If you’re a small business owner or solopreneur, you know your website is key to reaching potential customers. But are you tracking what people actually do when they visit? That’s where Google Analytics 4 (GA4) comes in.
But you’re also time-poor. You’ve heard that setting up Custom Events and Key Events needs to be done in tag manager. Who has the time to learn how that works?
Thankfully there are a lot of events you can set up using just Google Analytics, no need for the headache that Tag Manager brings.
With a few simple steps, you can set up custom events in GA4 to track specific actions on your website.
I’m going to walk you through 4 custom events that reveal valuable insights into your visitors’ behaviour.
Why Custom Events Matter for Small Business Websites
Custom events are a must-have for small business websites. They track what matters most to your business: actions like lead form submissions, clicks, downloads, and more. This information helps you know what’s working and what might need improvement.
And thankfully you don’t always need any technical tools like Google Tag Manager to set these up—all you need is Google Analytics 4.
Tag Assistant Companion
Before we jump into setting up events, let me introduce you to a handy tool that makes testing your new custom events a breeze.
It’s called Tag Assistant Companion. Not only can it help you check if your custom events are firing correctly, but it can also guide you in identifying which types of events and elements are worth tracking.
Tag Assistant Companion is a Chrome extension that, when activated, shows real-time details about the events firing in your Google Analytics. It’s a great way to confirm that your setup is working and that GA4 is capturing the actions that matter most.
1. Track Page Views for Important Pages
Why This Matters:
Tracking specific pages, like a “Thank You” page after someone submits a form, lets you see how often people are taking that action. If you’re running a lead generation campaign, knowing when people reach the “Thank You” page means you’re getting leads.
How To Set It Up:
Step 1: Click on the wheel at the bottom left-hand side of your home screen
Step 2: From the Admin menu click Events
Step 3: Click Create Event and then Create this will open a window where you can create your custom event.
Step 4: Name your event. I like to start with the type of event, in this case, Page View (pv) and then identify how the event is triggered (thank_you_done_for_you). That makes the event name pv_thank_you_done_for_you
Step 5: In the first line of boxes leave event_name and equals then add page_view into the third box.
This tells analytics to look out for a page_view event. Now we need to tell it exactly which page view to look for.
Step 6: Click Add condition. This will give you three more boxes to fill.
Step 7: This time add page_location to the first box, choose contains from the drop-down menu in the second box. In the third box add the link, or part of the link of your thank you page. In the example, I have added /analytics.spiderworking.com/thank-you/
Step 8: Click Create
Real-World Example:
Let’s say you’re offering a free eBook on your website. When someone fills out the form and lands on the Thank You page, this custom event will track it.
Now, you can check in GA4 to see how many people downloaded your eBook and even which marketing channels are driving the most downloads.
2. Monitor Outbound Link Clicks
Why This Matters:
If you are adding links to your website, maybe promoting your social media or other resources not on your main website, tracking outbound link clicks shows how many visitors are interested.
Since you can’t track what people do on LinkedIn or Facebook, knowing they clicked those links on your site is valuable information.
How To Set It Up:
Step 1: Click on the wheel at the bottom left-hand side of your home screen
Step 2: From the Admin menu click Events
Step 3: Click Create Event and then Create this will open a window where you can create your custom event.
Step 4: Name your event. Start with the type of event, in this case, Click (click) and then identify where the click is going (linkedin). That makes the event name click_linkedin
Step 5: In the first line of boxes leave event_name and equals then add click into the third box.
This tells analytics to look out for a click event. Now we need to tell it exactly which click to look for.
Step 6: Click Add condition. This will give you three more boxes to fill.
Step 7: This time add link_url to the first box, choose contains from the drop-down menu in the second box. In the third box add the link, or part of the link that people will visit when they click. In the example, I have added linkedin.com/in/amandawebbsocial/
Step 8: Click Create
Real-World Example
Imagine you run a small digital marketing consultancy, and you’re directing visitors to your LinkedIn profile for more social proof. With this outbound link-click event, you’ll see exactly how many people are interested in learning more about you and your business.
3. Measure Scrolls for Page Engagement
Why This Matters:
Are people visiting your webpage and clicking away or are they taking time to consume your content? Google Analytics automatically tracks the number of visitors who scroll 90% of the pages on your website. But if you want to track scrolls on a particular page you can create a page scroll custom event.
Tracking scroll depth up to 90% shows you who’s truly interested in your content, especially useful for long-form articles or landing pages.
Steps to Set It Up:
Here’s a refined version to keep it in line with the post’s style:
For this event, we’ll start by using Tag Assistant Companion to ensure we’re capturing the right parameters.
Step 1 – Install the Extension and Open Your Page: First, make sure you have Tag Assistant Companion installed, then head to the page with the link you want to track.
Step 2 – Activate Tag Assistant: Click the Tag Assistant icon in your browser’s toolbar. This will open a new tab with a connection window, showing the link to the page you’re on.
This will open a new tab with a connection window, showing the link to the page you’re on.
Step 3 – Connect to your site: Hit Connect, and a fresh version of your page will open in another tab.
If everything connected properly, a window will open on the page telling you that Tag Assistant is connected.
You will now have three tabs open:
- With the original page
- The Tag Assistant Companion tab
- The page you have opened in debug mode
Step 4 – View Tag Assistant Companion Window: Go to the Tag Assistant Companion tab (it’s the one with the blue flashing icon) and click Continue.
Step 5 – Check Your Google Analytics Tag Selection: Confirm that either your Google Tag or Google Analytics Tag is selected at the top.
Step 6 – Trigger the Event: Back in the window that has your page in debug mode, click the outbound link you want to track.
Step 7 – View the Event Details: In Tag Assistant Companion, check for a new click event and click on it. This will reveal all the parameters tied to the event.
In the example below, you’ll see the link_url parameter highlighted—this is what we’ll use to set up the event in GA4.
Now we have the information we need to set up your custom event
Step 8: Click on the wheel at the bottom left-hand side of your home screen
Step 9: From the Admin menu click Events
Step 10: Click Create Event and then Create this will open a window where you can create your custom event.
Step 11: Name your event. Start with the type of event, in this case, Scroll (scroll) and then identify the page that you want to measure (done_for_you). That makes the event name scroll_done_for_you
Step 12: In the first line of boxes leave event_name and equals then add scroll into the third box.
This tells analytics to look out for a scroll event. Now we need to tell it exactly which page we want to monitor this on.
Step 13: Click Add condition. This will give you three more boxes to fill.
Step 14: This time add page_title to the first box, choose equals from the drop-down menu in the second box. In the third box add the exact page title for the page you want to monitor. In the example, I have added Let’s Play In The Sandbox – Analytics testing
Step 15: Click Create
Real-World Example:
If you have a long sales page, you’ll want to know if visitors are reading it. By tracking 90% scroll depth, you’ll see how many visitors are actually engaging with the content rather than just skimming.
Get a headstart on Google Analytics 4 & understand the lingo with the GA4 phrase book
4. Track File Downloads (e.g., PDFs or Brochures)
Why This Matters:
If you have downloadable content, such as brochures or lead magnets, tracking file downloads lets you see what’s catching people’s attention. These could be potential leads downloading valuable resources.
Steps to Set It Up:
Once again, start by using Tag Assistant Companion to ensure we’re capturing the right parameters.
Follow steps 1 – 7 in The Click event above. But this time you’re looking for a file_downalod event rather than a click. And the parameter you are looking for is file_name.
Step 1: Make sure the file has a clickable link (like a download button) on your website
Step 2: Click on the wheel at the bottom left-hand side of your home screen
Step 3: From the Admin menu click Events
Step 4: Click Create Event and then Create this will open a window where you can create your custom event.
Step 5: Name your event. Start with the type of event, in this case, File Download (fd) and then identify the file that you want to track downloads of (ga4_phrase_book). That makes the event name fd_ga4_phrase_book
Step 6: In the first line of boxes leave event_name and equals then add file_download into the third box.
This tells analytics to look out for a file download event. Now we need to tell it exactly which file download we want to track.
Step 7: Click Add condition. This will give you three more boxes to fill.
Step 8: This time add file_name to the first box, choose contains from the drop-down menu in the second box. In the third box add the file download link that you found in step 1. In the example, I have added /wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ga4-phrasebook-second-edition.pdf
Step 9: Click Create
Real-World Example:
Say you’re a freelance graphic designer offering a free brand guide PDF. By tracking downloads, you’ll see how many people are interested in your work. This can be a great signal of interest and lead quality.
Don’t Forget to Test Your Events
Once you’ve set up these custom events, it’s essential to test them to make sure they’re working as expected. This is where the Tag Assistant Companion Chrome extension comes in handy.
Tag Assistant allows you to see which events are firing on your site in real-time. Just open the extension, connect it to your site, and trigger the events (like clicking a link or scrolling down the page) to verify that GA4 is logging them correctly.
This simple testing step ensures that each event is accurately tracked in Google Analytics, so you can fully trust your data insights.
Watch the video at the top of this post to find out more about how you can use Tag Assistant Companion.
Take Control of Your Website’s Analytics Today
Setting up custom events in GA4 is one of the easiest ways to track key actions on your website. With these simple custom events, you’ll be able to see what visitors are doing on your site and make better data-driven decisions.
If you’d like a hand with setting these up or want to dive even deeper, find out more about my done-for-you analytics service here.
I’m here to help you make the most of your website analytics
