In GA4, the actions that matter to your business are now called key events, not conversions. To create one, go to Admin > Data display > Events, find your event, and click the star icon to mark it as a key event. You can mark up to 30 key events per property, and counting starts the moment you turn one on, not retroactively.
If you’ve looked for “conversions” in Google Analytics 4 lately and couldn’t find them, you’re not losing your mind. Google renamed them. What used to be a conversion is now called a key event.
This tutorial shows you how to mark a key event, choose how it gets counted, and (when you’re ready) send it to Google Ads as a conversion. By the end you’ll have the actions that matter to your business tracked and showing up in your reports.
Before you start: You need at least one event to mark as a key event. If you haven’t set up events yet, follow our GA4 events guide first. You’ll also need the Editor role or higher on the property.
Key events vs conversions: what actually changed
In 2024, Google split one confusing word into two clear ones. Here’s what that means.
A key event is an event that measures an action important to your business: a form submission, a purchase, a demo request. Key events live in Google Analytics and show up in your reports.
A conversion now means something more specific: a key event you share with Google Ads to measure and improve your ad campaigns. Google made this change so “conversion” counts the same way in Analytics and in Ads, which cuts down on the number mismatches that used to drive marketers up the wall. You can read Google’s own explanation in Conversions vs. key events.
The short version: the path goes event, then key event, then (optionally) conversion.
| Term | What it is | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Event | Any interaction on your site (page view, click, scroll) | Google Analytics |
| Key event | An event you’ve flagged as important to your business | Google Analytics reports |
| Conversion | A key event shared with Google Ads for campaign measurement | Google Ads |
So when an older tutorial (or your boss) says “set up a conversion in GA4,” what you’re doing now is marking a key event.
How to mark an event as a key event
This is the core task. It takes about a minute once the event exists.
Step 1: Open the Events page
Go to Admin > Data display > Events. You’ll see a list of every event GA4 has collected recently.
You should see: A table of event names with columns for event count, users, and a star icon on the left of each row.
Step 2: Find your event
Use the search box or the Recent events list to find the event you want to promote, for example generate_lead or purchase.
If the event isn’t in the list yet, it hasn’t fired since you created it. Trigger the action once on your own site, wait a few minutes, then refresh.
Step 3: Click the star icon
Click the star next to your event to mark it as a key event. That’s the whole action. GA4 saves it right away.
You should see: The star fills in to show the event is now a key event. It will also start appearing in your key events reporting.
A few things to keep in mind:
- Marking a key event affects data from the moment you turn it on. It does not change historical data.
- New key events can take up to 24 hours to show in standard reports.
- Standard properties let you mark up to 30 key events. Google spells out the steps and the limit in Mark events as key events.
Choose a counting method
Every key event has a counting method, and the setting changes your numbers. This is the part where a lot of people get tripped up by “why is my conversion count so high?”
There are two options:
| Counting method | What it counts | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Once per event (recommended) | The action every time it happens, even several times per visit | Most cases: purchases, downloads, button clicks |
| Once per session (legacy) | The action once per visit, no matter how many times it fires | Rare cases where a repeat in one visit shouldn’t count twice |
Here’s the difference in plain English. If someone downloads three files in one visit, once per event counts three key events. Once per session counts one.
Once per event is the default for any key event you create now, and it’s the setting Google recommends. The exception is key events carried over from the old Universal Analytics, which default to once per session.
To change the counting method:
- Go to Admin > Data display > Events.
- Click the menu icon (the three dots) on the right side of your key event.
- Select Change counting method.
- Pick your option and click Save.
One catch: a change to the counting method only applies to data going forward. It won’t rewrite a key event’s past numbers. Google covers this in Change the counting method of key events.
Which events should be key events?
You get 30 slots, so spend them on actions that answer a real business question. A good test: if someone doing this would make your boss happy, it’s probably a key event.
Common picks by business type:
- Lead generation: form submissions, phone number clicks, chat starts
- E-commerce: purchases, add to cart, begin checkout
- Content or media: newsletter sign-ups, resource downloads, account registrations
- SaaS: free trial starts, demo requests, sign-ups
You don’t need a key event for every little interaction. Track the handful of actions that tell you the site is doing its job.
How to send a key event to Google Ads as a conversion
This is the step that turns a key event into a conversion in the new sense of the word.
Once your GA4 property is linked to a Google Ads account, you can import key events into Ads, where they show up as conversions you can bid toward. The high-level flow:
- Link GA4 to Google Ads (done once, in Admin > Product links > Google Ads links).
- In Google Ads, import the key event as a conversion action.
- Use that conversion to measure and improve your campaigns.
For the full walkthrough, see how to link GA4 to Google Ads. The thing to know here is that a key event is the source, and the Google Ads conversion is what you build on top of it.
How to check your key events are working
Don’t assume it worked. Confirm it.
Realtime check (fastest)
- Go to Reports > Realtime in GA4.
- Open your site in another tab and trigger the action (submit the form, click the button).
- Look at the Event count by Event name card.
You should see: Your event name appear within a few seconds. Key events also show in the Realtime card for key events.
DebugView (most detail)
For a closer look, install the Google Analytics Debugger Chrome extension, turn it on, then open Admin > Data display > DebugView. Trigger the action and watch it arrive with all its parameters. This is where you catch a misnamed event or a missing value.
Common problems and how to fix them
“My key event shows zero data.” Marking a key event isn’t retroactive, and standard reports can lag up to 24 hours. Check Realtime first. If it’s there but not in standard reports, give it a day.
“I’ve hit the 30 key event limit.” Standard properties cap out at 30. Look through your list and unmark anything that isn’t really driving decisions, which frees a slot for the new one.
“My conversion count looks too high.” This is almost always the counting method. Switch the key event from once per event to once per session if a single visit shouldn’t count more than once, and remember the change only affects future data.
“The numbers in GA4 and Google Ads don’t match.” Some difference is normal because the two platforms attribute credit differently. The rename to key events was meant to shrink this gap, but it won’t make the two match perfectly.
What to do next
You’ve got key events tracking the actions that matter. Here’s where to go from here:
- Review your Reports > Engagement > Events report after a few days to see how often each key event fires.
- Link Google Ads and import your key events as conversions if you run paid campaigns.
- Build a dashboard so these numbers land in front of the people who need them.
- See the bigger picture of tracking conversions across platforms in how conversion tracking works.
Key events sit at the center of GA4. Your reports, your audiences, and your ad campaign measurement all build on the ones you set up here. For the bigger picture of how the tool fits together, start with our GA4 beginner’s guide.