Setting Up Conversion Tracking in Google Tag Manager & Importing to Google Analytics: A Real-World Guide

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Let’s talk about conversion tracking. While Google Analytics 4 offers “events,” these automatically create and pull in unnecessary data.

Our marketing agency recommends using Google Tag Manager (GTM) instead to create “custom events.” Why? We’ve found that GTM provides more accurate conversion tracking, lets you verify that your conversions are firing, and tracks conversion actions relevant to your business.

Related Blog: Difference Between “Events” and “Custom Events”

In this guide, we’ll walk through our agency’s proven process for setting up conversion tracking in GTM, using real examples from our client work with an HVAC company. Whether you’re tracking phone calls, contact form submissions, or other key conversion actions, these steps will help you get accurate data you can trust.

First Things First: Getting Your Tags in Order

Before diving into conversion setup, you must ensure GTM is properly installed on your site. Here’s our verification process:

  1. Install the Tag Assistant browser extension if you haven’t already – this tool is invaluable for troubleshooting
  2. Visit your website and check Tag Assistant to see your GTM container ID
  1. Open your GTM account and verify the container ID matches
  1. Double-check your Google Analytics 4 measurement ID:
    • Head to Admin → Data Streams
    • Click on your website’s data stream
    • Look for the measurement ID (it starts with “G-“)
    • Make sure this matches what’s in GTM

 

Pro tip: We often see sites with multiple GTM containers from previous agencies or implementations. This verification step helps ensure you’re working with the right one.

Understanding GTM’s Building Blocks

GTM uses three main components for conversion tracking:

  • Variables: Think of these as the “what” you want to track, such as the phone call click or contact form submission.
  • Triggers are the verification that the action is actually happening (making sure that phone number was really clicked)
  • Tags: These connect everything to GA4

Let’s break down how to set up each one.

Setting Up Your Variables

First, you’ll need to enable the right variables.

Make sure you click into the variable section on the left navigation, which will display all the currently available variables. There will be some default variables within your account, but if you’re not seeing the one that’s relevant for your conversion action, you’ll have to configure a new one.

 

For the client in this article we’re using as an example, it’s important for us to track the following, which you’ll find within the built-in variables.

  • Click Text: Perfect for tracking phone number clicks or email clicks
  • Page Path: Essential for tracking form submissions via thank you pages

If you don’t see the variable you’re looking for, click “configure,” and you can find your desired variable.

Creating Your Triggers

Now, it’s time to ensure the variable is firing off on your website properly through the trigger.

Phone Click Tracking

  1. Hit “New” under Triggers
  1. Choose “All Elements” (even if this is a contact form submission, this is our preferred method. It provides the most accurate ways to track the data that we want).
  1. Select “Some Clicks” (don’t use “All Clicks” unless you want to track every single click on your site, which is not recommended when trying to get a clear count of actual conversions)
  1. Pick “Click Text” as your variable (see above)
  2. Set to “contains” and enter the phone number (7828 is the last 4 numbers of this client’s phone number on their website. The trigger, if click text is selected, will allow tracking anytime someone clicks on a phone number ending in 7828 anywhere on the site).
  1. Give it a clear name like “Phone Click Conversion” so you know that it’s the specific trigger you’re looking for when connecting it to GA4 (more to come on this).

Contact Form Submissions

Let’s say you want to track contact form submissions in addition to phone call clicks.

  1. Create another new trigger
  2. Again, choose “All Elements” (we’ve found this more reliable than the Form Submission option)
  3. Select “Some Clicks”
  4. Use “Page Path” as your variable
  1. Set to “contains” and enter your thank you page URL (this needs to match the URL of your thank you page. For our HVAC client, /thank-you is their confirmation page).
  1. Name it something clear like “Contact Form Submission”

Connecting to GA4 with Tags

You’ve done the hard part! You’ve set-up the variable and the trigger. Now it’s time to get this data into GA4 so you can monitor all these conversions under “Key Events.”

  1. Click “New” under Tags
  1. Pick “Google Analytics” – Remember, we’re connecting these conversions to GA4 so this will enable it to sync.
  1. Paste in your GA4 measurement ID and name your event.
    • The naming convention should have underscores since GA4 requires this.
  1. Under triggering, select the trigger you just created. In our example, we selected phone click.
  1. Name it something descriptive like “GA4 – Phone Click”

Testing (The Step You Can’t Skip)

Here’s where GTM really shines compared to setting up conversions directly in GA4. You can actually test if everything’s working:

  1. Hit the “Preview” button in GTM
  1. Enter your website URL
  1. Try out your conversion action (in our example, you would click the phone number on the website and this click data should populate within GTM)
  1. Check Tag Assistant:
    • Did your trigger fire? Under the preview section, we selected “click” since this was our trigger. You can see that the tag is firing!

Note: The Variables tab shows you exactly what GTM sees when an action occurs. Think of it as a way to verify what text was clicked, which helps confirm your trigger is working properly. For example, when someone clicks a phone number, you can see exactly what text they clicked – in this case “7828”. This confirms our trigger is working correctly since it’s capturing the phone number we want to track.

The Final Steps (If you don’t do this, it won’t publish!)

After testing thoroughly:

  1. Click “Submit” in GTM – If you forget to do this, it won’t send any data to GA4.

 

Your conversions should start showing up in GA4 under “Key Events” once the triggers are firing off. Don’t forget to confirm that what you created in Tag Manager is turned on as a key event in GA4. You should also uncheck any key events that aren’t relevant so your tracking is clean.

Why This Matters

Setting up conversion tracking through GTM might seem like more work than doing it directly in GA4, but the extra effort pays off. You get:

  • More accurate tracking
  • The ability to verify everything’s working
  • Easier troubleshooting when something goes wrong
  • More flexible conversion setup options

Plus, once you’ve done it a few times, the process becomes second nature. Trust us – we’ve set this up for dozens of clients across industries, and this method consistently delivers reliable data you can actually use to improve your marketing efforts.

Remember: The goal isn’t just to track conversions – it’s to track them accurately so you can make informed decisions about your marketing strategy. Taking the time to set up proper conversion tracking in GTM is an investment in your marketing success.

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