Key events (conversions)

What are Key events?

Key events are the actions in Google Analytics 4 that you mark as important to your business, such as a purchase, a sign-up, a demo request or a phone click. Any GA4 event can be marked as a key event. In 2024 Google renamed GA4 “conversions” to “key events”; “conversions” now refers to key events used in Google Ads.

The rename separated two ideas. A key event measures something that matters on your site in GA4. A conversion is a key event that has been imported into Google Ads for bidding and reporting, where it follows Google Ads attribution and counting rules. Universal Analytics called the equivalent “goals”.

Why Key events matter for SEO

Key events are how you connect SEO to results. Traffic and rankings are means to an end; key events from organic search show which landing pages and topics actually produce leads or sales. They are the basis for SEO ROI and for the most meaningful SEO KPIs.

They also change how GA4 counts engagement: a session with a key event is always an engaged session.

How to set up key events in GA4

1. Decide which actions matter: a completed purchase, a form submission, a sign-up, a booking, a click to call.
2. Make sure each is tracked as an event. Many are collected automatically or through enhanced measurement; others need Google Tag Manager or a code change.
3. In Admin > Data display > Events, find the event and mark it as a key event (or create the key event under Key events if the event has not fired yet).
4. Optionally give it a value, so you can report key event value by channel.
5. Check Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition and filter to Organic Search to see key events from SEO.

Key events example

gtag("event", "sign_up", {
  method: "email"
});