Google Analytics 4, or GA4, tracking for Australian service businesses involves measuring form submissions, phone clicks, and enquiries. Its event-based tracking system allows you to connect your marketing efforts to actual revenue.
Don’t worry if that sounds technical. At MatterSolutions, we set up GA4 for Australian service businesses every week, so we can guide you through the process and ensure you’re getting accurate data.
In this guide, we’ll explain what to monitor on GA4 and how to set up conversions properly. We’ll also walk you through how to connect offline sales back to your digital campaigns.
Ready? Let’s get going.
What Is GA4 Tracking for Service Businesses?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google’s analytics platform that tracks user interactions through events. It gives service businesses better insights into how potential clients engage with their website before booking or enquiring.
Let’s look at how GA4 reveals where your best leads come from.
Event-Based Measurement Model
As we’ve already mentioned, GA4 tracks user interactions like button clicks rather than only pageviews (remember Universal Analytics days?). For example, every time someone scrolls halfway down your pricing page, watches a service video, or opens your contact form, GA4 records it as an event.
GA4 records this data through parameters, which are extra details attached to each event, like which specific form was submitted or which phone number was clicked. This data lets you see patterns in how leads behave before they convert.
Lead Generation Focus
The thing is, service businesses need to monitor enquiries and bookings instead of product purchases. That means they need to know about contact form submissions, phone clicks, quote requests, and calendar bookings.
Here, GA4 helps you connect the dots by showing which ads or marketing efforts bring in people who actually become clients.
Take this as an example: If a solicitor gets 100 form submissions but only 20 paying clients, GA4 shows which channels those 20 came from. That way, you can spend more time on what really brings results.
Pro Tip: Spend time learning GA4’s event builder. Once you understand how it labels user actions, you’ll have full control over what gets logged and what doesn’t.
What Events Should You Track and How Do You Set Them Up?
Australian service businesses should track form submissions, phone clicks, and email interactions as primary events. Then they need to configure them as conversions in Google Tag Manager to measure which actions generate actual leads.
Let’s go through how to set up event tracking properly.
Form Submissions and Phone Click Tracking
Before you jump into advanced monitoring, it’s better to start with the basics. These core actions show how potential clients choose to reach out to your business.
Take a look at these main items first:
- Form Submissions: A completed form signals a strong interest in your services. Like, when someone fills out a quote request or books a consultation, that action tells you they’re ready to engage with your business.
- Phone Clicks: Many visitors (particularly those on mobile) prefer calling straight away. If you see more phone clicks than form submissions, the data points to phone enquiries being more valuable for your audience.
- Email Clicks: Some people like sending an email directly from your site. Tracking those clicks helps you see how often visitors choose email communication, which in turn guides where you should focus your effort.
Every business has a different audience, so learning how people choose to contact you helps you meet them halfway.
Configure Events as Conversions in GA4
Google Tag Manager (GTM) makes tracking easier by letting you manage your tags and tracking codes in one place. You don’t even have to dig into your website’s backend.
Think of GTM as the go-between that connects your site to GA4. You can simply adjust what you monitor anytime without waiting for a developer to step in.
To start, you have to concentrate on the actions that are important for your business. For example, a builder might log when someone downloads a project portfolio or books a site inspection through an online calendar. Those are the kinds of interactions that point to real interest.
After you’ve set up your key events, mark the most valuable ones as conversions in GA4. This process tells the platform what to highlight in your reports, so you can see which actions truly move the needle for your business (the rest is just digital background noise).
Common GA4 Setup Mistakes to Avoid
Most Australian service businesses set up GA4 but get the configuration wrong from day one. These mistakes cost you important data you can’t get back.
Watch out for these common errors before they affect your tracking:
- Only tracking pageviews: You’ll see how many people visit your site, but you won’t know what they actually did there. Did they watch your service video? Click your phone number? Fill out a quote form? Pageview data alone won’t tell you.
- Not configuring custom events: We’ve worked with businesses that ran Google Ads for months without tracking a single form submission. They were spending money but had no idea which ads generated leads because they never set up event tracking.
- Ignoring cross-domain tracking: If your booking system or contact form lives on a different domain, GA4 treats it as a separate website. So when someone clicks your ad, browses your site, and then books on your third-party scheduler, GA4 thinks that’s three different people.
Treat your GA4 setup like the groundwork for a house. If it’s unstable, everything you build on top starts to crack.
How Do You Track Offline Conversions in GA4?
The real power of GA4’s offline tracking lies in its ability to link phone calls and face-to-face consultations to the online source that started them. This helps service businesses make confident choices about where to focus their marketing energy and budget.
Here’s how to make your data tell the full story:
Import CRM Data to Connect Offline Sales
Do you know what happens when someone fills out a form on your website? GA4 assigns them a unique Client ID that is also stored in their browser. Simply retrieve that ID and save it in your CRM alongside their contact details. Doing so keeps your online data linked with your offline leads.
Once the person becomes a paying client, upload a CSV file to GA4 to show which contacts converted. Since many leads take time to become clients, this step helps you keep track of how each one started (takes a while, but it’s worth it).
For instance, a landscaping company might get a quote request in March but not secure the project until early winter. By importing that information, you can trace the final sale back to the campaign that first brought them in.
Pro Tip: Include the lead’s conversion date when uploading offline data to GA4. Accurate timestamps help you understand how long it typically takes a lead to become a client.
Match Phone Calls to Online Visitors
Call tracking software works the same way. It reads the GA4 Client ID from someone’s browsing session and links it to their phone call. So if a potential client spends ten minutes reading your service pages and then rings you, both actions connect to the same person.
Enhanced conversions take this one step further by connecting phone numbers and email addresses across different interactions. Suppose someone fills out your form one day and calls you later in the week. GA4 uses their phone number or email to recognise it’s the same person getting back in touch.
Get Your GA4 Tracking Set Up Properly
GA4 gives Australian service businesses the data they need to understand which marketing drives actual revenue. Sadly, most companies set up GA4 but configure it wrong from the start.
In this guide, we’ve discussed what GA4 tracks for service providers, plus which events you need for lead generation. We’ve also shared how to set up conversions through GTM and how to connect offline sales back to your digital campaigns.
If you need help getting your tracking right, Matter Solutions can audit your current setup and configure GA4 to measure the metrics for your business. Book a strategy call to discuss your GA4 tracking needs.