a key event because it is the closest signal GA4 can see.
Be honest about what it measures. A tap is not a completed call. People tap and hang up, tap by accident, or tap the number on a desktop that cannot dial. And GA4 cannot see the many people who read your number and type it in, or who call straight from your Google Business Profile.
Real call tracking uses dynamic number insertion: a call tracking service shows a different forwarding number to visitors depending on where they came from, so each call can be tied to the search, ad or listing behind it. You get call duration, recordings where you choose to enable them and disclose them, and a count of real conversations. Many of those services can send qualifying calls into GA4 or Google Ads. We cover the setup, including how to keep your business number consistent across listings, in call tracking for small businesses.
Mark the right events as key events
Once an event is arriving in GA4, mark it as a key event. At the time of writing that happens in Admin, under Data display, Events, where each event has a toggle or star to mark it as key. You can also create a key event by name in advance, before the event has fired, from the key events screen.
Keep the list short. Two to four key events is typical for a local service business: a quote or contact form, a booking, a phone tap, and possibly a completed call from your call tracking tool. If you run Google Ads, link GA4 to your Ads account and import only the key events that represent real leads, then make sure each lead is counted once, not by both an Ads tag and an imported GA4 event.
Test everything before you trust it
A tracking setup that has not been tested is a guess. Most broken setups we find were never checked after launch, or broke quietly when a form plugin was updated.
- Open GA4's DebugView (in Admin, under Data display) or Realtime report, and use Tag Assistant or GTM preview mode so your test visit shows up.
- Submit each form yourself with real-looking test details. Confirm the event fires once, with the right name, and only after a successful submit.
- Submit a form with a required field left blank. Confirm no event fires.
- Tap the phone number on an actual phone. Confirm the click event fires.
- If you use call tracking, call the tracking number from a phone and confirm the call shows up with the right source.
- Check again a day or two later in the standard reports, since processed data takes time to appear, and compare the count against the submissions in your inbox.
Then repeat the inbox comparison every month. If GA4 says twelve form leads and your inbox has twenty, something is broken. Delete test submissions from your lead log so they do not distort the month.
Where this fits in a bigger setup
GA4 key events are one layer. A full picture adds call tracking, your booking or CRM data for which leads became customers, and conversion settings in each ad platform. Each piece only helps if it lives in accounts you own: make sure your business, not a former vendor, is an administrator on the GA4 property.
At ROEM Digital, Robert handles this tracking setup himself, and calls, forms and bookings are tracked before any ad spend starts under our paid media work. If your current setup counts things you are not sure about, our consulting review is a practical place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Are GA4 key events the same as conversions?
Yes, for practical purposes. In 2024 Google renamed conversions in GA4 to key events. Google Ads still calls them conversions, and a GA4 key event imported into Google Ads becomes a conversion there.
Can GA4 track form submissions automatically?
Partly. Enhanced measurement can send form_start and form_submit events, but it misses many forms and can record submissions that failed. A thank-you page or a Google Tag Manager trigger tied to a confirmed success message is more dependable.
Does GA4 track phone calls?
GA4 can track taps on a tel: link, which shows interest but not a completed call. To count real calls by source, use a call tracking service with dynamic number insertion, then send qualifying calls into GA4 or Google Ads if the service supports it.
How do I know my GA4 lead tracking is working?
Test each form and phone link in DebugView or the Realtime report, confirm each event fires once and only after a successful action, and compare GA4's monthly lead count against the leads that actually reached your inbox and phone.