GA4 is the default analytics tool for most marketing sites now, but it is not automatically useful. The mistake is assuming that more data means more clarity. For service businesses, GA4 is useful when it answers a small set of questions: where leads come from, which pages create them, and what changes improve the outcome.
If you want to set a baseline before a redesign, start with the analytics baseline guide. This article assumes you already have that baseline and want to use GA4 without drowning in reports.
GA4 is event‑based, so treat your site like a set of actions
Google’s GA4 documentation explains that the model is event‑based. That means every meaningful action should be tracked as an event, and the most important events can be marked as key events (conversions). See the GA4 event model overview.
For a service site, the key events are simple: contact form submissions, project brief submissions, and clicks that signal intent such as “book a call.” Keep the list short or it becomes noise. If everything is a conversion, nothing is.
Make lead tracking explicit
GA4 supports recommended events such as generate_lead. When you use a recommended event name, the reporting is easier to understand and more portable. See the GA4 recommended events reference.
If you need a clear lead path, map it to your contact page guide and your project brief. Those pages are where conversion should happen, so they are where events should be strongest.
Enhanced Measurement is helpful, but not enough
Enhanced Measurement tracks basic interactions like scrolls, outbound clicks, and file downloads. It does not automatically track everything that matters to a service business. Phone clicks and email clicks often need custom event tracking. See the GA4 Enhanced Measurement documentation.
If you rely on phone or email as lead sources, confirm that those clicks are tracked. Otherwise you will undercount inquiries and make bad decisions about which pages work.
Data retention affects your ability to compare
GA4 data retention defaults can be short. Google allows you to set event data retention to 2 or 14 months. That matters if you want to compare year‑over‑year or pre‑ and post‑launch data. See the GA4 data retention settings.
If you are in the middle of a redesign, set retention to the maximum so you can compare before and after.
Use GA4 as a filter, not as a judge
GA4 shows patterns, not truth. It tells you where people click, not whether the leads were good. Combine GA4 with real lead review: which inquiries turned into good calls, which pages they came from, and what questions they asked.
That is where GA4 becomes useful. It helps you spot the pages that bring weak leads so you can tighten messaging. It also shows which pages drive higher‑quality inquiries so you can double down.
Keep the setup simple and review it monthly
A simple GA4 setup is usually better than a complex one for service sites. Track a few key events, review them monthly, and adjust the decision path. If you need help structuring that path, the proposal evaluation guide and the business websites service page are good reference points for how a site should support lead quality.
If you want a simple visibility check outside analytics, the SERP preview tool helps you review how your key pages appear in search and spot title or description issues that can suppress clicks. If you want help setting this up or cleaning it up, start with contact or send a structured project brief. The goal is not perfect analytics. The goal is a site that keeps improving because you can see what matters.
