Now that the switch from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is behind us, many businesses are realizing that the default GA4 setup only scratches the surface. GA4 is a powerful tool, but if you’re relying solely on the automatic reports, you’re likely leaving valuable insights on the table.
To truly understand where your leads and revenue come from, you need to optimize GA4 for your specific business goals. Below are four proven GA4 optimizations you can implement right away to improve your reporting, better understand your audience, and make smarter marketing decisions.
Out-of-the-box GA4 tracks basic activity like pageviews and clicks. While useful, these are not true business goals. For industries like financial services, agriculture, or B2B—what really matters is when someone requests a quote, fills out a form, downloads a whitepaper, or uses an online tool.
Go to Admin → Events → Create Event in GA4
Build custom events for high-value actions such as:
Form submissions
PDF/whitepaper downloads
“Request a Quote” or “Schedule a Consultation” button clicks
In Admin → Conversions, mark those events as Conversions
For a financial advisor, track “Schedule a Consultation”
For software pricing, track “Request a Quote"
This ensures your reports don’t just measure traffic but focus on actual business outcomes.
Not all users are the same. With GA4, you can create audiences to segment visitors into meaningful groups—prospects, existing customers, or job seekers. This lets you analyze behavior more effectively and improve marketing campaigns.
Navigate to Configure → Audiences in GA4.
Create audiences such as: Visitors who viewed pricing or product detail pages but did not convert
Users who engaged with tools (ex: financial calculators, crop pricing tools)
Returning visitors who viewed 3+ pages
Cleaner, segmented reporting
Ability to push audiences directly into Google Ads for more personalized campaigns
An ag merchandiser targeting visitors who used a crop pricing or ROI calculator but didn’t complete a quote request
GA4’s default channel labeling isn’t always accurate. For example, email campaigns often get misclassified as “Direct,” and industry-specific referrals may end up in “Other.” If you don’t fix this, you’ll have a distorted view of which marketing channels actually drive leads.
Go to Admin → Data Display → Channel Groups
Add rules to properly classify traffic, such as: Force e‑newsletter clicks into “Email”
Label industry publication links as “Referral”
Re‑categorize any “(Other)” traffic into useful groupings
Daily market commentary newsletters driving leads should be labeled “Email” instead of lumped into “Direct”
This simple fix ensures your reports accurately reflect ROI by channel
Most businesses depend heavily on organic search. But GA4 doesn’t show keyword-level performance by itself. You need to connect Google Search Console (GSC) for search insights.
Go to Admin → Product Links → Search Console Links
Link your GA4 property with your Search Console property
Enable Search Console reporting inside GA4
See which queries drive traffic to your site
Understand whether search visitors actually convert
Align SEO metrics with lead generation data
You can discover if searches like “retirement portfolio analysis” are leading to real conversions”
GA4 gives businesses more flexibility and deeper insights than Universal Analytics—but only if you take the time to optimize it.
By focusing on:
Tracking real conversions
Segmenting users into custom audiences
Cleaning up channel groupings
Linking to Search Console
If your business is still relying on default GA4 settings, you could be missing the insights that actually drive leads and sales. Our team at Gate 39 specializes in helping financial, agriculture, and B2B companies take their analytics and digital marketing to the next level.
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