Google Analytics 4 setup and conversion tracking

Why is a default Google Analytics 4 configuration not enough?

Installing Google Analytics 4 takes a few minutes. Getting figures a management team can act on takes rather more. Out of the box, the tool counts page views, scrolls and outbound clicks; it has no idea what a qualified quote request, a delivered order or an attended appointment is.

The usual result: conversions counted twice, internal traffic mixed in with prospects' visits, campaigns that cannot be told apart because links were never tagged, and three tools giving three different numbers. Eventually nobody trusts any report, and budgets are decided on gut feeling.

A serious Google Analytics 4 configuration therefore starts before the tool, with the list of decisions your figures need to inform. The technical work comes next, and it gets tested.

Which decisions should your figures inform?

A good measurement plan is short. Every metric answers a question that someone in the business has to settle at regular intervals. If it serves no decision, it only clutters the dashboard.

This table becomes the tracking plan: a written list of the events, conversions and parameters to collect, each with its definition, its trigger and the person who signed it off. It is the document that saves you from rebuilding everything the next time you change supplier.

How do you make your website's conversion tracking reliable?

Conversion tracking is the heart of the job. This is what we check every time:

• One conversion per real action: a form counts when the enquiry is actually recorded, not when someone clicks the submit button.
• Intent kept apart from results: a click on the phone number or on WhatsApp signals interest, not a sale. We measure it without confusing it with a completed enquiry.
• Deduplicated orders: reloading a confirmation page must not create a second sale.
• Disciplined campaign naming: consistent UTM parameters from one campaign to the next, otherwise paid traffic ends up filed as 'direct'.
• Internal traffic excluded, payment or booking domains linked, and data retention set from day one.
• Tools connected to each other: Search Console, Google Ads and, where used, Meta and LinkedIn tags, all managed through Google Tag Manager.

Every event is tested in preview mode, then compared with the enquiries actually received. Our online advertising service builds directly on this foundation: a campaign can only be optimised properly on accurate conversions.

What about sales closed outside the website?

Many businesses sell somewhere other than their website. In Tunisia, an online order is often confirmed by phone and paid on delivery; in B2B, a quote may be signed months after the first visit. The website's analytics tool sees none of it.

The answer lies in your CRM or, failing that, a rigorously kept spreadsheet. Every contact is given its origin: campaign, search, social network, referral. The outcome is then recorded against it: quote sent, deal signed, order delivered and paid. These results can be imported back into GA4 and into the ad platforms, which then optimise for sales rather than clicks.

This link usually needs a little automation, with n8n for example, and data-entry discipline on the sales side. It is the part that depends on you the most.

How does consent change what you see?

Some of your visitors refuse tracking, and that is their right. In Europe, the GDPR governs that choice; in Tunisia, Organic Law No. 2004-63 protects personal data; in the Gulf, texts such as Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law apply as well. We configure the banner, Google's consent mode and tag behaviour accordingly. We cite these frameworks; legal sign-off remains with your own adviser.

The practical consequence: your reports do not show all your visitors. GA4 can estimate part of the missing behaviour when volume allows, but the figures remain partial. So we read trends, and rely on the CRM to count sales.

What does a useful dashboard look like?

A useful dashboard fits on one screen and speaks to one person. Management sees enquiries, sales and acquisition cost; the marketing lead sees channels and campaigns; the website team sees pages and journeys. We build it in Looker Studio from GA4, Search Console, the ad platforms and, where possible, the CRM, with a definition for every metric.

The dashboard is not enough on its own. Every month, a written note explains what moved, the likely cause and the proposed decision. Our article on measuring the return on your marketing details the method, and ideas for improving pages feed into our work on conversion funnels and CRO.

What will measurement not tell you?

Measurement has blind spots, and it pays to know them before you decide:

1. Attribution is a convention. Whether a sale goes to the last ad clicked or is shared across several channels depends on a model, not a fact.
2. Small volumes mislead. With a handful of enquiries a month, a change can be pure chance; we then compare longer periods.
3. Some influences stay invisible: word of mouth, a trade fair, an AI assistant that mentions your brand without a clickable link.
4. Tools change. Google updates GA4 regularly, and tracking that is not maintained quietly degrades.

Hence a simple habit: ask every new customer how they heard of you, and record the answer in the CRM. That qualitative information usefully complements the figures.

Why entrust your measurement to AD AZUR DIGITAL?

Because we measure what we build and run every day: websites, campaigns, content and automations. AD AZUR DIGITAL, digital 360 experts based in Sfax, therefore knows which figures support a decision and which only fill a report. We work on Next.js sites as well as WordPress, PrestaShop or Shopify, in English, French and Arabic, including right-to-left versions. From Tunisia, on UTC+1 all year round, our working day overlaps with both Paris and Dubai. Properties, containers and dashboards are created in your name, and they stay yours.

Where do you start?

With a free audit of your current measurement: tools installed, conversions tracked, gaps against your real sales and consent settings. You leave with a list of priority fixes, whether or not you then work with us. To see where this service fits, visit our Marketing & growth practice and our offers. Request your free audit.